Nicholas Serota
CH | |
---|---|
Senior Independent Director of the BBC | |
Assumed office 2017 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Nicholas Andrew Serota 27 April 1946 Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (2013) |
Serota was previously Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London,[6] before becoming Director of the Tate in 1988. He was also Chairman of the Turner Prize jury until 2007.[7]
Early life
Born and raised in
In 1969, Serota became Chairman of the new Young Friends of the Tate organisation with a membership of 750: they took over a building in Pear Place, south of Waterloo Bridge, arranging lectures and Saturday painting classes for local children. The Young Friends staged their own shows and applied for an Arts Council grant, but were asked to desist by the Tate Chairman and Trustees, who were concerned with the appearance of official backing for these ventures. Serota and his committee resigned, which precipitated the end of the Young Friends, whose accommodation was taken over for rehearsals by the National Theatre.[11]
In 1970, Serota joined the
Whitechapel directorship
In 1976, Serota was appointed Director of the
In 1976 he was a judge for an art competition run by the brewers
The shows, where Serota was helped by his administrator Loveday Shewell, often received adverse reviews in the press, which reacted with an uncharacteristic dislike for contemporary avant-garde art. Thus Serota remained somewhat distanced from the English establishment, although developing a growing reputation internationally in the art world.[14]
In 1984–1985, Serota shut down the Whitechapel for over 12 months' extensive refurbishment. A strip of land had been acquired, which allowed a design by architects Colquhoun & Miller for a first-floor gallery, restaurant, lecture theatre and other rooms. Although receiving wide approbation, the scheme was in deficit by £250,000. In 1987, Serota raised £1.4 million in an auction of work, which he had asked artists to donate, paying off the debt, and creating an endowment fund to allow future exhibitions of more unconventional work, unlikely to attract a commercial sponsor.
Tate directorship
The short-listed candidates for
News of Serota's appointment as Tate Director in 1988 was received enthusiastially by Howard Hodgkin, who wrote in The Sunday Times, "Nick Serota has enormous energy and demonstrated at the Whitechapel a tremendous sense of diplomacy. He is a passionate man, and indeed is quite unusual in this country in his commitment to modern painting and sculpture."[14]
In contrast, Peter Fuller made a scathing attack in Modern Painters magazine, saying that Serota would be incapable, by temperament and ability, of maintaining the Tate's historic collection.[14]
Major expansion of the Tate Gallery had been seen as inevitable for two decades. In 1993, the creation of the National Lottery made it possible to anticipate the availability of major public funding for an enlarged Gallery.[15]
In 1995, Tate received £52 million towards the conversion of the former
On 21 November 2000, Serota gave the
For in spite of much greater public interest in all aspects of visual culture, including design and architecture, the challenge posed by contemporary art has not evaporated. We have only to recall the headlines for last year's Turner Prize. "Eminence without merit" (The Sunday Telegraph). "Tate trendies blow a raspberry" (Eastern Daily Press), and my favourite, "For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces. Today, pickled sheep and soiled bed threaten to make barbarians of us all" (The Daily Mail). Are these papers speaking the minds of their readers? I have no delusions. People may be attracted by the spectacle of new buildings, they may enjoy the social experience of visiting a museum, taking in the view, an espresso or glass of wine, purchasing a book or an artist designed t-shirt. Many are delighted to praise the museum, but remain deeply suspicious of the contents.[17]
In 2016, Serota received a salary of between £165,000 and £169,999 from the Tate, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the UK public sector then, at the lower end of the senior officials 'high earners' list and well below what similar executives in public health, transport or government administrative top roles were earning.[18]
In 1998, Serota conceived "Operation Cobalt", the secret buy-back of two of the Tate's Turner paintings that had been stolen in 1994 while they were on loan to a gallery in Frankfurt. The paintings were recovered in 2000 and 2002.
In December 2005, Serota admitted that he had submitted an application form with false information to the
In September 2016, the Tate announced that Serota would step down as director in 2017, and he would become director of Arts Council England,[3] for the term 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2025.[23] Serota was succeeded at the Tate by Maria Balshaw.[24]
Reactions
Serota has been criticised by Platform and Liberate Tate for inviting increased sponsorship of the Tate from BP. Their demands were supported by 8,000 Tate members and visitors, and artists including Conrad Atkinson.[25] When questioned about BP sponsorship during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Serota responded "We all recognise they have a difficulty at the moment but you don't abandon your friends because they have what we consider to be a temporary difficulty."[26]
The art critic Brian Sewell coined the critical phrase 'the Serota tendency' to refer to the popular BritArt movement of the 1990s that was favoured by Serota's Tate and collectors such as Charles Saatchi.[27][28]
Since its formation in 1999, the Stuckist art group has campaigned against Serota,[29] who is the subject of the group's co-founder Charles Thomson's satirical painting Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision (2000),[30] one of the best known Stuckist works[31] and a likely "signature piece" for the movement.[32] Serota was dubbed the "least likely visitor" to The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the Walker Art Gallery in 2004,[33] which included a wall of work satirising him and the Tate, including Thomson's painting.[34] In fact, he did visit and met the artists, describing the work as "lively".[35] In 2005, the Stuckists offered 160 paintings from the Walker show as a donation to the Tate. Serota wrote to the Stuckists,[36] saying that the work was not of "sufficient quality in terms of accomplishment, innovation or originality of thought to warrant preservation in perpetuity in the national collection", and was accused of "snubbing one of Britain's foremost collections".[36]
In 2001,
Honours
Personal life
In 1973, Serota married Angela Beveridge (divorced 1995),[44] having two daughters, Anya and Beth.[45] In 1997, he married Teresa Gleadowe, a curator and arts administrator, with whom he has two stepdaughters.[45]
Sir Nicholas and Lady Serota divide their time between homes in King's Cross, London, and Cornwall.[27]
References
- ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
- ^ a b "Sir Nicholas Serota to leave Tate for Arts Council role". BBC. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ "National Council Members". Arts Council England. Accessed 9 October 2017
- ^ Brown, Mark (8 September 2016). "Sir Nicholas Serota appointed chairman of Arts Council England". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "Is the new Whitechapel gallery a modern masterpiece?". The Independent. London, UK. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
- ^ a b Wroe, Nicholas (22 April 2000). "The hanging judge". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ www.brittensinfonia.com
- ^ www.theguardian.com
- ^ "Old Haberdashers Association - School Captains". oldhabs.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ISBN 1-85437-231-9.
- ^ www.antonygormley.com
- ^ www.royalacademy.org.uk
- ^ ISBN 1-85437-231-9.
- ^ Bailey, Martin (18 April 2018). "The Struggle Behind Tate Modern's Birth". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Kellaway, Kate (24 April 2010). "Artists, Critics and Readers on 10 Years of Tate Modern". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b Serota, Sir Nicholas. ""The Dimbleby lecture 2000: Who's Afraid of Modern Art"". Archived from the original on 6 March 2001. Retrieved 8 July 2008., BBC, 6 March 2001; retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015". gov.uk. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Tate Broke Own Rules on Ofili Buy", The Sunday Telegraph, 18 December 2006; retrieved 23 March 2006.
- )
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte. "How the Tate broke the law in buying a £600,000 Ofili work", The Guardian, 19 July 2006; retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ Duff Oliver, "Blades out for Serota in petition to No 10", The Independent, 24 April 2008; retrieved 3 May 2008.
- ^ "Sir Nicholas Serota CH, Arts Council England". Arts Council. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Brown, Mark; Pidd, Helen (11 January 2017). "Tate to name Maria Balshaw as new director to succeed Serota". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ The What Next? art campaign must tackle sticky questions like BP at Tate The Guardian, 3 May 2013
- ^ Interview, The Jewish Chronicle, 8 July 2010.
- ^ a b Tomkins, Calvin (2 July 2012). "The Modern Man". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ The Independent (21 September 2015). "Brian Sewell: Loved and hated for insisting most modern art is rubbish". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ Cassidy, Sarah. "Stuckists, scourge of BritArt, put on their own exhibition", The Independent, 23 August 2006; retrieved 6 July 2008.
- ^ www.stuckism.com
- ^ Visual Arts: Saying knickers to Sir Nicholas ; The Stuckist art movement has, at last, been granted a major show in a national gallery: Cripps, Charlotte. The Independent [London (UK)] 7 September 2004: p. 18.
- ^ Morris, Jane. "Getting stuck in". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Tate that: Serota defies his critics". The Independent. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ Stuckism, GFDL. "Stuckism, GFDL". www.stuckism.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ Pia, Simon. "Simon Pia's Diary: Now the Stuckists are on the move", The Scotsman, p. 22, 22 September 2004; retrieved from newsuk.
- ^ a b Tate rejects Pounds 500,000 gift from 'unoriginal' Stuckists: Alberge, Dalya. The Times [London (UK)] 28 July 2005: p. 34
- ^ "Winning artist slams Tate director", BBC, 20 June 2001; retrieved 8 July 2008.
- ^ "Major leads honours list for peace", BBC, 31 December 1998. Retrieved 14 April 2007
- ^ "No. 55354". The London Gazette. 30 December 1998. pp. 1–2.
- ^ "No. 55610". The London Gazette. 14 September 1999. pp. 9843–9844.
- ^ "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 4.
- ^ "Birthday Honours List 2013" (PDF). HM Government. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ www.legiondhonneur.fr
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (2003 edn)
- ^ a b Jeffries, Stuart (13 May 2005). "The Guardian profile: Nicholas Serota". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2021.