Minutes of the Board meeting held on Thursday 23 January 2020
Present
Sir John Kingman (Interim Chair)
Catherine Goodman
Douglas Gurr
Katrin Henkel
Rosemary Leith
David Marks
Tonya Nelson
Stuart Roden
Charles Sebag-Montefiore
John Singer
Apologies
Dame Moya Greene
Lord Hall of Birkenhead
Molly Stevens
In attendance
Dr Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Dr Caroline Campbell - Director of Collections and Research (for items 1-7)
Dr Susan Foister - Director of Public Programmes and Partnerships (Deputy Director)
Paul Gray - Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance
Andy Hibbert - Director of Finance
Chris Michaels - Director of Digital, Communications & Technology (for items 1-7)
Julie Molloy - Managing Director of National Gallery Company Limited
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Larry Keith - Head of Conservation and Keeper (for items 1 - 7)
Christine Riding -The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department (for items 1-7)
Chris Riopelle - Neil Westreich Curator of Post 1800 Paintings (for item 1)
Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper - The Myojin-Nadar Associate Curator of Paintings 1600-1800 (for item 1)
1. Pictures for treatment
1.1. In the conservation studio, following cleaning and restoration, the Board saw A Stag Hunt by Philips Wouwerman (NG975) and Portrait of a Lady (Madame de Gléon?) by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (NG5584). The Board approved the works as ready to go back on display.
1.2. The Board also saw The Marriage of the Virgin by Ludovico Carracci (NG6595); Portrait of the Abbé Scaglia by Anthony van Dyck (NG6575); A Man, probably of the Strauss Family by Bartholomeus Bruyn the Elder (NG2605); Head of a Man in Blue by Giacomo Francesco Cipper (NG5468); Head of a Man in Red by Giacomo Francesco Cipper (NG5469) and The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Scenes of the Nativity and the Lives of the Saints by Margarito d’Arezzo (NG564). The Board approved the treatment proposed for all these works.
1.3. The Board saw Chalets at Rigi by Alexandre Calame (L1128), introduced by the Neil Westreich Curator of Post 1800 Paintings who explained that the painting is a proposed gift from the collection of Gallery patron Asbjørn Lunde in honour of Sir Nicholas Penny. The painting would come to the Gallery by Deed of Gift from the American Friends of the National Gallery and has been hanging in Room 46 since May 2016 when the then Board approved its coming to the Gallery as a loan. The Board approved the acquisition of 'Chalets at Rigi' by Alexandre Calame.
2. Visit to the Gallery’s main painting store
2.1 The meeting moved to the Gallery’s main painting store where the Director of Collections and Research introduced the Board to the Senior Art Handler, who explained that this was the largest of several stores and that the objects housed here amounted to 63% of the collection being stored at any one time. The Trustees were shown around the store and the Director of Collections and Research gave examples of what objects were in store and why. She explained that there were a larger number of paintings than usual in the store owing to ongoing building work in the Gallery causing vibrations in the walls.
The meeting moved to the Boardroom where the Interim Chair said that the announcement of the new Chair had been made on Monday. He assured the Board that he would continue as Interim Chair until a date could be agreed for the new Chair to start.
3. Declarations of interest
3.1 None
4. Minutes of the meeting of 21 November 2019 and matters arising
4.1 The Minutes were approved
4.2 Information has been excluded under s36 and s43 FOI 2000
4.3 Information has been excluded under s43 FOI 2000
5. Proposed acquisition
5.1 The Director thanked the Board for their agreement to acquire Alexandre Calame’s 'Chalets at Rigi' and said that he was delighted it could now formally come into the collection.
6. Loans out, to include a simple schedule of loans made in the last 5 years and loans requested in the next few years.
6.1 The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the loans out paper.
6.2 Information has been excluded under s22 and s36 FOI 2000
6.3 The Director of Collections and Research presented the papers on past and future loan requests. There was a discussion about the number of loans being made nationally and internationally. A Trustee asked what proportion of national requests were satisfied. The Director of Collections and Research confirmed that almost all were, provided the work was fit to travel and in cases where it wasn’t, the Gallery would look at other ways to lend support.
6.4 The Interim Chair said that it was important for the Gallery to build visibility nationally.
6.5 There was a discussion about how much the Gallery is already doing, good examples being the highly successful 'Artemisia Visits' tour in 2019 and the recent return of Nicolas Poussin’s The Triumph of Pan which had visited Bath, York and Auckland Castle as part of the Masterpiece tour. The Deputy Director said that the Masterpiece tour was being developed to reach parts of the country which haven’t yet been visited and confirmed that the Gallery’s aim was to cover as much of the UK as possible. A Trustee recommended developing more partnerships with libraries to engage new audiences.
7. Update on progress in making works in store available to the public
7.1 The Director of Collections and Research gave a presentation to accompany her paper and explained that much of the information in her paper had been covered while the Trustees were visiting the painting store.
7.2 There was a discussion about digitisation of the collection and the Director of Collections and Research confirmed that much work is being done in this area.
7.3 The Interim Chair invited the Director of Digital, Communications and Technology to give the Board an update from his department and said it would be helpful to have a verbal update at each meeting.
8. Director’s report
8.1 The Director gave a presentation on the year ahead. He said it was shaping up to be a very busy year across the Gallery.
8.2 Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000
8.3 He said that Analema, NGX’s first residents were arriving the following Monday and that they would be creating interactive sound installations which will ask what National Gallery paintings sound like.
8.4 He reported that work on Gallery 32 was well advanced and that he hoped the Trustees would be able to visit it at the Board meeting in March.
8.5 Information has been excluded under s.36 and S. 43 FOI 2000.
8.6 The Director presented the five-year strategy plan. A Trustee congratulated the senior management on accomplishing much of the plan already and asked that the Director report back to the Board halfway through the five-year period to take stock of what has been achieved and ensure that targets remained sufficiently stretching.
8.7 Information has been excluded under s.36 and S. 43 FOI 2000.
9. Committees of the Board and other reports
9.1 The Board noted the Minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of 12 December 2019.
9.2 The Board noted the Minutes of the Masterplan Committee meetings of 19 November and 12 December 2019.
9.3 Information has been excluded under s.22 and S. 43 FOI 2000.
9.4 The Chair of the NGC updated the Board on trading results and growth areas.
9.5 Information has been excluded under s.22 and S. 43 FOI 2000.
9.6 The Chair of the Development Committee gave the Board a verbal update on a recent meeting of the Committee, and the main areas that it was focussing on.
10. Management Accounts Report and Development Report
10.1 The Director of Finance presented the report, which was noted by the Board.
11. Grant Applications to NGT
11.1 The Board approved the grant applications to NGT.
12. Any other business
12.1 The Board approved Stuart Roden joining the Masterplan Committee.