Leonardo in London; Quick or You'll Miss It. Be Prepared!

The Guardian have reported on the forthcoming exhibition, (mentioned previously in this blog) of Leonardo Da Vinci, to be held in the National Gallery, London, as 'the most complete display of Leonardo's rare surviving paintings ever held'. Questions are being asked however, as to whether the 'Block Buster' exhibitions of recent times have come to an end, with the National Gallery placing a limit on admissions. Stephen Moss asks whether the packed crowds, limited viewing of art works and timed entry will become a thing of the past in favour of a more civilised and heightened experience of exhibition viewing.

In the past 12 months or so it has been notable, the comments made by exhibition reviewers and visitors a like, as to the monstrous conditions one has to put up with just to see a temporary show. Pushing swarms of visitors, waiting in line to see a masterpiece, hundreds of camera flashes going off at the art works peril; as if some kind of celebrity were in front of the jostling crowds. It has come to be an expected side effect of wanting to go to see any major exhibition in the U.K and has even been coined with its own terminology; Gallery Rage!

The recent Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern has caused a stir in the ethos of the Gallery Block Buster mentality. Although the exhibition (see links below) provided a record high in business for the museum, it was also the most reported on for over crowding and disgruntled visitors who paid, queued and did not see paintings due to the rest of the art loving mass accompanying them in the Gallery.

Stephen Moss reports;

The problem lies with the whole notion of the "blockbuster", which is just a desperately hoped-for money-spinner for cash-strapped galleries. Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts & Business, argued recently that the era of blockbuster shows was coming to an end. And he welcomed their phasing out. "The blockbuster model is killing art," he said. "It is not the right way to see great artists. In the next five years, museums will stop doing these exhibitions because they are too much trouble. The blockbuster is an old model. The creators of culture have to think in a different way."

Art shows are like any other aspect of the cultural business. Galleries put together a show, try to create a buzz, hope the exhibition will come to be seen as an "event". The hucksterism is pretty disgusting when you think about it. They've introduced timed tickets to try to even out the peaks and troughs in attendance, but timed tickets are pretty disgusting too. They assume that a two-hour stint is the norm and won't let you back in if you fancy having lunch and then taking another look.

This is, as Tweedy says, no way to see art. It is a branch of commerce devised for the benefit of the gallery, and playing on the exhibition-goer's fantasy that by spending two hours in the company of Gauguin or Leonardo he or she can get a meaningful take on the artist. Far better to go and look at a couple of Gauguins in a gallery and live with them for a while, or go regularly to see the couple of Leonardos in the National Gallery's permanent exhibition.

Galleries which stage blockbuster shows are peddling a myth, and they know it. Like Tweedy, we should welcome the fact that the age of the blockbuster is ending. We need to study more carefully paintings that are readily to hand.

The bad publicity received by the Tate Modern seems to have been a lesson learned for the National Gallery, who have opted to reduce the maximum persons allowed entry per hour, from 230 to 180, but this exhibition will draw crowds of art lovers from all over the world, whether limited numbers or not.

The exhibition is the first and best opportunity to view not one, but seven of the artists masterpieces in one exhibition. The curator of the exhibition, Luke Syson, describes it as an achievement for any Gallery to get just one of Leonardo's 14 authenticated paintings, let alone seven, which he states is 'miraculous'.

In his Guardian article; 'Leonardo da Vinci show at National Gallery to limit visitor numbers', Mark Brown interviews the National Gallery's director, Nicholas Penny, who called the exhibition;

"a great triumph in diplomacy" with paintings leaving galleries in Italy and France for the first time....

The show will focus on Leonardo's paintings and drawings while he was court painter to Milan's ruler, Ludovico Sforza. The National Gallery already has the recently restored Virgin on the Rocks and is being loaned astonishing works to exhibit alongside, including Portrait of a Musician from Milan, Saint Jerome from the Vatican and La Belle Ferronière from the Louvre. There will also be what Syson called "one of the most beautiful pictures that was ever painted by anybody anywhere" as the show's centrepiece – Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, or The Lady with an Ermine, which is regarded by many as the first truly modern portrait and is being loaned by the National Museum in Krakow...

Then there are the drawings. More than 50 are being borrowed including 33 owned by the Queen that were purchased during the reign of Charles II and left in the bottom of a chest until they were rediscovered in 1778, during the reign of George III.

Those visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa however, will be dissapointed as the Mona Lisa was painted during Leonardo's time in Florence and therefore does not fall under the exhibition's brief of Leonardo's court paintings at Milan. Brown adds;

Not that anyone would ask the Louvre for a loan. "The collecting staff there would rather rush round naked than lend it," said Syson

Due to the recent back lash aimed at the Tate for the Gauguin debacle, the National Gallery understandably wants to prepare visitors for the exhibition; what to expect and how to get the best experience out of the event as possible;

"There is going to be tremendous demand and we have taken a number of unusual steps to try and ensure people are not too disappointed," said Penny. "It is very important that people study our website before they come to the exhibition. They can download all the information that people stand and read beforehand. The whole experience can be properly prepared for."

...The show opens in November, but the gallery is giving people plenty of time to book in advance by opening sales on Tuesday. Those hoping to buy tickets on the day are being told they face disappointment. The show will run for only three months because, understandably, the other galleries want their paintings back, but it will be open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 7pm on Sundays. Opening times will be extended further in the last two weeks.

So with all this in mind; forewarned visitors, pre-planned limited numbers and an advertising machine mill stating 'this is not a block buster' that works at drawing visitors just as well as the block buster 'must - see' campaign does, how will the average art lover prepare themselves for the trial of the gallery visit? The Guardian's Tim Dowling has the answer!

In his article; 'How to beat gallery rage' Mr Dowling gives a few tips on handling the masses;

▶ Go at odd hours. Try first thing in the morning or last thing at night (blockbuster shows sometimes stay open until 9 or 10pm in order to accommodate everyone). Even if it's still crowded, it will be less fraught.

▶ Approach the exhibit non- sequentially. Visitors tend to bunch up at the first few works of art, driven by a sense that they have to see everything in order. Jump ahead to less crowded works, or even follow the whole route backwards. This should stop you suffering from gallery rage, although you may cause some.

▶ Skip the audio tour. The evil voices in your headphones will only tell you to go where everyone else on the audio tour is going. This invariably leads to traffic problems around paintings about which the audio guide has something to say.

▶ Re-contextualise the event. Pretend you've come to see a performance installation about crowd control and the limits of human endurance and that the art on the walls is, if anything, a needless distraction.

▶ Wear a high-visibility vest. It makes you look official; people will be afraid to jostle you.

▶ Cultivate a taste for the overlooked, the offputting, the little understood and the poorly reviewed. Your best hope of seeing a one-off collection of masterpieces in peace comes whenever some critic has the foresight to describe the show as "badly curated".

▶ Take advantage of adverse conditions. Even over-subscribed exhibitions become suddenly accessible during freak snowstorms, transport strikes and violent protests. Watch the news, pick your moment and bring extra water in case you get beaten up or kettled on the way home.

▶ Stay home and watch TV. Someone has to. Don't worry about being a philistine; just be thankful you live in a country where museum overcrowding is an actual problem.

And remember;

don't play the galleries' game by falling for the idea that these big shows are "must-sees". For a start, you can barely see them.

Tickets for the Exhibition go on sale on 10th May 2011, better be quick!

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/09/blockbuster-exhibition-national-leonardo?intcmp=239

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/09/leonardo-da-vinci-national-gallery?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.guardian.co.uk/search?q=how+to+beat+gallery+rage&target=guardian