Director of the National Gallery of London retires

On the eve of his 65th birthday, Nicholas Penny leaves the post of director of the National Gallery, after six years of work. The exact date of retirement will depend on the timing of the appointment of a successor.

While Penny was at the helm of the main gallery in London, it hosted the most successful exhibition in the history of the museum: Leonardo da Vinci, painter at the court in Milan, as well as a number of major exhibitions by artists such as Barocci, Veronese and Rembrandt. In 2013, for the first time, the annual flow of gallery visitors exceeded 6 million people.

Nicholas Penny Photo: National Gallery

Reflecting on his six-year experience as a director, Nicholas said: “I enjoyed this time and am grateful to the advice of the trustees, employees and philanthropists for the help thanks to which the gallery continues to flourish, despite the steadily decreasing state subsidies. Thrive as a large and popular resource, one of the best not only nationally but also internationally. ”

According to Penny, he has a lot of plans after his retirement. But the main thing that he intends to devote his time to is his house, family and books. Almost a former director intends to slightly upgrade his home with modern materials, such as Rapido , spend as much time as possible with loved ones and tidy up your vast library. But still, many find Penny’s retirement premature.

Mark Getty, chairman of the board of trustees of the National Gallery, thanked Nicholas Penny for everything he had done for the gallery. “Nick was an extremely successful director of the National Gallery. Under his leadership, two great paintings by Titian, “Diana and Acteon” and “Diana and Callisto,” were acquired, together with the National Gallery of Scotland, and this year the gallery was replenished with the first major work of American painting - the painting “Men from the Docks” by George Bellows. The Council is very grateful to him for his energy, vision and commitment to work in the gallery. We will miss him badly, ”he said.

British journalists also did not leave this event unattended. So, Jonathan Jones from The Guardian writes: “This is the second very young director of a major gallery in London, who decided that he had enough. But what exactly is enough for him? Ultimately, he is successful in both work and personal affairs. Does his departure indicate that managing a large London museum has become too difficult? The capital is famous for art like never before, and through the galleries there is an endless stream of tourists. The media a priori suggest that every exhibition should be a hit, that galleries should provide visitors with not only the availability of collections, but also a variety of entertainment, as well as training for everyone. Publicity and accessibility are everything. ”

“Nicholas Penny is a strong-willed person with his own ideas about art. Maybe the fact is that such people, capable of original thinking, are being forced out of art, on the one hand, trying to make it more populist, and on the other - cutting budget? ”

“This year, the inviolability of museums was already violated when critics actually forced the director of one of the museums to be fired because of (presumably) low attendance. This kind of pressure definitely leaves no room for experiment. But museums cannot be just machines for our entertainment. They should have a quiet side, where art is in the first place, and the crowd is in the second, where they honor the scientific activities of the galleries, as Penny did. ”

This article by a British journalist leads to depressing thoughts about the near end of personality in the museum world.