Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 23 May 2024
Present
John Booth (Chair)
Diana Berry
Catherine Goodman LVO
Katrin Henkel
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
Rosemary Leith
David Marks
Dounia Nadar
Rosalind Nashashibi
Tonya Nelson
Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Apologies
Andrew Marr
Stuart Roden
Andrew Truby
In attendance
Dr Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Andy Hibbert - Director of Finance and Resources
Jane Knowles - Director of Public Engagement
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Susan Noonan - Chief Commercial Officer
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
John Stack - Incoming Director of Digital Innovation and Technology
Larry Keith - Keeper and Head of Conservation for item 1
Paul Ackroyd - Restorer for item 1
Britta New - Conservator for item 1
Alysia Sawicka - Conservator for item 1
Hayley Tomlinson - Conservator for item 1
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for items 1‒5
Katherine Peever - Environment and Sustainability Manager for item 6
Sarah Younger - NG200 Project Director for item 7
1. Pictures for treatment
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board, following treatment, Antonio del Pollaiuolo and Piero del Pollaiuolo’s, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (NG292), Nicolas Poussin’s Cephalus and Aurora (NG65), Pierre Subleyras’s, Diana and Endymion (NG6592), Peter Paul Rubens’s, The Judgement of Paris (NG194) and Paolo Uccello’s, Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano (NG583) The Board approved the paintings as being ready to go back on display.
1.2. Trustees were shown Pieter de Hooch’s, A Woman and her Maid in a Courtyard, (NG794), Diego Velázquez’s, Philip IV of Spain (NG745), Claude’s Landscape with Cephalus and Procris reunited by Diana (NG2) and Rembrandt’s, A Franciscan Friar (NG166) for which they had examination reports. The Board approved the treatments proposed.
2. Declarations of Interest
2.1. A Trustee recused herself from participating in discussion or decision-making for item 10.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2024 and matters arising
3.1. The Minutes were approved.
3.2. The actions are ongoing.
4. Loans Out paper
4.1. The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the loans out paper, which was approved.
5. Director’s Report
5.1. The Director gave his presentation. He said that the 'Masterpieces from the National Gallery international' tour had recently opened at its fourth venue, the Chimei Museum in Tainan, Taiwan and was proving very popular. He and four colleagues had attended the opening and had been very well looked after by our partners in Tainan.
5.2. He said that the National Gallery’s Bicentenary celebrations had started with a spectacular evening event on 10 May, and that events were taking place up and down the country. On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked the Director and all members of staff for an excellent start to the Bicentenary year.
5.3. The Director reported that the Boodles National Gallery Garden in celebration of its Bicentenary had opened at the Chelsea Flower Show earlier in the week.
5.4. He encouraged Trustees to view the conservation of the Crace decorative scheme in the Main Vestibule.
6. Presentation of the Sustainability Strategy:
6.1. The Environment and Sustainability Manager joined the meeting and presented the strategy.
6.2. The Director said that the Bizot Group were discussing the extent to which the museum sector should adopt environmentally sustainable approaches to long-term collections care, and that much research was being done into how flexible the temperature and humidity controls in the galleries could be.
6.3‒6.6. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
6.7. The strategy was approved. The Chairman asked for an annual report to be presented to the Board.
7. Update on the NG200 Welcome and Bicentenary Programme:
7.1. The NG200 Project Director joined the meeting and updated the Board on development in the NG200 Welcome projects.
7.2‒7.3. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
8. Report from the Chief Commercial Officer of National Gallery Global Ltd:
8.1. The Chairman of National Gallery Global Ltd reported on the successful reopening of the Espresso Bar and the Getty shop, both of which looked fantastic following refurbishment and were trading well.
8.2. The Chief Commercial Officer presented her report, which was noted.
9. Management Accounts and Development Report:
9.1. The Chief Financial Officer presented the Management Accounts which were noted.
9.2. The Director of Development presented the Development Report which was noted.
10. In view of the Gallery’s Accreditation with the Arts Council, approval of:
10.1. Acquisitions Policy
10.2. Loans In Policy
10.3. Loans Out Policy
10.4. Collections Care and Conservation Policy
10.5. Collection Development Policy
10.6. Access Policy
10.7. Subject to a comment made by a Trustee on the Acquisitions Policy, the policies were all approved. The Board agreed to delegate approval of the Complete Collection Management Framework to the Audit Committee.
11. Trustees’ Introduction to the Annual Review
11.1. The Chair asked that any comments on the Introduction be sent to him.
12. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting
12.1. The Board noted the Minutes of the Development Committee held on 18 April.
12.2. The Board noted the Minutes of the Digital Advisory Board held on 23 April.
12.3. The Board noted the Minutes of the Masterplan Committee held on 13 May.
13. AOB
13.1. The Board approved Dounia Nadar joining the Corporate and Donations Review Committee.
13.2‒13.3. Information has been excluded under s.22 and s.36 FOI 2000