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The Temporary Exhibition Galleries in the Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery

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1 The temporary exhibition galleries in the Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery: commission, design and outcome Mary Hersov A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Art History & Theory School of Philosophy & Art History University of Essex 2017 2 Table of contents ABSTRACT 4 INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER ONE: THE NATIONAL GALLERY AND TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS BEFORE THE OPENING OF THE SAINSBURY WING Part One: The National Gallery in the nineteenth century 12 Part Two: Changes in the twentieth century 22 Part Three: New challenges and the development of temporary exhibitions 29 Part Four: The National Gallery and temporary exhibitions 37 CHAPTER TWO: THE SAINSBURY WING Part One: The background 55 Part Two: Development of the briefs 71 CHAPTER THREE: BUILDING THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITION SPACE Part One: Selecting an architect 90 Part Two: Development of the designs for the temporary exhibition galleries 98 CHAPTER FOUR: THE NEW SPACE IN ACTION Part One: Preparation 115 Part Two: Initial reaction 120 Part Three: The consequences 129 CONCLUSION 145 3 FIGURES 153 BIBLIOGRAPHY 180 APPENDICES Appendix A: Hampton Site - Sainsbury Wing: Key dates 195 Appendix B: The Polkinghorne Brief 200 4 ABSTRACT The Sainsbury Wing, the National Gallery’s new extension, opened in July 1991. It had the primary aim of providing new galleries for the Early Renaissance collection. It was also intended to give a new outward-looking face for the Gallery with expanded public facilities, including a larger temporary exhibition space. However, this space has been much criticised for its basement location and resulting lack of natural light. The rooms are limited in size and some are irregular in shape which make it difficult to install larger works and to provide enough viewing space for visitors to popular shows. This thesis investigates why the Gallery decided to build this space, why the design was developed and what were the consequences. It looks at the history of temporary exhibitions - the spaces they need in London and abroad. Using archive material and conversations with participants, it pieces together the convoluted story of the building of the temporary exhibition galleries in the Sainsbury Wing. It examines the many briefs, the involvement of the architects, Venturi Scott Brown, and explains how the resulting design developed. It then relates how the Gallery used the space for its expanded exhibitions programme and considers its advantages and disadvantages. In the conclusion, it makes some recommendations for the best way to create new exhibition galleries for the future. The thesis sheds new light on an aspect of institutional history of the Gallery. It provides an original analysis of an area of the Sainsbury Wing which has been little discussed. As a case study for the design of facilities for temporary exhibitions, it underlines the importance of these spaces and analyses the specific needs and requirements. 5 INTRODUCTION In July 1990, I came to the National Gallery as Exhibitions Officer, to help set up the exhibitions department and organise the shows planned for the new temporary exhibition space in the Sainsbury Wing.1 This new building would also contain galleries to display the Early Renaissance collection and up-to-date public facilities (Figure 1a). On my first day, I was shown around by Michael Wilson, Head of Exhibitions and Displays. The paintings were yet to be installed. We started on the top floor with the large light-filled main galleries. We then proceeded down each level and I began to wonder where the temporary exhibition galleries would be. I found them in the basement, a rather small suite of strangely shaped rooms without access to natural light. It was to become clear to me, and to my colleagues and outside critics, that these rooms posed problems for many of our planned exhibitions.2 I wondered how the Gallery came to build a temporary exhibition space that is not entirely suitable for its function. Context Museums in the early 1980s were expected to accommodate large numbers of visitors and provide modern amenities such as cafes and shops. Yet, many of these institutions such as the National Gallery were housed in nineteenth-century buildings which did not have the capacity within them to expand. The most obvious solution was to create a new wing. This ‘frenzy of growth’ was particularly apparent in the United States.3 Victoria Newhouse 1 I had previously worked at the V&A on the installation of The Splendours of the Gonzaga exhibition in 1981, as exhibitions assistant at the Crafts Council then based in Lower Regent Street, and as administrator in a contemporary art gallery in a warehouse in Clerkenwell. I had experience of different exhibitions and exhibition spaces. National Gallery house style is used throughout. 2 Most of the exhibitions are based around Old Master paintings covering a similar period to the Gallery’s collection from the thirteenth to the early twentieth century. There have been a few contemporary art exhibitions responding to the collection such as Bill Viola: The Passions in 2003. 3 Paul Goldberger quoted in Victoria Newhouse, Towards a New Museum, Monacelli Press, New York 1998, revised 2006, p.139. 6 examined this phenomenon in her book Towards a New Museum in the chapter entitled ‘Wings that don’t fly (and some that do)’.4 She was particularly critical of the lack of architectural integrity of the expansion plans of New York museums such as the Metropolitan and the Guggenheim. She did support the Sainsbury Wing, which has a façade that complements rather than contrasts with the main building, and the Early Renaissance galleries that provide a fitting context for the collection. However, she barely mentions one of the main reasons for creating these new wings: the growing popularity of temporary exhibitions and the need to provide adequate spaces with the latest environmental controls to house them.5 Temporary exhibitions are now an integral part of the museum experience.6 They can demonstrate the range of a great artist’s work, bringing together pictures that have been separated for centuries. They can cover a period or a theme, putting together works in unusual and thought-provoking juxtapositions. Peter Vergo has described how the story of an object can be told in many different ways, following the paths of style, creation, personal and social history and technique.7 An exhibition can take one or more of these approaches. Neil MacGregor, former director of the National Gallery, said that there is no ‘one truth’ about a picture and we should allow our visitors access to different meanings and truths: physical, aesthetic, contextual and moral.8 4 Newhouse 2006, pp.138–9. 5 Andrew McClellan, The Art Museum from Boullée to Bilbao, University of California Press, Berkeley 2008. ‘The Blockbuster Era’, pp.210–17. I will discuss this subject in Chapter One. Victoria Newhouse discusses temporary exhibition spaces in more detail in Art and the Power of Placement, Monacelli Press, New York 2006. 6 Barry Lord and Gail Dexter Lord, ‘Planning and Managing temporary exhibitions’, The Manual of Museum Exhibitions, Altamira Press, Oxford 2001, pp.276–87. 7 Peter Vergo, ‘The rhetoric of display’ in Roger Miles and Lauro Zavala (eds), Towards the Museum of the Future: New European Perspectives, Routledge, London 1994, pp.149–51. 8 Neil MacGregor, ‘A Pentecost at Trafalgar Square’ in James Cuno (ed.), Whose Muse? Art Museums and public trust, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2004, p.40. 7 The temporary nature of exhibitions encourages a wide range of viewers, ensuring the return of regular visitors and attracting new ones, including cultural tourists. All can experience enjoyment and excitement and take advantage of the opportunity to learn and be challenged. Exhibitions encourage experts to bring together works from different collections and test their theories, which are published in the exhibition catalogue, the long- term legacy of a show. Popular shows attract sponsorship and publicity and enable an institution to make money from admission charges, shops, restaurants and membership.9 Curators, designers, exhibitions organisers and educators collaborate to construct the exhibition concept and display the works in a meaningful context that enhances their visual appeal. Vergo explains that the physical juxtaposition of objects is crucial for an effective exhibition: an object can look striking from one point of view and tell its story, but remain taciturn in another situation.10 While the curator decides which objects need to be shown next to each other, it is the work of the exhibition designer to transform a group of objects into a special experience.11 As temporary exhibitions grew in size and required more complex environmental controls, it made sense to provide dedicated areas for this activity. In addition to the exhibition galleries, a capacious front-of-house area is required for visitor reception, ticket sales and shop, and a back-of-house space to accommodate large transport trucks.12 All these 9 Exhibitions can be extremely expensive to mount. Costs can include freelance curator fee, transport, installation, graphics, film and education programme. 10 Vergo 1994, p.151. 11 Philip Hughes, Exhibition Design, Laurence King Publishing Ltd, London 2010, p.19, describes the exhibition designer’s job of orchestrating an environment. Margaret Hall, On Display: A Design Grammar for Museum Exhibitions, Lund Humphries, London 1987, pp.13–19, gives a history of exhibition making. 12 Front-of-house facilities
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