Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 30 January 2025
Present
John Booth CVO DL (Chair)
Diana Berry (until 11.30am)
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
David Marks
Andrew Marr
Dounia Nadar
Rosalind Nashashibi
Stuart Roden
Professor Patricia Rubin
Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Apologies
Catherine Goodman CBE LVO
Tonya Nelson
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
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for item 1‒5
Dr Emma Capron - Curator of Early Netherlandish and German Paintings for item 1
Bart Cornelis - Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings for item 1
Sarah Herring - Associate Curator of Post 1800 Paintings for item 1
Daniel Herrmann - Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects for item 7
Stefano Cattaneo - Senior Data and Insight Manager for item 8
Sarah Younger - NG200 Project Director for item 10
The Chair welcomed Professor Patricia Rubin, who the Prime Minister has appointed as a Trustee, to her first Board meeting.
He congratulated the Director on receiving a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list.
1. Pictures for treatment:
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board, following treatment, Karel Dujardin’s Sheep and Goats (NG985), Pietro Lorenzetti and his workshop’s, A Crowned Female Figure (Saint Elizabeth of Hungary?) (NG3071), Jan Wijnants’s Peasants driving Cattle and Sheep by a Sandhill, and two Sportsmen with Dogs (NG884), Rembrandt’s A Franciscan Friar (NG166) and Salomon van Ruysdael’s, A Landscape with a Carriage and Horsemen at a Pool (NG1344). The Board approved the paintings as being ready to go back on display. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
1.2. Trustees were shown Bono da Ferrara’s Saint Jerome in a Landscape (NG771), The Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate from the workshop of Sandro Botticelli (NG2906) and The Virgin and Child from the workshop of Jean Bellegambe (NG265) for which they had examination reports. The Board approved the treatments proposed.
1.3. For information, Trustees were shown Masaccio’s The Virgin and Child (NG3046). 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.
3. Minutes from the meeting held on 21 November 2024 and matters arising:
3.1. The Minutes from the meeting held on 21 November 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. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
5.1. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
6. Director’s Report:
6.1. The Director gave his presentation. He reported that the Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers exhibition that had recently closed had been a resounding success and was the Gallery’s most visited paid exhibition ever.
6.2. He said that in November, as part of a special 'Parliament Visits' project, the Gallery had loaned Claude’s Embarkation of Saint Ursula to Parliament. The painting had been displayed in St Stephen’s Hall and was one of the original 38 paintings purchased with a grant from Parliament. He said that an opening event had been hosted by the Speaker in Speaker’s House and various Articulation alumni had introduced the painting to guests and visitors.
6.3. He gave a presentation on the year ahead.
7. Presentation on The Triumph of Art:
7.1. The Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects joined the meeting and gave a presentation on The Triumph of Art, a project being organised with contemporary artist Jeremy Deller across the four nations, culminating in a participatory event in Trafalgar Square to mark the end of the Bicentenary celebrations.
8. Analysis of visitor numbers 2024 and projected visitor numbers for 2025:
8.1. The Senior Data and Insight Manager joined the meeting and gave a presentation.
9. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000
9.1. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000
10. Update on NG200 Welcome and Bicentenary Programme:
10.1. The NG200 Project Director joined the meeting and gave an update on the NG200 Welcome projects. She said that the Roden Centre for Creative Learning would open to the public on Friday 28 February.
10.2. The Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer presented the NG200 Bicentenary Programme, which was noted.
11. Management Accounts and Development Report:
11.1. The Chief Financial Officer presented the Management Accounts which were noted.
11.2. The Director of Development presented the Development Report which was noted.
12. Report from the Chief Commercial Officer of National Gallery Global Ltd:
12.1. The Chair of National Gallery Global Ltd congratulated the Chief Commercial Officer on the Company’s extremely strong performance, particularly throughout the run of 'Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers'.
12.2. The Chief Commercial Officer presented her paper, which was noted.
13. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting:
13.1. The Minutes of the Development Committee held on 14 November were noted.
13.2. The Minutes of the Finance Committee held on 9 December were noted.
13.3. The Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 9 December were noted.
13.4. The Chair of the Masterplan Committee updated Trustees on a Masterplan Committee meeting held on 16 January.
14. Approval of Safeguarding Policy
14.1. The Safeguarding Policy was approved.
15. AOB:
15.1. The Chair said that the Board of Trustees of Tate had appointed Professor Patricia Rubin to be the Gallery’s Tate Liaison Trustee.
15.2. He thanked Stuart and Bianca Roden for their support of the Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which would be the first of the capital projects to open.
John Booth
Chair