The National Gallery: A Short History

New
Hardcover
2009
$14.55

Charles Saumarez Smith recounts the history of arguably the most important and most beloved public art collection in the world, the National Gallery, of which he was Director from 2002 to 2007.

His insider' s perspective gives him an invaluable insight into the challenges faced by his predecessors as they managed the collection from its very modest origins through to its status as a world class institution and a major tourist destination that welcomes more than five million visitors per year.

This erudite yet movingly personal book reveals the contentious issues surrounding how a national collection is to be acquired, preserved, restored and displayed, the often fraught relationship between Director, Trustees and government, architectural and aesthetic controversies, and addresses the future of the Gallery in an increasingly uncertain and commercialized art marketplace.

Synopsis

Charles Saumarez Smith recounts the history of arguably the most important and most beloved public art collection in the world, the National Gallery, of which he was Director from 2002 to 2007.

His insider' s perspective gives him an invaluable insight into the challenges faced by his predecessors as they managed the collection from its very modest origins through to its status as a world class institution and a major tourist destination that welcomes more than five million visitors per year.

This erudite yet movingly personal book reveals the contentious issues surrounding how a national collection is to be acquired, preserved, restored and displayed, the often fraught relationship between Director, Trustees and government, architectural and aesthetic controversies, and addresses the future of the Gallery in an increasingly uncertain and commercialized art marketplace.

$14.55

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 192
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Published: 01 Jul 2009
ISBN 10: 0711230439
ISBN 13: 9780711230439

Media Reviews

This readable short history of the National Gallery is an intelligent synopsis of the achievements of successive directors from 1824 to 2002 ... There are judicious assessments of earlier directors, and deserved rehabilitations of Sir Charles Holmes and Philip Hendy. Many good stories are amusingly retold... Country Life Saumerez Smith is particulary good on the architectural history and neatly summarises each director's contribution. Detail is telling. Independent Admirable and entertaining. Art Quarterly An excellent account, and Charles Saumerez Smith will have felt a whole lot better for writing it. Museum Practice magazine Not afraid to pull a few punches. Oxford Times Readers will delight in the suavity and poise of this beautifully judged account. British Art Journal A short pithy book that will be closely read by those interested in the history of art museums. Museum Ireland 2009 Charles Saumerez Smith is a discreetly expert guide to the glorious collection so recently under his care. Literary Review Saumerez Smith has clearly thought at length about the place the gallery occupies in the public consciousness, both nationally and internationally, and the frustration that permeates his writing is testament to just how deeply he cares about its future. Art Newspaper

Author Bio

Charles Saumarez Smith CBE was director of the National Gallery from 2002 to 2007. The main success of his directorship was the purchase of Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks in 2004 for GBP 22 million, raised by a successful public appeal. He was formerly director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994, and is currently Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. Charles Saumarez Smith has written books on Castle Howard and 18th century interior design, and contributed biographies on Quentin Bell and Philip McCammon Core to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary, University of London and an occasional panelist on the BBC's Newsnight Review.