Knox's plans for the Fitzwilliam - 'I want to make it sing'
November 5 2013
Picture: Fitzwilliam Museum
Exciting news from the Fitzwilliam Museum - after his first six months in the job, new director Tim Knox has published something of a manifesto for what he wants to see happen there. And it is good. Very good in fact. For example, some new building projects are announced, the Founder's Library will be opened, more works will be put on display and rescued from storage, the public will be able to see more of the Hamilton Kerr's conservation work, and, splendidly, photography will now be allowed. Knox says he wants 'to make the place sing'. You can read more details here.
The Fitzwilliam certainly needed this breath of fresh air. In terms of the building, the museum has certainly become a bit tired, as the photo I took last year (below) shows. I hope also that some attention will be paid to the museum's labels, which used to be woefully uninformative.
Also, the Fitzwilliam allowing photography means that the National Gallery is just about the last major museum in the UK that doesn't permit it. Surely this must change soon?
Update - a reader writes:
Let’s hope not. The National Gallery is a sanctuary that saves people from themselves on this point.
I recently took a friend over from Italy round Tate Modern and the spectacle of some people photographing every painting, followed by its label, without really looking at either, was depressing.
Why are people more inclined to photograph life than live it these days? Is nothing worth doing unless somebody else can be made envious of it with photographic evidence?
Perhaps a better question to ask is, why do some people get so bothered about the way other people chose to look at art? Looking at art in different ways is part of the museum experience, isn't it?
Update II - the reader responds:
I suppose it comes from the same place as caring about whether people look at art at all – it’s an enjoyable (and maybe even edifying) thing to do, so our natural care and concern for other people leads us to want them to have that enjoyment too!
You may disagree with the underlying hypothesis that allowing photography makes people less likely to actually look at the pictures, but the ‘why are you bothered’ question is dealt with in exactly the same way as the question as why we think art galleries are a good idea in the first place.
Update III - the Grumpy Art Historian doesn't like Tim Knox's plans one bit.
