Will Gompertz is new Soane Museum Director
Surprise announcement sees former BBC Arts Editor leave Barbican
* In partnership with Better Lemon Creative Audio
Also in this edition: Royal residences roar back, when Harry (Styles) met Hockney, Saudi Arabia confirms Centre Pompidou plans, van Gogh experience company goes bust, Sarah Lucas retrospective reveals details
Happy Friday.
I went to see the Capturing the Moment exhibition at Tate Modern last weekend. It promises to take visitors on a ‘journey through painting and photography.’ Or something like that anyway. My expectations weren’t particularly high, because the show was panned by critics. A then a few days later I read this piece, which basically says that the film industry is increasingly ignoring critics in favour of influencers, because the latter can be more relied upon to praise a film, even if they don’t like it. The Guardian writer said “A shift from knowledgable writers to those simply in search of free tickets devalues cinema.” The influencer model is perhaps something to be written about on another day, but it did make me think about exhibition critics and the reviews they write. Do they have any effect on the popularity of the shows they cover? In the case of Capturing the Moment and the full galleries last Saturday, it seems not. But I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do reviews inform — or influence — your exhibition going? Hit reply to the email and let’s chat. (And FWIW I actually rather enjoyed the Tate exhibition, but that was mainly because the works on show are so incredible and recognisable, rather than the so-so narrative).
Finally, a big thank you to today’s sponsor Better Lemon Creative Audio, which is the latest organisation to come on board to support this fully independent newsletter. (And thank you to ATS who have supported a range of recent editions too, as you will have seen). Sponsorships and advertising is another way I can keep what you read here free to all, with no paywall. Plus it helps me to keep writing. So please show our sponsors some love — and do listen to their excellent museum and culture focussed podcasts too.
Now onto the news
Maxwell
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Need To Know
Surprise new Soane Director
In hugely surprising news, Will Gompertz is to leave the Barbican after just two years in order to lead Sir John Soane’s Museum, the smallest national museum in England.
He will take over in the new year from Bruce Boucher who retires at the end of December after almost eight years in post. Arts Minister Lord Parkinson (presumably the Secretary of State was busy) said in a press release he “looks forward to seeing how [Gompertz] builds on the legacy of his predecessors – and Soane himself – to share this inspiring place with new generations of visitors.”
Gompertz was appointed director of arts and learning at the Barbican in March 2021, later becoming artistic director. He joined the Barbican from the BBC where he was arts editor since 2009. He joins the Soane while it currently enjoys record visitor figures, with 133,785 people through the door in 2022/23. Gompertz says he looks forward to “taking Soane’s vision out into the world.” (Read more)
Royal Collection enjoys boost
Good news for the Royal Collection Trust (RCT) as they reveal they enjoyed hugely increased visitor figures to the Royal estates last year. It’s thought the Queen’s funeral and the ceremonial events surrounding it were the reason for the rise, particularly at Windsor Castle which saw over a million visits. In total, just shy of 2 million people visited the sites the RCT looks after last year.
The Trust also returned to profit after making a loss the previous year, its annual report released this week shows. Total income for 2022-23 was £61.9 million, compared with £24 million the previous year, with a net surplus of £8 million (against a deficit of £15 million the previous year.) It’s previously agreed two loans with Coutts totalling £52 million after the Covid-19 pandemic devastated its income from tourism. The release of a commemorative range to celebrate the life of the late Queen helped drive up sales and earnings.
The RCT is a charity, and all the monies raised last go towards supporting learning, access and conserving the King’s world class collection of over a million objects. (Read more)
Tell your museum story
*In Partnership with Better Lemon Creative Audio
The American LGBTQ+ Museum will open its doors in New York City in 2026. Its Executive Director Ben Garcia told a recent episode of the We The Museum podcast that the new museum’s vision is for “a world in which all people work toward and experience the joy of liberation.”
Other recent episodes of We The Museum — a new podcast by Better Lemon Creative Audio — range from examining the TikTok phenomenon that is the Sacramento History Museum, to learning the key principles of exhibition design.
It’s one of many exciting podcasts in Better Lemon Creative Audio’s portfolio, a boutique studio who exclusively specialise in podcasts for museums, history organisations and other cultural nonprofits. That’s why The National Archives (UK), the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, The Fitzwilliam Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Vagina Museum have all worked with Executive Producer Hannah Hethmon to produce shows that feel authentic to their organisation’s voice and mission. Find out how they can tell your story next.
News from the UK
Harry met Hockney | The National Portrait Gallery is to welcome back iconic British artist David Hockney this November — and this time he's bringing a new Harry Styles artwork with him. The One Direction star sat for Hockney in France last year, and the work will be shown for the first time at the David Hockney: Drawing from Life show. Originally curtailed due to covid in 2020, this time 160 pieces will be displayed including over 30 other new works. (Read more)
Horse feed | The National Trust is to ‘fatten up’ the iconic prehistoric chalk figure, the Uffington White Horse. Archaeologists have discovered that it’s shrunk and become much thinner since the 1980s, and so now they will go about reversing the weight loss of what is Britain's oldest scientifically-dated chalk figure, dating back to the late Bronze Age. (Read more)
Londinium display | A large section of a Roman wall found in the City of London has gone on display after spending more than 40 years hidden in a basement. The wall was uncovered in 1979 but remained largely out of sight. But it can now be seen alongside other artefacts at the City Wall at Vine Street museum display. After acquiring the site in 2016, developers Urbanest worked alongside the City of London Corporation, Historic England and the Museum of London to make the wall visible again. (Read more)
Moon record | Digitised works of 30,000 artists are being sent to the moon. Yes, really. The collection — which will include images, objects, magazines, books, podcasts, movies and music from 157 countries — will be sent on NASA missions to get to the moon. It’s all stored on discs the size of coins, and it’s hoped this will offer a lasting record of human creativity. (Read more)
News from around the world
Spain | The Museo Picasso Málaga will close for five days in September due to an ongoing labour dispute with staff. The strikes are likely to delay the opening of the exhibition The Echo Of Picasso, one of the museum’s flagship shows marking fifty years since Picasso died. A recent report shows that wages and working conditions at the museum were far lower than at the other comparable organisations in the country. (Read more)
USA | Plans to open an outpost of Paris’s Centre Pompidou in New Jersey is “a circus of waste and excess”, according to state Republicans. In a new report they say a total of $58m in state funds was provided over the past two years “without meaningful applications or substantive oversight”. They added that “It’s not clear why this extremely expensive project is a priority” for the current administration. It’s currently been delayed until 2026. (Read more)
Saudi Arabia | Details have been hazy for a while, but now it’s been confirmed that the Centre Pompidou (them again) will help set up a new museum planned for the vast AlUla heritage region in the Kingdom, and that they will loan works. The new museum is also quickly acquiring a permanent collection of works — including pieces by Yayoi Kusama — according to the UK curator Iwona Blazwick, who now works for the Saudi government. French newspaper Le Monde reported that the partnership would be worth around €2m annually to the Pompidou. (Read more)
Italy | UNESCO has recommended that Venice be added to the heritage danger list, saying that the city faced “irreversible” damage due to a litany of problems ranging from the effects of climate breakdown to mass tourism. It’s the second time in a few years that Venice has been threatened with the blacklist. Unesco noted a “lack of significant progress” by Italy in addressing the issues. (Read more)
USA | The company behind the globe-trotting digital Vincent van Gogh exhibition ‘experience’ has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which purports to have sold 7 million tickets to exhibitions in 18 cities across North America, has also designed displays featuring art by Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt and Frida Kahlo. Operations were believed to be profitable, but in June, the company cancelled highly anticipated shows in Houston and Atlanta for no given reason. (Read more)
Best of the rest
🔗 Details of the major Sarah Lucas exhibition coming to Tate Britain in September have been revealed. It’s called Happy Gas and will have over 75 works on show.
🔗 London’s tourism economy is “roaring back,” with two million more international visitors forecast for 2023, who are projected to produce an extra £674 million in revenue.
🔗 Two museums and an art gallery in Hull are the latest institutions to trial "quiet hours" as part of an effort to make venues more accessible for those with sensory difficulties.
🔗 The Wellcome Collection has axed three digital roles as it carries out a shake up of its structure.
🔗 30,000 of Freddie Mercury’s possessions are going up for auction. But before that, they’ve just gone on display at Sotheby’s.
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