Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 22 May 2025
Present
John Booth CVO FSA (Chair)
Diana Berry
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
David Marks
Dounia Nadar
Rosalind Nashashibi
Tonyeh Nelson
Stuart Roden
Professor Patricia Rubin
Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Apologies
Catherine Goodman CBE LVO
Andrew Marr
In attendance
Sir Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Andy Hibbert - Chief Financial Officer
Jane Knowles - Director of Public Engagement
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Susan Noonan - Chief Commercial Officer, National Gallery Global Ltd
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
John Stack - Director of Digital Innovation and Technology
Larry Keith - Keeper and Head of Conservation for item 1
Bart Cornelis - Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings for item 1
Dr Chiara Di Stefano - Associate Curator of Post-1800 Paintings for item 1
Christopher Riopelle - The Neil Westreich Curator of post-1800 Paintings for item 1
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for items 1‒5
Alasdair Travers - Partner and Head of Design, Purcell Architects for item 6
1. Pictures for treatment:
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board Giovanni Battista Bertucci the Elder’s Virgin and Child in Glory (NG282), Jacopo di Antonio’s, The Virgin: Altarpiece Pinnacle (left) (NG584.7) and Saint John the Evangelist: Altarpiece Pinnacle (right) (NG584.8), Jacob van Ruisdael’s A Landscape with a Waterfall and a Castle on a Hill (NG737), Lippo di Dalmasio’s, The Madonna of Humility (NG752), Lelio Orsi’s, The Walk to Emmaus (NG1466), Giovanni Mansueti’s Symbolic Representation of the Crucifixion (NG1478), Gustave Courbet’s, The Diligence in the Snow (NG3242) and Luca Giordano’s The Martyrdom of St Januarius (NG6327), for which they had examination reports.
1.2. The Board approved the treatments proposed.
1.3-1.4. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
2. Declarations of Interest
2.1. There were no declarations of interest.
2.2. On behalf of the Board, the Chair congratulated the entire staff at the National Gallery for all the activity that had been accomplished over the last year. He said that press coverage had been both prolific and extremely positive.
3. Minutes from the meeting held on 20 March 2025 and matters arising:
3.1. The Minutes from the meeting held on 20 March were approved.
3.2. There were no matters arising.
4. Loans Out:
4.1. The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the Loans Out paper, which was approved.
5. Director’s Report:
5.1-5.2. The Director gave his presentation. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
5.3. He reported on a successful visit by Their Majesties the King and Queen on 6 May to officially open the Sainsbury Wing and to unveil their coronation portraits which are currently on display in Central Hall until 4June.
5.4. He said that there had been very positive press coverage both of the Sainsbury Wing refurbishment and C C Land The Wonder of Art. He said that all the interpretation panels had been re-written which was a marked improvement.
5.5. He said that the first leg of Jeremy Deller’s The Triumph of Art had opened on 18 April in Derry, Londonderry as 'The Triumph of Music' and been well received and well attended.
5.6. A Trustee said that she had visited The Art Road trip on its final stop in Croydon and was very impressed with the positive reaction of those visiting. Comments made to her were that it enabled children and others who would not be able to visit the Gallery, to connect with art in their own environment.
6. Presentation on NG200 phase 2 and Bicentenary Programme
6.1. The Head of Design at Purcell Architects and the Director of Collections and Research gave a presentation on phase 2 of the NG200 capital project, for Trustees’ information.
6.2. Progress in the NG200 Bicentenary Programme was noted.
7. Update on Saint Vincent House:
7.1. 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 the Company said that it had been an exceptionally strong year and congratulated all involved.
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. Approval of Access Policy:
10.1. The Deputy Director presented the Access Policy which was approved.
11. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting:
11.1. The Minutes of the Governance Committee held on 13 March were noted.
11.2. The Minutes of the Masterplan Committee held on 10 March were noted.
11.3. The Chairman updated Trustees on a meeting of the American Friends of the National Gallery held on 13 May.
11.4. The Director of Development updated Trustees on a Development Committee meeting held on 14 May.
12. AOB:
12.1. The Board approved the appointment of Patricia Rubin to chair the Research Advisory Group and her appointment as a member of the Corporate and Donations Review Committee.
12.2. The Board approved Tonya Nelson becoming the Sustainability Trustee.
John Booth
Chair