Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Tate

INTRODUCTION

  Tate is committed to collecting across an exceptionally broad front. As directed by the terms of the 1992 Museums and Galleries Act, Tate collects British art from 1,500, international art from 1,900, and archival material relating to these areas.

  The Committee enquiry covers a very wide range of issues that are relevant to Tate's Collection. We have chosen to focus on the present challenges in building the national collection, specifically the following issues:

    1.  the rising costs of works of art and Tate's funding constraints;

    2.  the limitations of the export review regulations;

    3.  the disposal of works of art from collections; and

    4.  the need to invest in Museums and Galleries, and in the Collections which lie at their heart, to ensure that London presents a world class cultural offer for the 2012 Olympics.

1.  The rising costs of works of art and Tate's funding constraints

  It is well documented that the prices of art works have grown considerably over the last two decades. Tate's, and other national museums', ability to operate in the art market and to build national collections is increasingly difficult in these conditions.

  In the past there have been short moments when Tate had real purchasing power, principally in the late 1970s. Since 1980, however, the allocation for acquisitions has remained at about £2 million due to the Government's reluctance to increase purchase grants. The grant was absorbed into the general Grant-in-Aid in 1992 but the Trustees have been unable to increase the allocation in the face of the decline, in real terms, in the overall Government grant relative to output.

  With its four sites across the country, Tate is maximising its reach to the visiting public, and together the four galleries attract the largest number of visitors per year of any art museum in the UK. Access to the Tate Collection has recently been given further dimension through Tate's acclaimed website.

  It is therefore essential that Tate can continue to enhance its collection—adding works of iconic significance in the early British and the classic modern areas, strengthening areas where we already have significant holdings and extending the Collection into new geographical fields and new media.

  If we are to succeed, we need Government assistance through a scheme that would recognise donors' generosity by offering a broader range of fiscal incentives. We also need to strengthen the NHMF and HLF as sources of public funds on major items. The Goodison report examined a number of tax incentives to encourage donations of works of art in lieu of tax. We believe that these options offer models which could be adopted by Government and have evidence from potential donors that these proposals would greatly benefit the Collection.

2.  The limitations of the export review system

  The Export Review system exists to protect works of national heritage for the nation and plays an invaluable role in assisting national museums and public bodies build their collections. However, there are number of areas that would greatly improve the way these regulations help collections to be developed.

  Firstly, we propose that there should be increased obligations on the owner of works of art, when applying for an export licence, to commit to sell that work to a public institution should the fundraising be successful. We therefore support the proposal put forward in the Goodison Review that if a public institution came forward during the first deferral period with serious intent to make a matching offer, then the applicant for a licence "would be asked to make a binding offer to sell to that institution" should they be successful in securing funds and that "the offer could not be withdrawn during the second stop".[41]

  Secondly, we propose the "starring" system should be more systematic and increasingly used. Works are "starred" by the committee to indicate that "every possible effort should be made to raise enough money to keep [the work] in the country". However the system for starring works does not seem consistent. For example, the case of the comparable two Turner works—The Blue Rigi (starred) and The Dark Rigi (not starred)—illustrates that these decisions seem to be down to individual taste rather than a consistent message. Similarly, this can be seen in the "starring" of Joshua Reynolds's The Archers while William Blake's set of 19 watercolours for Blair's The Grave was not starred; in the same year a chalk portrait drawing by Thomas Lawrence was starred.

  As an example of problems we encounter, we attach a more detailed account of the events summarising the failure to keep Joshua Reynolds' Omai in the country (see Annex).

3.  The disposal of works of art from collections

  Tate has the power, in certain circumstances, to deaccession works, provided that the proceeds are only used to fund purchases for the Tate Collection. Tate Trustees have not used these powers, but believe that some relaxation of the presumption against all disposal would allow them to make selective exchanges of works by living or recently deceased artists in order to upgrade the representation of that artist in the collection. Such occasional disposals would have to be undertaken with great care so as not to undermine public confidence. They would not be a source of significant funds but would allow for the more effective management of the Collection and presentation of the artist to the public.

4.  The need to invest in Museums and Galleries, and in the Collections which lie at their heart, to ensure that London presents a world class cultural offer for 2012

  A factor in London's successful bid to host the Olympics in 2012 was the strength of its cultural dimension. More generally, it is important that the capital's world class cultural offer is in good shape when the world's are focussed on London in 2012. The capital's national museums and galleries are world leading institutions. At the heart of this success is the ability to present displays of their developing collections, grounded in scholarship, interpreted for a broad and varied public. This is a sustained endeavour, planned and executed over long time horizons.

  There is a risk, in a constrained public spending environment, that the short term cost of the Olympics will divert resources from the rest of the DCMS sector, including the National Museums. It would be highly unfortunate if the sporting celebrations in east London in the summer of 2012 were to be marred by gallery closures and restricted museum services in the heart of the capital over the next five years. It is vitally important that Government sustains public investment in the national museums over the period to 2012 and beyond.



41   Goodison, p 37 Annex 7; 7.2; p 46. Back


 
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