084 NPG
merit. Roam the galleries and, as ever, you will immerse yourself in a glittering parade of British high achievers — monarchs, writers, politicos and dandies, from Henry VIII to Margaret Tatcher, from the famous to notorious, remarkable to glorious, if they are part of the national identity then they will be found in here, soon to be joined by Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai (Omai) the country’s first grand portrayal of a non-white subject acquired in partnership with the Getty Museum at the end of April.
‘Sitter first’ has always been its guiding principle, and ‘One of the things about this place that makes it so special,’ he says, ‘is that it’s not just about art and art history but also history, British culture and society. I really enjoy having that bigger picture.’ When he got the job in 2015, the transformation was already underway. ‘It’s very rare you get the chance to
rethink an institution top to bottom,’ Cullinan said. ‘Tis is about making the whole institution more relevant, more open and more accessible. We have an enormous didactic, educational, scholarly purpose. Te redisplay is partly about doing something very beautiful, improving the hang and the lighting; it needs to be an aesthetic experience. But in another way, we are going back to what Roy Strong did, which is to give the galleries more social, political, cultural and historical context.’ Aspiring to emulate Roy Strong is a challenge. From 1967 to 1974, he was a real agent of change. At the age of just 32, a succession of great events took place: a new department of film and photography opened, portraits of living people were accepted for the first time, Pietro Annigoni’s second painting of the Queen attracted a quarter of a million visitors in two months, and female warders were appointed for the first time. Te NPG was the place to visit and the place to be seen. If anyone modernised museums, it was Roy Strong, a man who always believed visitors should enjoy ‘martinis with their Bellinis’. Hence the new cocktail bar. Private Eye’s Pseuds’ Corner once published a photograph of him holding a champagne glass. No quotation, just the picture. Originally conceived at a time of burgeoning Victorian confidence, industrialisation and empire – the gallery was established to inspire public emulation of ‘persons most honourably commemorated in British history as warriors or as statesmen, or in art, in literature or in science’. Today, however, many are much less comfortable with some of those Victorian values. And since the Brexit vote in 2016, British identity has never been so contested. A year after Cullinan returned from the Met in New York, Britain split itself in two over the EU referendum. ‘We’re not political,’ Cullinan says. ‘But this makes everything we’re going to do all the more important, because whatever our beliefs, backgrounds, perspectives, politics, we need a strong, unifying, inclusive message about British
identity.’ Tat doesn’t mean, he says, avoiding difficult questions. Alert to the complexity of his job during this moment of transition, of representing Britain’s past to a confused and divided contemporary audience in a time of change, and of lingering controversies surrounding BP and Sackler, and the role of the gallery in 21st century Britain, he has said: ‘We live in a time of heightened feelings and political debate. I have no problem with airing these topics. If we didn’t, we’d become a kind of Beatrix Potter cottage industry.
‘Te collection is a visual history of Britain – it’s about people who have made an impact on British history. Tat means you don’t have to be British to be here.’ And that is why the faces that confront you range far and wide, from work of the German Holbein the Younger and the Flemish Anthony Van Dyck, to the South African Marlene Dumas, Pauline Boty, Chris Ofili, Grayson Perry and Craig Wylie. Interestingly, it was decided to close the gallery during its restoration. Tis has meant
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