I’m currently fascinated by the art of assembling, managing and presenting collections. Perhaps that’s because as an art dealer I source and sell commercial works, and they are never around for long! Oh to be a curator acquiring pieces for an institutions collection, or overseeing their displays and exhibits! One of the best is Matthew Hargraves, who earned his BA from the University of Warwick, and both his MA in 2000 and PhD in 2003 from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
Hargraves is now the Chief Curator of Art Collections at the Yale Center for British Art, where he specialises in the history of British art, with a particular focus on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
The Yale Center for British Art, designed by architect Louis Kahn.
Matthew has lead a team of curators in the complete reinstallation of the Yale Centres galleries (the first since 2005) Entitled ’Britain in the World’ it features more than 500 objects which place British art in a global context, tracing the relationship between art and Britain’s imperial ambitions from the sixteenth century to the present. I was thrilled to be able to catch up with Matthew to ask him about curation, his passion for art, and also his professional challenges!
When, where, and how did your passion for art begin?
I suppose it began when I was a small child growing up in Winchester, a city surrounded by art and history. I remember especially being overwhelmed by Alfred Gilbert’s giant bronze of Queen Victoria but also visiting my grandfather's house and seeing his collection of English watercolours that was always changing and always had something new.
Is it possible to name just one favourite work in The Yale Center for British Art?
That is hard. Of course there are the masterpieces and among them I would have to single out Peter Lely’s delightful 'Diana Kirke' who greets me every morning as I walk past to my office. But the collection is also full or smaller, more Informal pictures that reflect the taste of Paul Mellon for simple and unpretentious things. Of those I would single out the beautiful little 'Moorhens Haunt' by Richard Redgrave of 1846.
'Diana Kirke Countess of Oxford ‘ by Peter Lely (1618-1680)
When do you feel the best art was produced and why? Who are some of the artists that inspire you?
I don’t think I could single out a specific period as the best, although my own preference has always been for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Quality is still something that matters, despite that fact it is often unfashionable to talk about., and that can be found in almost any time and place if you look for it. My favourite artists, the ones who inspire or move me, are probably Titian and Joseph Cornell who seems as unlike each other as it is possible to be.
What do you think of the casual use of curator and curate in popular media and marketing?
I try not to be too troubled by this although I am aware that it implies an impoverishment in the understanding of what curators actually do, even among people within the profession. The hidden and unglamorous parts of the curator’s job—stewarding and building a collection, caring for those objects, researching and understanding them—are often ignored in favour of temporary exhibitions and other more public activities. But generally most people are fascinated to know about these less visible aspects of museum life, the things that go on behind closed doors, and the onus is perhaps on us to make them more apparent now that everyone can be a ‘curator.'
'Moorhens Haunt' by Richard Redgrave 1846.
What’s the most unexpected work in the collection that you hope to display in future?
Probably ‘In and Out of Love' by Damien Hirst from 1991. This consists of eight paintings with butterflies, a table with ashtrays and ash, and four boxes but it is hard to exhibit well in our galleries although when shown it changes the perception of the institution
What is the biggest challenge you face professionally?
Time is an obvious answer but a great challenge. Competing demands and expectations mean that there is never enough time to devote to the things one would like to. But I suppose this is true of any profession. It is also challenging to find really good curators equipped with all the skills necessary for museum work today.
In and Out of Love (Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays) 1991 - Damien Hirst.
Which recent exhibition has impressed you the most and why?
I prefer small exhibitions and the most impressive one I have seen recently was way back in 2007 curated by Kristel Smentek who now teaches at MIT. It was called Rococo Exotic: French Mounted Porcelains and the Allure of the East and took up one room at the Frick, a room that had once been a cloakroom. It looked at Chinese porcelains in the collection that had been adapted in the eighteenth century by the addition of French Rococo ormolu mounts. I thought it was enthralling.
Do museums exist simply to interpret the past ? Or can they also illuminate the present and potentially change the future?
Certainly they can interpret the past. I always assume works of art to be historically remote and do not speak for themselves in any straightforward way. But historical objects can illuminate the present day. We recently displayed a small group of prints and drawings relating to the concept of deluge and inundation from the collection, most of which were from the nineteenth century. But visitor feedback showed that they stimulated our audiences into thinking about current issues of climate and environment, the threat of unpredictable weather and rising sea levels from a number of different persoectives. Whether that will change the future is impossible to know but it was satisfying to know that artists like John Martin or JMW Turner can still speak directly to audiences today.
The Yale Center for British Art,
Can you describe your profession in just five words?
Often misunderstood but deeply rewarding!
Matthew Hargraves is the author a variety of publications including Candidates for Fame: The Society of Artists of Great Britain (Yale University Press, 2006); Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007); Varieties of Romantic Experience: British, Danish, Dutch, French, and German Drawings from the Collection of Charles Ryskamp (Yale Center for British Art, 2010); and A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany (Paul Holberton, 2014).
Interview Nick Cox.