Evaluation of the Research at the Statens Museum for Kunst Final Report

Transcription

1 Evaluation of the Research at the Statens Museum for Kunst Final Report May 2002

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3 Table of Contents Preface 5 I Main Conclusions and Recommendations 6 II Terms of Reference, Evaluation Panel and Procedure 8 1. Terms of Reference 8 2. Composition of the Evaluation Panel 8 3. Evaluation Procedure 10 III Historical Background. Finances. Organisation and Management of the Research Legal Status and History Finances Research Areas Organisation and Management of the Research 17 IV Results of the Evaluation The 1996 Research Evaluation and the Self-Evaluation Research Climate Research Organisation Staffing Issues Publications Past and Future Exhibitions, Display, and Acquisitions Co-operation National and International Library Resources, Access to Collections, and Data Bases 34 V Appendices Addresses of Evaluation Panel Members Background Information for the Evaluation Panel Publications reviewed by the Evaluation Panel Schedule for the Evaluation Panel Visit Statistics on the Research at the Statens Museum for Kunst Organisational structure of the Statens Museum for Kunst 51 3

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5 Preface For the last decade the obligations of the Statens Museum for Kunst, Denmark s national art gallery, have been specified in a Contract of Results with the Ministry of Culture. The contract for included the obligation to carry out an international evaluation of the research at the Museum, a follow-up of a similar evaluation which took place in The present report is the result of the evaluation that took place in April In the Contract of Results it is stated that Statens Museum for Kunst is a research institution and that art historical research forms the basis of most of the activities in the Museum and that it is the bearer of the national cultural heritage within painting and sculpture. The evaluation of the research at the Statens Museum for Kunst took place at a time when the Museum had recently implemented the reductions in staff and activities due to the Financial Law This, together with the recent restructuring of the organisation, had to be taken into account by the Evaluation Panel in assessing the impact of the changes on the research environment. The Panel agreed that a close connection between research and exhibitions should be the aim of the Museum, but the Contract of Results with the demand for broadness and a specified high number of visitors is working against it. It is the hope of the Evaluation Panel that the following recommendations will encourage the Statens Museum for Kunst to maintain and enhance the high aims of research carried out within the last five years. Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen Chairman 5

6 I Main Conclusions and Recommendations The research of the Statens Museum for Kunst has been evaluated on behalf of the Ministry of Culture. The evaluation was carried out by a panel consisting of Deputy Keeper Frances Carey Department of Prints and Drawings The British Museum, London Senior Curator, M.Phil. Philip Conisbee Department of European Painting National Gallery of Art, Washington Professor, Dr. John House Courtauld Institute of Art University of London Chief Librarian, Dr.Phil. (chairman) Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen Kunstindustrimuseet, København with the following terms of reference: to evaluate the quality and the relevance of the research results in relation to the purpose of the Museum and the requirements for research carried out at an international level to evaluate the scope of research in relation to the use of resources to evaluate the scope and the quality of the cooperation with Danish and foreign researchers and research institutions, and the research climate at the Museum to evaluate the organisation of the research to carry out the evaluation in the light of the framework and the conditions of research at the Museum to put forward recommendations about the research activities The evaluation was based on self-evaluation material, including a number of selected research publications presented to the Panel medio February 2002, and a three day visit to the Museum primo April The Panel has been assisted in its work by Consultant Else Marie Kjerkegaard. The Evaluation Report has been unanimously agreed upon by the Panel and includes the following conclusions and recommendations. These are made taking into account the 6

7 results attained during the period , and with a view to the future in the light of the circumstances prevailing since the structural changes of April 1 st With reference to the mandate provided by the Ministry of Culture, they may be summarised as being: that the quality and relevance of research results have been of a high standard for the period under review, entirely in keeping with the purpose of the Museum and with the requirements for research carried out at an international level, that the scope of research has made a good and efficient use of resources, that the scope and quality of the co-operation with foreign researchers and research institutions has generally been admirable at an international level in the Old Master field, but that within Denmark more needs to be done on a formal as well as an informal basis, particularly in relation to the Museum s responsibility towards Danish art, that the research climate within the Museum is to be commended as far as individual initiative is concerned, but that it would benefit from better mechanisms for both internal and external discussion and evaluation of all research-related issues. The Panel recommends that the Statens Museum for Kunst should have its own External Research Board, that the organisation of research needs to be fully integrated at the most senior level within the setting of the Museum s overall objectives, and the strategic planning towards their attainment. To this end the Chief Curator/Head of Research should be a member of the main management board. The remaining items on the mandate are addressed in the detailed recommendations of the main body of the report. 7

8 II Terms of Reference, Evaluation Panel and Procedure 1. Terms of Reference The terms of reference for the evaluation of the research activities at the Statens Museum for Kunst were set by the Ministry of Culture and specified in Plan for the International Evaluation of Research Activities at the Statens Museum for Kunst, dated November 12 th The evaluation should follow the guidelines for research evaluations under the Ministry of Culture, using the concepts of research laid down by the Research Committee of the Ministry of Culture as its basis. The evaluation should cover the period For the researchers the process should be transparent and offer the opportunity for dialogue about the organisation and execution of the evaluation. The terms of reference for the evaluation panel was set as the following: to evaluate the quality and the relevance of the research results in relation to the purpose of the Museum and the requirements for research carried out at an international level to evaluate the scope of research in relation to the use of resources to evaluate the scope and the quality of the cooperation with Danish and foreign researchers and research institutions, and the research climate at the Museum to evaluate the organisation of the research to carry out the evaluation in the light of the framework and the conditions of research at the Museum to put forward recommendations about the research activities 2. Composition of the Evaluation Panel The terms of reference stated that the evaluation should be carried out by a chairman and three panel members who between them should cover the scientific subject areas of the Museum. The members of the panel should be researchers at the highest scientific level. 8

9 The evaluation panel was established by the Ministry of Culture as follows: First, the Ministry appointed the Chairman upon recommendation from the Research Committee of the Ministry of Culture. The Chairman was given the overall, professional responsibility for the evaluation and the task to direct the work of the panel. The chairman then chose the other panel members on the basis of proposals made by the Research Committee of the Ministry of Culture and the Statens Museum for Kunst. The final appointment of the panel was made by the Ministry. Below, the reader will find a short presentation of the Evaluation Panel. In appendix 1 the reader will find addresses of the Panel members. Frances Carey Frances Carey is the Deputy Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, with special responsibility for the collections from 1890 onwards. She participated in the 1996 research evaluation of the Statens Museum for Kunst and since then has published a catalogue of Modern Scandinavian Prints in 1997, from the British Museum s collection, and The Apocalypse and the Shape of Things to Come in 1999 which covered material from the eleventh to the mid-twentieth centuries. She is a member of the British Museum s Exhibitions Forum and convenes a group of curators known as the Modern Collecting Group from six curatorial departments and the Department of Education, who meet to discuss issues surrounding the collection, interpretation and display of material from the 20 th century and beyond. Currently she is engaged in preparing the installation of Field for the British Isles, c. 40,000 terracotta figures by the contemporary British sculptor, Antony Gormley, for the autumn of 2002 in the British Museum. This will be linked to material from the archaeological collections that has inspired the artist, as well as having a compleme ntary display of his drawings. Philip Conisbee Philip Conisbee is Senior Curator of European Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University. After teaching at the universities of Reading, Cambridge, and London (Birkbeck College), he taught the history of European art at Leicester University until In that year he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, as Curator of French Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts; from he was Curator of European Painting and Sculpture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; he has been at the National Gallery of Art since He has published widely on French art from the 17th to the early 19th centuries, including the books Painting in 18th-Century France (1981) and Chardin (1985); and contributed in whole or in part to many exhibition catalogues, including Van Gogh and Millet (1988), The Golden Age of Danish Painting (1993), Georges de La Tour and His World (1996), In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting (1996), and Portraits by Ingres. Image of an Epoch (2000). 9

10 Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen (chairman) Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen has been chief librarian at the National Art and Design Library and assistant director at the Danish Museum of Decorative Art since She graduated from Copenhagen University in 1971, where she was associate professor at the Institute of Art History In her research she has focused on iconographic problems, writing her doctoral thesis on Medieval Islamic Symbolism and the Paintings in the Cefalú Cathedral (Leiden, 1986). Iconography is also a main issue in her work with decorative art (Dansk Kunsthåndværk København, Dansk Kunsthåndværk 1850 til vor tid. København, 1982) and furniture as in Herculanum paa Sjælland, klassicisme og nyantik i dansk møbeltradition, (København, 1988) and forthcoming Dreams of a Golden Age Danish Neoclassical Furniture In Toulouse-Lautrec Posters (København, 1995) and Danish Jewish Art Jews in Danish Art, (Copenhagen, 1999) she has tried to bridge the gap between fine and applied art. She was editor of Hafnia, Copenhagen Papers in the History of Art, and has since 1991 where she founded Scandinavian Journal of Design History been the editor of this journal. John House John House is Professor of the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. Born in 1945, he took his first degree at Oxford, in Classics, before moving to the Courtauld Institute for his MA and Ph.D (on the work of Claude Monet). He joined the teaching staff of the Courtauld Institute in 1980, after periods teaching at the University of East Anglia and University College London. He is the author of Monet: Nature into Art, 1986, and Renoir: La Promenade, 1997, and many articles and essays on nineteenth-century French painting. He has also been involved in the organisation of many exhibitions, including Post-Impressionism (London and Washington ), Renoir (London, Paris and Boston ), Dreams of a Summer Night: Scandinavian Painting at the Turn of the Century (London, Paris and Düsseldorf 1986), Landscapes of France: Impressionism and its Rivals (London and Boston 1996) and Monet in the 20 th Century (Boston and London ). 3. Evaluation Procedure As specified in the terms of reference, the evaluation procedure followed the guidelines for research evaluations under the Ministry of Culture. Consultant, cand. polit. Else Marie Kjerkegaard had the overall responsibility for the practical planning and execution of the evaluation, including the arrangement of the self-evaluation, the schedule for the Panel visit and the editing of the report. The research and the conditions of research were described through a self-evaluation questionnaire, which was prepared by the Head of Research of the Museum and the Consultant in cooperation; then discussed in a group of researchers from the curatorial departments, set up by the Museum to support the Evaluation Panel. The self-evaluation questionnaire was finally presented to the Chairman of the Panel for approval. 10

11 Seen overall, the self-evaluation questionnaire aimed at providing information about all relevant factors relating to research activities. The questions dealt with such matters as the historical background of research, organisation and management of research, planning of research, extent of money for research and sources of funds, research facilities, staff profile, research projects in progress, scope and quality of research results, communication of research results, external research collaboration, and the research degrees of the researchers at the Museum. The self-evaluation questionnaire also included the preparation of the following: A list of the names and the professional background of the researchers, a list and a description of the research projects in progress, a list of the research publications in the evaluation period, and a description of the communication profile. Finally, the Museum was asked to select articles or catalogues published since 1 January The selection should be representative of the subjects areas, representing the scientifically best works. The completed self-evaluation questionnaire with all appendices was submitted to the Panel in due time before the Panel visit to the Museum. The statistical information in the self-evaluation questionnaire is shown in appendix 5. A list of the background material of the evaluation and the publications reviewed by the Panel is shown in appendix 2 and 3, respectively. The Evaluation Panel was gathered in Copenhagen for four full days. The first two days were arranged as consecutive meetings with the following groups: The researchers at the Paintings and Sculpture unit, the Prints and Drawings unit, and the Conservation Department. During these meetings the researchers had the opportunity to give supplementary information and discuss their research activities and the issues in focus. The schedule was organized with 2/3 of the time available for a free and open discussion between the researchers and the Panel. On the third day of the visit the Panel carried out follow-up and in-depth interviews with selected researchers, the Head of Research, the Management Board of the Museum, and selected persons involved in the research in the evaluation period. This part of the programme was decided upon by the Panel at the end of the second day. The fourth day (and the evenings of the other days) the Panel used for discussing its evaluations, conclusions and recommendations, and for the preparation and drafting of the report. The Consultant functioned as moderator during the meetings in the Museum and as secretary of the Panel during the whole process. The schedule for the Panel visit is shown in appendix 4. 11

12 Before the final completion of the report the Support Group and the Management Board of the Statens Museum for Kunst was given the opportunity to comment on the contents of the report. In total, the evaluation procedure was arranged with the double aim of carrying out an independent, international evaluation of the research at the Statens Museum for Kunst, and to arrange the process in such a way that it could in itself be fruitful for the Museum. The Panel is responsible for chapter I and IV, the Consultant for chapter II and the appendices 1-4, and the Statens Museum for Kunst for chapter III and the appendices 5 and 6. 12

13 III Historical Background. Finances. Organisation and Management of the Research 1. Legal Status and History The Law on Museums (no. 473 of 7 June 2001) is the major law regulating the museums of Denmark. It states i.a.: The Statens Museum for Kunst is the major art museum of Denmark. The Museum must shed light on Danish and foreign art, primarily from the western culture from the year of The collections of the Museum are the foundation of research ( ) It is the responsibility of the Museum through ( ) research ( ) to (i.a.): Shed light on the history of art. Develop the collections and documentation. Make the collections and documentation available for research and promote the results of research. Besides the major Law on Museums, there is also a specific Law on Research from 1996 concerning the research at archives, libraries and museums under the Danish Ministry of Culture. The law has the following major implications for the Statens Museum for Kunst: The Museum has to have a long-term plan on research. The internal committee on research (comprises both internal and external members) comments on the long-term plan on research and the annual report on research. The Museum has to make the results of the research available to the public. The Museum participates in the training of Ph.D students and future curators. The Law on Research has been expanded by the statutes on the conditions of assignment (1997), the statutes on the composition of internal research committees (1997) and the statutes on the title and profile of research jobs (1997). The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance provide all formal regulations concerning research. The Ministry of Culture has made guidelines for the long-term plan on research and the annual report on research. 13

14 For several decades the curators at the Statens Museum for Kunst have had a statutory right to carry out research. During the 1970s and 80s the statute allowed them to do research in two seventh of the working hours, but without any limitations as to the subjects undertaken. A relation to art works in the Museum was not required. In 1988 the conditions of assignment were changed, and now the curators were allowed to spend 25 pct. of the hours on research, not as a right but as a duty, and with the restriction that all research has to be related to the Museum s collections and to be connected to the projects undertaken at the Museum. In practice the greater part of the research is closely related to the major exhibitions held at the Museum. But the Museum also has a statutory obligation to promote Danish art and the research related to it abroad. Before 1988 all curators were assigned to their positions with no limitations in time. The conditions of assignment of 1988 introduced some new types of research positions, of which two are of relevance to the Museum: research curators, who are employed for a limited period of time (normally three to five years, six maximum), after which he or she is supposed to have qualified for a permanent research position (or continue in a curator position without the obligation to do research), senior research curators, whose research has been evaluated by an external committee of scholars, and whose positions have no time limits. In 1996 the new law concerning research at archives, libraries and museums was passed, and the following year the conditions of assignment were changed for the future research curators; their position is still limited in time (three to five years, six years maximum). But now they can only obtain a permanent position if they qualify as senior research curators or senior advisers and only on application after a publicly announced vacancy. For the research curator such a publicly announced vacancy is not in itself a guarantee, however, as the Museum may choose to apply for another research curator instead of a senior research curator, in order to obtain renewal of the staff. The Museum may also choose another applicant for a vacant senior research curator position. The chief curators have had no formal obligation to do research, but in practice they have carried out research to the extent that time permits. The framework of the assignments of the researchers is based on the assumption that a mobility of the Danish researchers is desirable. But considering the fact that there are no other Danish art museums at which appointments as research curator or senior research curator are possible, this mobility is more hypothetical than realistic, and it does not exist in practice. As the Fine Arts Institutes at the Danish universities tend to employ candidates that have already a close connection to the institutes, research curators will have great difficulty in finding similar work after the end of their employment period. 14

15 In 1996 the first evaluation of the research at the Museum took place, covering the period (cf. International Evaluation of Research Activities 1996, The Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 1996). Research evaluations are to be carried out about every five years as a request from the Ministry of Culture. In the Contract of Results between the Ministry of Culture and the Statens Museum for Kunst for a research evaluation was expected to be carried out before the end of the period. At least two international research symposiums were to be held. Research publications were to be written in or translated into English. All research projects were to be introduced with description of the concept, a time schedule, a problem formulation, expenditures etc. These are some of the requests concerning research in the Contract of Results, and they derive from the first evaluation. Other recommendations concerned new appointments and foreign scholars. In the Contract of Results it was expected that 1-2 new research appointments were provided. The Contract of Results for is not as detailed though the expectations are the same and does not mention another research evaluation; however, the next one will probably take place in Finances The Ministry of Culture provides the basic funding of the Statens Museum for Kunst, about 60 million DKK yearly. This amount is at the disposal of the Museum, but it must be spent in accordance with the Law on Museums and the Contract of Results. From other sources the Museum receives about 15 to 20 million DKK. The Statens Museum for Kunst spends approximately 10 pct. of its resources on collection, 4 pct. on registration, 16 pct. on preservation, 5 pct. on research, 25 pct. on education and exhibitions, 10 pct. on administration and 30 pct. on auxiliary functions and the maintenance of the building. In the period the Statens Museum for Kunst allotted 20.6 million DKK of its basic funding to research, or approximately 4 million DKK per year. From other sources the Museum received 4.3 million DKK, so the total research funds amounted to 24.9 million DKK in The total costs in the same period amounted to 23.3 million DKK, as the Museum did not spend all its research funds in the specific period, see table 1 in appendix 5. The allocation of the funds according to department reflects i.a. the size of the departments in terms of resources for research and the fact that the Department of Prints and Drawings is better at acquiring external funds, see table 2 in appendix 5. In the years the basic funding for research provided by the Ministry of Culture will be 4.1 million DKK (in 2002 prices) per year. 15

16 3. Research Areas The objective of the research at the Museum is to shed light on the works of art in the collections and the artists represented here and to contribute to the Danish and international research of relevance to the works in the collections, thus placing them in their proper scholarly context. As for Danish art, the Museum has an obligation to promote Danish art abroad, and much research is related to this effort. As the status of the research is different regarding the two major collections in the Museum, the emphasis of the research is also different. The Collection of Prints and Drawings comprises approximately 300,000 objects of art on paper among which c.10,000 drawings by foreign old masters, and since the Department has always been understaffed, only a small part of the collection has been thoroughly researched. During the temporary closure in connection with the rebuilding of the Museum in the Department of Prints and Drawings, personnel and collections, was moved to a former military camp in the countryside some 25 miles from Copenhagen. Staff resources, which are otherwise dedicated to service functions and exhibition activities, were channelled into scholarly investigations of the collection's history. A major research programme was initiated, in which all curators undertook one major project calculated to run over several years (resulting in one major exhibition on Goya and several catalogues raisonnés). The research strategy of the Collection of Prints and Drawings is concentrated on two interrelated subjects: (1) History of the collection and provenance studies (2) Cataloguing of the collection of old masters. The acquisition policy is closely related to these research topics, as the Museum tends to buy old master drawings which fill in holes in the collection in areas where it is strong like e.g. Neapolitan and Florentine baroque. The Collection of Paintings and Sculpture covers European art since 1300 with a special emphasis on Danish art since c. 1750, and it comprises c. 8,500 works. The works of art of this collection have all been catalogued and to a great extent also identified (with the exception of a considerable number of European paintings before 1800). Therefore the Department has not bestowed as much work on the catalogues raisonnés as the Collection of Prints and Drawings (though one was published in 2000). Much of the research of this department is closely related to the efforts of placing important parts of the collection particularly Danish art in an international art-historical framework in the major exhibitions at the Museum. The Royal Plaster Cast Collection is a division of the Department of Paintings and Sculpture and was originally exhibited in the Museum, but since 1984 (after three decades in storage) it has been placed in a separate building. Since the reinstallation of the collection great efforts have been made to catalogue the c. 2,800 casts with the aim of producing a concise catalogue of the collection and catalogues raisonnés. 16

17 The research of the Department of Conservation takes its starting point in the actual conservation and restoration of the works of art, though systematic investigations are also carried out. 4. Organisation and Management of the Research Until 1 April 2002 the Statens Museum for Kunst was organised in eight departments: the Department of Paintings and Sculpture with a section for the plaster cast collection the Department of Prints and Drawings, the Department of Conservation, the Exhibition Department, the Marketing Department, the Department of Education and Presentation, the Department of Technical Services and Security with the subdivision Guards and Service and the Department of Administration with a subdivision in charge of the Museum Library and the National Database of Art in Danish Museums. The Board of Directors consisted of the Director, the Deputy Director (who is also head of the Department of Administration) and the Head of Public Relations, who was also Press Officer. The management group consists of the Board of Directors and the heads of departments. In spring 2002 important organisational changes took place at the Statens Museum for Kunst. To a great extent they were necessitated by the budgetary cuts that have been imposed upon the Museum by the Danish Government. The Museum has had to reduce its costs by about 10 pct. The reductions have first and foremost been concentrated on dismissal of staff and only to a small degree on operational expenditure. All in all, 21 out of c. 200 employees have been dismissed. As for the organisation the following changes were carried out as of 1 April 2002: The number of departments was reduced from eight to six. First and foremost the Department of Paintings and Sculpture and the Department of Prints and Drawings were united in a new department called the Department of Collections and Research, and the head of the united departments is the Chief Curator up till now of the Department of Paintings and Sculpture. At the same time the Exhibition Department was dissolved, and the responsibility for the exhibitions was taken over by the Department of Education and Presentation, now the Department of Education and Exhibitions. The Press Officer is no longer a member of the Board of Directors, but is attached to the former Marketing Department, whose name is now the Department of Communications. Art handling, storage and registration has become the responsibility of the Conservation Department. See the organisational diagrams before and after the cuts in appendix 6. In the preceding years, the Museum has undergone a process of specialisation. A number of structural changes in the organisation of the work at the Museum have improved the conditions for the curators research. With the appointment of a press officer (in 1993) and a publication editor (1999), the establishing of a Registrar s Office (1995), a 17

18 Department of Education and Presentation (1997) and an Exhibition Department (1999) a number of important tasks that had previously been carried out by the curators were taken over by other members of the Museum staff. Furthermore, the responsibility for the libraries was transferred from the chief curators of the respective departments to the Deputy Director (1997). Thus, the curators have since then been able to spend more time on research. Another important step to strengthen the research and the planning of it is the establishment of the new position of Head of Research, which was assigned to the Chief Curator of the Department of Paintings and Sculpture (2001). Before the extent of the cuts was known it was decided to establish the long planned Centre for Advanced Studies in Master Drawings at the Museum and to appoint the now former Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings as Head of the Centre as of 15 February The Museum is right now working to establish collaboration with one of the major private Danish foundations, so that the founding of the Centre will be based on external funds. There is no formal planning procedure for the research and the exhibitions. Ultimately, all decisions are made by the Director. But before that, extended discussions take place among the involved researchers and the Heads of the Departments. Proposals for exhibitions will be presented to the Director by the curator in question and/or by the Chief Curator, but there is no formalised forum, in which the curators may present their ideas for exhibitions. The plans on the research are revised (at least) once a year, and the annual status reports are sent to the Advisory Committee on Research of the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Library of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Statens Museum for Kunst. The committee has four external members and three representatives of the researchers of the three institutions. This committee will give an annual commentary to the Ministry of Culture on the research reports and plans of the three institutions. This commentary is purely advisory. 18

19 IV Results of the Evaluation 1. The 1996 Research Evaluation and the Self-Evaluation 2002 In addition to the mandate provided by the Ministry of Culture, the Panel has taken into account the recommendations of the 1996 evaluation and the extent to which these have informed the Statens Museum for Kunst s subsequent objectives and strategies for research. These recommendations were incorporated into the Contract of Results agreed between the Statens Museum for Kunst and the Ministry of Culture for the period The 1996 report began by affirming the indivisibility of all curatorial activities in terms of the meaning and purpose of research within a museum context: that is the care, documentation and conservation of the collections, the display, exhibition and acquisitions policy. The main conclusions of the 1996 report focused on the following aspects: The planning of individual research objectives in relation to departmental and overall museum objectives, with clear timetables for delivery of texts and encouragement for inter-departmental collaboration. Improved debate and dissemination of research through regular symposia involving both national and international colleagues. Publication of all major research, including both permanent collection and temporary exhibition catalogues, in English, along with the Museum s Journal, and the establishment of a better distribution network for these publications. The cultivation of international contacts, particularly during the two-year period of closure prior to the opening of the new extension in November Special consideration to be given to the Statens Museum for Kunst s responsibility to maintain a representative collection of Danish art, with appropriate documentation, in relation to other museums in Denmark. The need for the Museum to formulate a distinctive policy in this area which was felt to be particularly important within the contemporary field. Publication and display of the contribution of the Conservation Department. Development of the educational use of the Cast Collection and of the opportunities it provided for research involving different disciplines. Additional staff positions, both curatorial and technical, in the departments Paintings and Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, and Conservation. Development of the Ph.D programme to foster contacts with the universities and to encourage a new generation of students to undertake research focused on both objects and issues of relevance to the Museum. 19

20 The panel for the 2002 assessment has been impressed by the quantity and quality of publications produced over the intervening period, demonstrating that the staff did indeed make excellent use of their time during the two-year closure. These publications may be favourably compared with the best produced internationally in almost all respects, ranging from substantial permanent collection catalogues to those attached to major exhibitions, popular surveys of parts of the collection and smaller, project-based ventures, as well as the conservation of particular works in the Museum. The overwhelming emphasis has been on material within the Museum s own collection which will be of lasting value to the general public and the scholarly community as a whole. Publication has been predominantly in English, including the Museum Journal, whose content and appearance the Panel commends. International contacts have been fostered through individual initiatives. The Conservation Department has established a fruitful relationship with the National Gallery in London, as well as becoming more pro-active in the promotion of the results of its research at home. The above demonstrates a dedicated, highly-motivated staff whose achievement has been all the more remarkable given their small number; the former Paintings and Sculpture Department also bore a heavy responsibility for re-installing the collection after the completion of the building programme in We can think of no other museum in the world that has managed to bring to fruition four scholarly permanent collection catalogues in such a short space of time, while maintaining a serious exhibition programme involving loans from outside, regular displays taken from the permanent collection and a lively involvement with contemporary art. Nonetheless, a number of the recommendations of the 1996 report have either not been fulfilled or only partially implemented. This has not been sufficiently recognised in the self-evaluation material, even taking into account the significant changes which have taken place most recently since the questionnaire was completed. The self-evaluation material should have addressed the recommendations of the 1996 report more explicitly, since they did form part of the Contract of Results which is the basis for the Museum s relationship with the Ministry of Culture and its status as a research institution. The areas of concern arising in the first instance from the 1996 report are listed below, then developed further on in the current report, in relation to the Panel s findings during the course of its interviews at the Museum: The Statens Museum for Kunst s responsibility to maintain a representative collection of Danish art, with appropriate documentation and publication, in relation to other museums in Denmark and the need for national collaboration on this issue. The role of the Cast Collection. 20

21 The planning of individual research objectives in relation to departmental and overall museum objectives. Improved debate and dissemination of research through regular symposia involving both national and international colleagues. Additional appointments in all the curatorial areas. Continuation and development of the Ph.D programme. The establishment of a better distribution network for the Statens Museum for Kunst s publications, including the Journal. 2. Research Climate In its discussions, the Panel operated from the starting point of the Museum s Contract of Results, which states that art-historical research forms the basis of most of the Museum s activities, and emphasises that the Statens Museum for Kunst has a natural and central role in Danish art-historical research, with a special responsibility for arthistorical research on Danish art in Denmark and internationally. In this context, the Panel registered the necessity of sustaining and enhancing the research climate of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The 1996 evaluation noted that research at the Statens Museum was largely a matter of initiative on the part of individual scholars (p.26) and it is the impression of the Panel that this has continued to be the case since then. The results for the period , helped by the Museum s closure from , were impressive. However, recent staff reductions and structural change may put at risk the chance of similar achievements in future, unless the Museum actively seeks to encourage a sense of community among its researchers. This requires open and reciprocal channels of communication between management and research staff and the development of forums in which research plans can be freely discussed. All research staff at the Statens Museum for Kunst should be allowed to make the greatest possible contribution to its research plans, and feel they are functioning as part of an effective community. In the following the Panel has a number of specific comments and recommendations about the research organisation of the Statens Museum for Kunst, in the belief they will create the frameworks that will facilitate this outcome. 21

22 3. Research Organisation Head of Research The position of Head of Research established 1 September 2001 will be of fundamental importance in achieving the above mentioned goals, and will need to assume overall responsibility for planning and coordinating research activities, and ensuring their successful outcome. With this in mind, the Panel has a number of suggestions about ways in which this position may be strengthened and these goals may be achieved. Chief Curator and Head of Research The combination of the positions of Chief Curator of the collections and Head of Research established 1 April 2002 will inevitably make heavy demands on the person holding these positions. The Panel recognises that there are advantages in combining the positions, rather than appointing a separate Head of Research, since this ought to ensure that research remains at the centre of the new department s activities. However, it is important that the heavy commitments of this combined position should not lead to any neglect of the research interests of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The Committee of Heads of Department ( Leaders ) The Panel noted with some concern that, as a result of recent restructuring, the Chief Curator and Head of Research will be the only research-related member of this Committee, whereas previously there were three (including the Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings and the Curator of the Cast Collection, the latter with observatory status). It is of the utmost importance that the voice of the research-related activities of the Statens Museum for Kunst is not accordingly diminished in the decision-making of the Museum. The Management Board of the Statens Museum for Kunst It is with this in view that the Panel recommends that the Chief Curator and Head of Research should become a member of the Management Board of the Museum, alongside the Director and the Deputy Director (Head of Administration). The Museum s collections and research are fundamental to its mission, and such a change in its ma n- agement structure would ensure that these interests play a central role in its top-level decision-making processes. Recommendation: that the Chief Curator and Head of Research should become a me m- ber of the Management Board of the Statens Museum for Kunst. 22

23 The combination of the former curatorial departments The Panel recognises the external pressures that have led to the combination of the former Departments of Paintings and Sculpture and Prints and Drawings with a single Chief Curator, and feels that the researchers in the two former departments should be able to gain benefit from their closer coordination in the new combined Curatorial Department. However, the Chief Curator of the combined departments will need to be able to delegate the details of everyday management of the two units, and it may be advisable to appoint a head of each unit, who will assume these responsibilities while being accountable to the Chief Curator. Within this formal organisational framework, it is essential that there should be forums in which research plans can be collectively discussed. These should enable the open exploration of broad ideas and the initial concepts for projects as well as the detailed scrutiny of fully-formulated proposals. The formation of a Research and Exhibitions Committee The Panel considers that the Statens Museum for Kunst should institute a formally constituted Research and Exhibitions Committee, working from a previously circulated agenda and keeping formal minutes. All research-active members of the staff should be members of this Committee. The Committee should meet at least three times a year, and its conclusions should be integrated by the Director into the formulation of the Statens Museum for Kunst s research plans that are presented to the meetings of the External Research Board. The Panel considers that this Committee should, in the first instance, be responsible for considering all future plans and proposals for research and exhibitions, in line with the requirements outlined in the Contract of Results, that the Statens Museum for Kunst should introduce all research projects by a description of the project, including concept, time schedule, presentation of the problem, resources needed, relevance, and how the results are to be published. Recommendation: that the Statens Museum for Kunst should institute a formal Research and Exhibitions Committee. Formation of an informal research forum The Panel considers that it would also be beneficial to institute an informal meeting of researchers, perhaps meeting monthly over lunch, in which proposals for research and issues of research practice and methods might be informally discussed, in order to establish a regular and open context for the exchange of ideas. Discussion in this context would be a normal prelude to the presentation of formal proposals to the Research and Exhibitions Committee. Recommendation: that the Statens Museum for Kunst should institute an informal research forum. 23

24 External advice and consultation about research The Panel feels that the Statens Museum for Kunst s research planning and activities would be strengthened by the regular input of specialist external advice, from a small group of art-historical professionals from other institutions who work in the most relevant fields. Such advice would ensure the appropriateness and the quality of the research undertaken at the Statens Museum for Kunst. These advisers might best be non- Danish experts, so as to ensure that the Museum s research receives the benefit of input from advisers with a different range of experience, and that it continues fully to meet international standards. Such a group should meet annually, to examine a detailed presentation of the Statens Museum for Kunst s current research activities and future plans. The most suitable forum for such a meeting would be the External Research Board, if this can be reconstituted in such a way that its meetings can be devoted to the Statens Museum for Kunst alone, thus allowing sustained and detailed consideration of the plans presented to it by the Museum. Alternatively, the external advisers might participate in one meeting per year of the Statens Museum for Kunst s own Research Committee. Recommendation: that the Statens Museum for Kunst should institute formalised external appraisal of its research activities and plans, and should have its own External Research Board. Retrospective assessment of research activities The Panel considers that the Statens Museum for Kunst should set up a formal structure for retrospective assessment of its research projects and their outcomes; this is also a requirement of the Museum s Contract of Results. This might be the responsibility of the Head of Research in conjunction with the Research and Exhibitions Committee, but it should be undertaken in conjunction with the External Assessors. This assessment might be linked to the peer review of articles to be published in the Statens Museum for Kunst Journal, as proposed elsewhere in this evaluation report. Recommendation: that the Statens Museum for Kunst should set up a formal procedure for retrospective assessment of research projects. The Centre for Advanced Study in Master Drawings The creation of the Centre for Advanced Study in Master Drawings has promising implications for research and publication in this field, if appropriate funding can be found for its activities. However, the Panel would highlight three concerns resulting from its creation. 24

25 First, the redeployment of the former Chief Curator of the Prints and Drawings Department means that one fewer curator is available for the daily work in the Prints and Drawings unit; this in turn will inevitably impact on the research productivity of those who remain in the unit. Second, the present plans for the Centre seem to focus only on non-danish drawings; we would urge that its brief be explicitly extended to include Danish material, since the mission of the Statens Museum for Kunst should clearly involve research and detailed scholarly publication of its seminal collections of Danish works on paper. And third, the focus of the Centre on drawings alone runs the risk of marginalising the Statens Museum for Kunst s vast and highly significant print collection. With these factors in view, the Panel feels that the implications of the creation of the Centre for the future research output of the Prints and Drawings unit should be carefully scrutinised, and that the terms of reference of the Centre should be reconsidered. Recommendation: that the implications of the creation of the Centre for Advanced Study in Master Drawings and its terms of reference should be reconsidered. 4. Staffing Issues General principles The Panel considers that all staff in the Curatorial Department should have a proven expertise in one of the key fields represented in the Statens Museum for Kunst s collections, but feels that at the same time they should be willing to take a broader interest in the collections, so as to be able to offer informed attention to areas where there is no expert on the staff. Given the small numbers of staff and the range of the collections, existing and new staff should be willing to view their areas of responsibility with considerable flexibility, rather than confining themselves to their own areas of research expertise. To maintain its international standing, the Statens Museum for Kunst should seek applications for research positions from abroad (this is easy within the EC), as well as from within Denmark, particularly for senior posts. Paintings and Sculpture The promotion of one Senior Curator to the post of Chief Curator and the impending retirement of the Senior Curator in old master paintings, together with the imminent end of the contracts of the two Junior Research Curators, have created staffing issues that urgently need to be resolved. Whilst recognising the significant input of short-term Research Curators to the activities of the Paintings and Sculpture unit, it remains essential that key areas of the collection should be in the care of established permanent members of the curatorial staff, so as to develop research and presentation of them in a grounded and systematic way. 25