{"id":133966,"date":"2025-09-10T14:55:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T14:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133966\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T14:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T14:55:07","slug":"national-gallery-accused-of-risking-bad-blood-with-tate-over-20th-century-art-tate-modern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/133966\/","title":{"rendered":"National Gallery accused of risking \u2018bad blood\u2019 with Tate over 20th-century art | Tate Modern"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decision to tear up an agreement<\/a> between the National Gallery and Tate, which stopped the Trafalgar Square institution from collecting works created after 1900, could create \u201cbad blood\u201d and a situation in which the two galleries are \u201cat each other\u2019s throats\u201d, according to senior sources.<\/p>\n

The National Gallery announced the shift as part of Project Domani, which involves it receiving \u00a3375m of investment for a new wing that will usher in a \u201cnew tomorrow<\/a>\u201d at the 200-year-old institution.<\/p>\n

Maria Balshaw, the director of Tate, officially welcomed the announcement, saying it was planning to work closely with the National Gallery<\/a> to \u201cfurther the national collection as a whole\u201d. A working group featuring staff from both galleries has also been established.<\/p>\n

But the Guardian understands that behind the scenes, the decision to change the collection policy at the National Gallery is seen by some as a threat to Tate and a shift that could revive an old rivalry.<\/p>\n

One person with knowledge of the situation said: \u201cHats off to [the National Gallery] for getting the money; that type of competition is good. But we have to ensure we do the right thing for the national collection and not something really stupid that\u2019ll have national galleries at each other\u2019s throats because that\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know \u00a3400m sounds like a lot of investment, but one Rothko is \u00a3150m: if you want a Basquiat, it\u2019s over \u00a3100m. I understand that they\u2019re over the moon with this amount of money, but I just think a reality check in favour of the national collection is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another source associated with the Tate told the Guardian: \u201cIf the National Gallery collects, there will be competition for acquisition and much bad blood, as in the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, others involved at Tate welcomed the move. A senior figure, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Guardian: \u201cWhat the National Gallery wants to do is perfectly understandable \u2013 they can\u2019t really just stop right at a certain point as we get further away [from 1900], it starts to become more and more arbitrary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source said that the National Gallery collecting 20th-century work would if anything have a positive impact on Tate, \u201cbecause they basically do have a lot more money at the moment. They can buy those works and share them with Tate\u201d.<\/p>\n

There has been a historic tension between Tate and the National Gallery, fuelled by the question of who should be allowed to collect \u201cmodern\u201d art.<\/p>\n

For decades the two institutions competed for the same works, with the Tate arguing that the cutoff point for the National Gallery should be 1900. That position was confirmed in an official agreement in 1996, but that line has never sat well with bosses at Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n

Successive National Gallery directors have argued that the barrier is arbitrary and awkward, meaning \u2013 for example \u2013 they can include everything that inspired cubism but then not show any of the work because of when it was created.<\/p>\n

When Gabriele Finaldi became director of the National Gallery in 2016 he spoke about his frustration at the 20th-century cutoff, adding that it was \u201cslightly frustrating to reach 1900 and then not go on\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday Finaldi said that the change in the collection policy was necessary because \u201cas 1900 gets further and further away it will be natural for us to tell the bigger story\u201d.<\/p>\n

When asked about a possible \u201cwar\u201d between the two institutions, Finaldi told the BBC: \u201cWe share the responsibility for a very, very large and significant part of the nation\u2019s art. And it\u2019s natural for us to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

But any flirtation with modernity at the National Gallery raises hackles in some quarters. In 2005, the gallery was criticised for \u201cselling out\u201d when it installed Chris Ofili as its artist in residence \u2013 almost a decade after he won the Turner prize.<\/p>\n

In 2009, a new agreement<\/a> between Tate and the National Gallery ensured that the 1900 barrier would be respected after the initial 1996 deal ran out.<\/p>\n

That has held since: Tate Modern has become the destination for international art from 1900, the National Gallery houses international art to 1900, and Tate Britain<\/a> holds British art from 1500 to the present day.<\/p>\n

That agreement has not always been followed to the letter. The National Gallery already has more than 40 works made since 1900, with paintings by Picasso and C\u00e9zanne in its collection. There is also a Richard Long piece<\/a> from 2025 in the Sainsbury Wing and there was a Paula Rego exhibition back in 2023.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s announcement raises questions of where certain 20th-century painters would now sit.<\/p>\n

A senior Tate figure who spoke to the Guardian used the example of what would happen to the work of David Hockney now the agreement has been torn up. \u201cDo we want David Hockney to leave his works to Tate for use there and across the country or to the National Gallery?\u201d they asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must have an agreement for donors and artists about where they leave their work,\u201d said another source. \u201cOtherwise, it\u2019s just going to be a complete shambles.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, Balshaw, the director of Tate, and Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, said: \u201cThe National Gallery and Tate have established a joint working group and we look forward to fleshing out the details of our new collaboration over the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking on behalf of both institutions, we see enormous potential in building this close collaborative relationship, which will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the art-loving public.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A decision to tear up an agreement between the National Gallery and Tate, which stopped the Trafalgar Square…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-133966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}