As Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World draws to a close at Tate Britain, we would like to thank Penelope Curtis, the former director of the gallery and the show’s co-curator, who has moved on to the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon. During her five years as director she made Tate Britain a stimulating, beautiful and surprising place to visit. She oversaw the splendid £45m redevelopment of the Millbank site and created an inspired chronological rehang of the permanent collection.
Curtis, and the curators with whom she worked within and outside Tate Britain, re-introduced us to the British collections – often showing us works long hidden, invariably in fresh contexts. Migrations: Journeys into British Art (2012) ranged from Sir Peter Lely to Frank Bowling, using the permanent collection to explore the artistic effects of emigration; Looking at the View drew imaginatively on Tate Britain’s landscapes; while an exhibition of Edwardian portraits, Forgotten Faces (2014), offered insights into the taste and the collecting policies of Tate Britain and reminded us of some extraordinary artists and sitters.
These small-scale, intellectually playful forays into the permanent collections were complemented by the big shows – including some of the gallery’s most successful exhibitions, on Late Turner, Lowry and the pre-Raphaelites. Unusual topics were addressed such as folk art, the vision of the independent film-maker Patrick Keiller and the meteoric career of Sir Kenneth Clark. Unusual questions were asked and explored. Sculpture Victorious (2015), for instance, sought to show us the medium through Victorian eyes as a species of technological enchantment. Clearly our loss will be Portugal’s gain.
Dr Glenn Adamson Museum of Art and Design, New York
Ariane Bankes London
Professor Dame Gillian Beer Cambridge
Carol Blackett-Ord London
Andrew Brighton London
Dr Chloe Chard London
Rupert Christiansen London
Professor Richard Deacon London
Matthew Darbyshire Rochester, Kent
Nell Dunn London
Laura Ford London
Professor Margaret Garlake London
Charlotte Gere London
Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe Dublin
Richard Gott London
Tanya Harrod London
Professor Paul Hills London
Richard Hollis London
David Fraser Jenkins London
Robin Kinross Hyphen Press, London
Joseph McBrinn University of Ulster, Belfast
Carol McNicoll London
Nicolette Moonen London
Richard Morphet London
Jacqui Poncelet London
Dr Alan Powers London
Andrew Sabin London
Dr Charles Saumarez Smith London
Romilly Saumarez Smith London
Dr Veronica Sekules Great Dunham, Norfolk
Peyton Skipwith London
Tony Stokes Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan
Giles Waterfield London
Alison Wilding RA London
Bill Woodrow RA Burgate, Hampshire
Ellis Woodman London
