Meeting held Friday 12 January 2007
Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
1. The Board approved the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2006, which were then signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising: minute 2, Director's report, visitor figures: the Chairman, on behalf of the Board, asked for it to be formally recorded that they wished to express their thanks to all those in the Gallery who had worked on preparing for and mounting the 'Velázquez' exhibition; and their pleasure at the resulting rise in visitors numbers.
Potential Acquisitions
2. The Board discussed potential acquisitions and the various possibilities open to them for finding the funds to pay for them should they wish to pursue them. Trustees suggested various ways to tackle the financial problems. It was agreed that the Director and other members of Gallery staff should develop at least three possible strategies for discussion at the February Board meeting.
Division between the Tate and NG collections
3. The Board discussed this and instructed the Director to take the matter forward. The Director agreed to discuss next steps with the Director of Tate.
Grant application from NGC
4. The Board approved a grant of $187,000 to be paid in instalments, the first instalment of $65,000 (£32,842) to be paid immediately, towards the publication costs of the National Gallery catalogue, 'The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings Volume II: Venice 1540 - 1600' by Dr Nicholas Penny. The Board expressed their gratitude to AFNGL and to Arturo and Holly Melosi whose generosity had made the grant possible.
The Chairman also expressed the gratitude of the Trustees to Dr Nicholas Penny for his work on the two catalogues which he had agreed to continue after leaving the Gallery some years ago, and for his undertaking to help with the third volume.
Any other Business
5. Away-day/weekend: the Board expressed their preference for a full weekend away on 10/11 March 2007 to provide an opportunity for a far-ranging discussion of future strategy. This was agreed.
Copies of previous Board minutes can be obtained from the Libraries and Archive department.
Confidential and sensitive information has been excluded from these published minutes in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000