Prospero | Reframing

The importance of art arrangement

Academics prefer the “compare and contrast” approach, often to the detriment of the work

By P.W.

THE physical act of hanging a picture is pretty simple. Choices about where to hang it, however, are anything but. In a book or on screens, a painting appears invincibly itself, but when hung high or low, surrounded by plenty of space or little, near works that harmonise or works that clash, clustered by theme or chronologically arranged, a painting’s impact can be enhanced or blunted. Even a masterpiece can lose its magic if unfortunate choices are made.

Like having a good eye, displaying art well is a gift. James Bradburne, the director of the Pinacoteca di Breara in Milan, is an example of someone who has it. Upon his appointment in 2015, he immediately set about changing the lighting and colour of the Pinacoteca’s walls to bring the collection to life. Imaginative labels for children, and illuminating histories for adults, are soon to follow. Mr. Bradburne is not an art historian; the old academic standby—“compare and contrast”—does not dominate his exhibition choices, catalogues and presentation. Instead, works are set free to communicate directly with viewers. “With Open Eyes” is the Brera’s new motto.

Not all directors take such an enlightened approach; a painful example of poor arrangement is now on view at the National Gallery in London. Designed by architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, the Sainsbury Wing became the home of the museum’s celebrated collection of pre-1500 paintings in 1991. “The Baptism of Christ” (c. 1450, below) by Piero della Francesca hung in the centre of a curved, chapel-like “studiolo” created for it and three other Pieros: the unique setting was intended to permit contemplation. But in August, Caroline Campbell, the chief curator, decided to move the Pieros from their sanctuary into a noisy through room. Its silence is drowned out by the jolly chatter of school groups and the squeak of floor boards. Why?

Ms Campbell has praise for the architects: the success of their endeavour, the unusual amount of thought they gave to the paintings when designing the space. She says that she has “loved Piero since [she] was a teenager,” but has “always thought it would be interesting for our public to see the two great Leonardos in this collection together.” It seems the studiolo created for the Pieros is the only space that permits the lighting variations required to achieve this. Leonardo da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks” (1508) is a painting; “The Virgin and Child with St Anne and John the Baptist” (1499-1500) is a large-scale drawing. Alas, this decision has not paid off. Now crowded together, their differences in scale and media are jarring.

So is the viewer’s ability to contemplate the Pieros in peace, but Ms Campbell believes that there are advantages to their move. She says that the “Baptism” looked beautiful where it was but adds that she had been concerned that “in terms of studies of Piero people have thought of him as an isolated genius.” Isolated he now is not. In addition to the noise, the “Baptism” now hangs adjacent to the gripping “Battle of San Romano” by his contemporary Paolo Uccello. Peace and war: compare and contrast.

“Moving the Piero della Francesca is not the solution,” Ms Scott Brown said when informed of the moves and the reasons for them (the architects’ were not involved in the decision). The “Baptism” is a work of rare spiritual power that can touch even agnostics: its new location makes it impossible to connect with that. It remains to be seen what, if any, art historical insights will compensate for that loss.

In one’s home or a dealer’s gallery, works of art are seen by relatively few people and it is easier to play around with their display. Not so in museums, repositories of most of the world’s greatest art, visited by millions of people every year. Exhibitions can last for months, even years, so art’s arrangement is far too important to be left solely to academically-minded curators. Professional architects and designers have demonstrated the contribution they can make to our ability to connect with art; they are able to make even seemingly arcane works come to life, imbuing them with a sense of wonder and delight. Everyone would gain if museum curators ceased hanging art for the benefit of their colleagues and turned over the job to those gifted at bringing art and the public closer together. Mr Bradburne feels that “the purpose of any museum installation is to engage the visitor; to help viewers get out of a work of art all the artist has put in.” If only more curators and directions shared his approach. A museum’s job is not to compete with artists, but to set their visions free.

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