Minutes of the Board meeting held on Thursday 26 November 2020 at 2pm via Zoom
Present
Lord Hall of Birkenhead (Chair)
Douglas Gurr
Katrin Henkel
Sir John Kingman
Rosemary Leith
David Marks
Tonya Nelson
Stuart Roden
Charles Sebag-Montefiore
John Singer
Professor Molly Stevens
Apologies
Moya Greene
Catherine Goodman
In attendance
Dr Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Dr Caroline Campbell - Director of Collections and Research
Dr Susan Foister - 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 and Technology
Julie Molloy - Managing Director of National Gallery Company Limited
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Larry Keith - Head of Conservation and Keeper (for item 1)
Karen Eslea - Head of Learning and Public Programmes (for item 9)
Jane Knowles - Head of Exhibitions (for item 10)
The Chair said that he had attended a meeting of the Scientific Consultative Group earlier in the week and had been very impressed with the quality of the material being presented and the knowledge of the speakers.
He confirmed that London would be in Tier 2 of Covid-19 restrictions when the lockdown lifted the following week and that the Gallery was prepared for re-opening.
Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
1. Pictures for treatment
1.1. The Head of Conservation and Keeper joined the meeting from the conservation studio via Zoom. The Board saw, following cleaning and restoration, Godfried Schalcken’s 'An Old Woman scouring a Pot' (NG997); Anthony van Dyck’s 'Portrait of the Abbé Scaglia' (NG6575); After Nicolas Poussin 'The Triumph of Silenus' (NG42); Voet’s 'Cardinal Carlo Cerri' (NG174) and French 'Caught by the Tide' (NG4613). The Board approved the works as being ready to go back on display.
1.2. The Board also saw Anthony van Dyck’s 'Portrait of Giovanni Battista Cattaneo' (NG2127) and 'Portrait of a Woman' (NG2144) which were proposed for treatment. The Board approved treatment proposed for both paintings.
1.3. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
2. Declarations of interest
2.1. None.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September and matters arising
3.1. The Deputy Chair made a general comment on the Minutes. The Chair agreed that he would discuss it with the Director and Secretary to the Board, subject to which the Minutes were approved.
3.2. The Board noted the record of its discussions at the strategy days in October and the Chair asked that comments emailed to him by a Trustee be included.
4. Loans out
4.1. The Director of Collections and Research presented the loans out paper and said that it also covered postponed and cancelled loans as a result of Covid-19.
4.2. The Loans paper was approved.
5. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000
5.1-5.3. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
6. Information has been excluded under s.22, s36 and s43 FOI 2000
6.1-6.2. Information has been excluded under s.22, s36 and s43 FOI 2000
7. Director's report
7.1. The Director presented his written report.
7.2. He said that the Annual Review had been published and a copy sent to each Trustee. He said it reflected how much activity the Gallery undertook each year, which was impressive.
7.3. He said that with London now confirmed as being in Tier 2 of Covid-19 restrictions, the Gallery would reopen on Wednesday 2 December, and that it was ready to do so. He said that the 'Artemisia' exhibition was being extended for an additional four hours a day until the end of the run and would be open from 9am until 9pm every day.
7.4. Information has been excluded under s.43 FOI 2000.
7.5. The Director said that visitor numbers remained positive given the circumstances, and that there was a significant increase in social media followers, particularly during the weeks the Gallery was closed.
7.6. He said that the 'Artemisia', 'Titian' and 'Sin' exhibitions had all been open before the second lockdown, and would reopen, along with the 'Take One Picture' exhibition which was on display in the Sunley Room, centred on George Bellows’s 'Men of the Docks'; an intervention of four paintings in Room 30 by Artist in Residence Rosalind Nashashibi, and finally a special immersive display centred on Gossaert’s 'The Adoration of the Kings' in Room 1. He said the title of the experience was 'Sensing the Unseen' and it would take visitors into the heart of the picture with high resolution filming, a unique soundtrack and a poem created by poet Theresa Lola expressing Balthasar’s feelings. He said that visitors would be invited to enter one of three pods for the sensory experience before stepping out to look at the painting.
7.7. The Deputy Director confirmed that the Gallery remained in touch with the Young Producers once their programme was at an end and continued to ask them to collaborate on projects.
8. Update on Bicentenary projects
8.1. The Chief Operating Officer presented his paper and said that following discussions at the Board strategy days in October, a smaller working group had been set up to discuss the Bicentenary projects focussing on cost, timing and scope.
8.2-8.6. Information has been excluded under s22, s36 and s43 FOI 2000.
9. Learning strategy
9.1. The Chair welcomed the Head of Learning and National Programmes to the meeting, who introduced herself and gave her presentation. She said that developing the strategy during a global pandemic had been challenging and that it was ambitious, focussing both on what could be done online and what was better delivered in person.
9.2-9.3. Information has been excluded under s22, s36 and s43 FOI 2000.
9.4. The Chair thanked the Head of Learning and National Programmes for her excellent work and asked her to give further thought to the ambition of the strategy. The Board approved the Learning strategy.
10. Report from the Head of Exhibitions, 2019 and a look ahead
10.1. The Chair welcomed the Head of Exhibitions to the meeting, who gave her presentation on the future exhibition programme. The Board congratulated her on an ambitious and exciting programme and thanked her for her presentation.
11. Information has been excluded under s22 and s36 FOI 2000
11.1-11.3. Information has been excluded under s22 and s36 FOI 2000.
12. Committees of the Board
12.1. The Board noted the Minutes of the Nominations Committees of 15 September, 8 October and 17 November 2020.
12.2. The Board noted the Minutes of the Audit and Finance Committees of 13 October 2020.
12.3. The Board noted the Minutes of the Development Committee of 29 October 2020.
12.4. The Board noted the Minutes of the Digital Advisory Group of 18 November 2020. The Chair of the Digital Advisory Group said that good discussions were had at the meeting and that the group was looking at partnership opportunities. She said that the Director of Digital, Communications and Technology was doing a great job, and should be encouraged to be ambitious. She said that a report from the Digital Directorate would be presented at the January Board meeting.
12.5. The Chair of National Gallery Company (NGC) said that he had chaired his last Board meeting before he took up his new job as Director of the Natural History Museum. He congratulated the Managing Director and her team for excellent work in very difficult circumstances and said that the Company was trading better than expected. He reported that the Deputy Chair of the Company would act as Interim Chair until a replacement was found.
12.6. Information has been excluded under s.22 and s.43 FOI 2000.
The Chair said that it was Douglas Gurr’s last meeting as a Trustee and thanked him on behalf of the Board for all he had done. He congratulated him on his appointment as Director of the Natural History Museum.
13. Management Accounts and Development summary
13.1. The Director of Finance presented the summary.
13.2-13.4. Information has been excluded under s.22 and s.43 FOI 2000
14. Appointments to American Friends of the National Gallery, London (AFNGL)
14.1. The Board approved the re-appointment of Mark Getty KBE, Hannah Rothschild OBE and Rosemary Leith as Class A Directors of the AFNGL.
14.2. The Board also approved the appointment of Lord Hall of Birkenhead as a Class A Director of AFNGL.
The Executive Committee left the meeting and there was a closed session of the Board, with the Director and the Secretary to the Board. Before the Executive Committee left, the Chair thanked them for all the work they were doing.
15. Report from and Minutes of the Governance Committee held on 14 October
15.1. The Chair of the Governance Committee said that the summary of the Board Effectiveness Survey was clear, from which she proposed three recommendations. The Board approved the recommendations.
15.2. The Board approved the Chair joining the Committee.