Annual Review 2019 2020 - Sainsbury Centre
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Annual Review 2019 – 2020
The Board of the
Sainsbury Centre
Chairman
Mr Dominic Christian
Members of the Board
Lady Bacon
Mr Charles Barratt
Mr Simon Blakey
Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll
Ms Sara Foster
Professor Paul Greenhalgh
Mr Peter Hesketh
Professor Claire Jowitt
Ms Laura McGillivray MBE
Professor Fiona Lettice
Mr John Talbot
Professor David Richardson
Vice Chancellor (ex officio)
Cover: Magdalene Odundo, Transition II, 2014.
1
Contents
Chair’s Foreword 4
Director’s Overview 6
Responses to COVID-19 9
Programme 15
Exhibitions 16
Touring 23
Collections 27
Conservation 33
Learning 39
Figures at a glance 48
Research and Publications 51
Finance and Development 55
Financial Statement 60
2 3
Annual Review
2019–2020
Chair’s Foreword
First and foremost, the health and wellbeing of our staff, Despite the pandemic, the Centre has achieved a
visitors, supporters and the wider University community, remarkable range of activity this year. Four major new
is of paramount concern during this pandemic. The exhibitions opened in Norwich, while the international
touring programme saw shows travel to Los Angeles,
Sainsbury Centre team has done a great deal to reduce
New York and Madrid. The Centre lent 93 works, helping
the risks to all those who visit, and I am particularly proud to foster knowledge of the collection worldwide. Three
that we were one of the very first museums in the country important new sculptures took up residence in the
to reopen, with rigorous safety measures in place. Sculpture Park, which has fast become a tremendous
amenity for the campus, city and region, providing a
place of escape and sanctuary.
Over 4,000 school and college students visited the
galleries before lock down and after, and the Learning
team produced a dazzling range of online engagement
activities for all ages. The autumn saw the launch of the
new website, which massively increased the Centre’s
ability to connect with visitors, bringing exciting new
content and stories into people’s homes and allowing
them to enjoy the collections, albeit remotely!
The Centre received over £350,000 in new grants, much
of the funding given to support innovative digital projects.
The Gatsby Charitable Foundation generously provided
a major grant for the online catalogue and we are
immeasurably grateful to Lord Sainsbury of Turville for Photo(s) to come?
his continued support of all the Centre’s activities. Thank
you also to the University and to all our donors and
patrons, whose support this year has been more
important than ever.
Our relatively secure position at the end of the financial
year is a remarkable achievement this year and
testament to the careful path taken by the University and
Acting Director, Ghislaine Wood, during these uncertain
times. I would particularly like to thank Ghislaine and all
the staff for their dedication and professionalism in
adapting to the new conditions. From the Gallery
Assistants and Front of House team who deal with the
public, to all those working back of house and from
home, your sense of common purpose, commitment and
care has been truly extraordinary.
Dominic Christian
4 5
Annual Review
2019–2020
Director’s Overview
This year must surely be the most extraordinary in Like most cultural organisations, the Sainsbury Centre Nature of Dreams opened in July, and for the first time, activities, many of which can be accessed through the
the Centre’s history. Last autumn’s anxieties over was impacted heavily by lockdown. Projects were revealed the influence of Britain on continental Art Sainsbury Centre Online Studio. The Learning team
our post-Brexit future were overshadowed by the cancelled or postponed, and the Centre suffered Nouveau. The exhibition showcases loans by the great continued to work closely with schools developing
substantial loss of income. However, we came to the fin-de-siècle architects Victor Horta and Antoni Gaudí, bespoke projects to engage students working outside
global Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown of
end of the financial year in a stronger position than from Brussels and Barcelona respectively. the classroom. The creation of remote learning assets will
the spring and early summer. During lockdown the help the Centre reach national audiences with its learning
many organisations. The Centre reopened early on 7th
urgent call to action, precipitated by the murder of This year also witnessed the continued success of the activities in the future.
July, and extended the runs of the popular exhibitions
George Floyd in the US, led to the emergence of Centre’s touring initiative, with the exhibition Fiji: Art and
Art Deco by the Sea and Art Nouveau: The Nature of
Life in the Pacific opening at the Los Angeles County The Centre’s research plan encourages knowledge
the most powerful anti-racism movement in a Dreams, which did much to mitigate the worst of the
Museum in December and the Brian Clarke: The Art of sharing across the sector and this year we continued to
generation. These momentous events, seem to financial impact. It is important to note though that
Light exhibition installed at the Museum of Arts and develop research focussed on subject areas covered by
have changed the museum landscape forever, as without the support of our benefactors, and most
Design in New York. The Body Observed, a the collection. New publications included The Nature of
we have adapted to new ways of living and especially the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the
collaboration with Magnum Photo, was scheduled to Dreams: England and the Formation of Art Nouveau, Art
effects of the pandemic would have been much more
working, restructured our priorities, embarked on open at Fundación Canal in Madrid in May, but has Deco by the Sea and Site Writing, Volume 1 a publication
severe. We are immensely grateful to Gatsby and to all
a new digital age, and committed ourselves to a been postponed until the autumn. The touring that brings together texts by authors such as Ali Smith,
our patrons for their continued support. Gaston Bachelard and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
process of reflection and change. programme brings the Centre’s collections and
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the expertise to audiences around the world. alongside new writing to form new interpretations of the
year, the Centre achieved a huge amount before going Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. Staff produced
into lockdown. The autumn shows Magdalene Odundo: With the closure of the Sainsbury Centre galleries to the various essays and articles and facilitated research visits
The Journey of Things and Doris Lessing 100 were public on 18th March, staff adapted quickly to working by scholars and students, fostering scholarly study of the
both critically acclaimed and received significant from home. The management team identified a number collection.
national coverage. These shows aimed to promote to of new strategic priorities and initiatives, including
digital public engagement, research and expertise Finally, the Black Lives Matter movement has had an
wider audiences the work of internationally important enormous impact this year and has particularly required
women artists. The Odundo exhibition, a collaboration development, and online learning activity. The Sculpture
Park remained open during lockdown and provided a of cultural organisations a profound re-evaluation of their
with The Hepworth Wakefield, included works from the activity. The call for institutional change has been
Sainsbury Centre’s collections to illuminate Odundo’s tremendously important civic amenity throughout.
embraced by the museum sector, with many
creative journey, while the Lessing project utilised the Laurence Edwards’ Man of Stones, installed in the
organisations reviewing their policies and practices. The
writer’s archive held in the University’s British Archive autumn, was joined during lockdown by Phillip King’s
Centre has embarked on a process of reflection,
for Contemporary Writing. Sun’s Roots II and John Davies’ monumental Head. The
establishing as a first step, an Anti-Racism working
Sculpture Park project has aided the health and
Highlight East End displays included Sonny Assu: group, which will make recommendations to the
wellbeing of our communities significantly over this
Unknown Maker, the result of an artist residency by the Executive and Board. We are committed to doing more
challenging period.
Kwakwaka’wakw nation artist, Assu. This was another to increase access and diversity and to draw attention to
significant UEA collaboration, on this occasion with the One positive aspect of the crisis has been the the colonial histories of acquisition of many of the works
American Studies Department and the Beyond the opportunity to focus on the digital museum experience in the collection. In line with the founding mission of the
Spectacle: Native North American Presence in Britain and the Centre has aimed to generate world-class Centre, to display works of art from different cultures and
research project. The residency led to a major digital content that inspires creativity, research and regions of the world with equality, we will over the coming
acquisition of Assu’s work, the first in the UK. Both the learning online. The new website launched in year look at all aspects of the Centre’s activity with the
Odundo and Assu projects contributed to the Centre’s November, and our major cataloguing project, aim of extending that mission of equity and
aim to diversify the programme, and engage new supported by Gatsby, could not have come at a better transformation.
audiences. moment. Many of the staff have been involved in Ghislaine Wood, Acting Director
cataloguing during lockdown, producing new research,
Art Deco by the Sea followed and was the first major
and we continue to increase the proportion of the
exhibition in the UK on British Art Deco since 1976.
collection accessible online, with high quality
Critically acclaimed, the exhibition was one of only six
information and images.
projects selected for the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine.
Art Deco by the Sea has attracted visitors to Norwich The Learning team delivered a huge range of activities
from around the UK, and it travels on to The Laing Art prior to lockdown, and since, have developed exciting
Gallery in Newcastle later this year. Art Nouveau: The digital initiatives, generating new learning tools and
6 7
Responses
to COVID-19
8 9
Annual Review
2019–2020
Responses to COVID-19
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sainsbury Exhibitions
Centre was closed to the public from Wednesday Art Deco by the Sea was one of six exhibitions selected
18 March to Sunday 5 July. During this period, our by the BBC to be featured in their Culture in Quarantine
security, maintenance, technical and conservation series, allowing access to the exhibition while we were
teams cared for our building, collections and physically closed. The 15-minute film was produced
loans and the rest of the teams continued to from exhibition images and is available on BBC iPlayer.
operate whilst working remotely. The temporary closure of the Sainsbury Centre during
the COVID-19 epidemic forced the Centre to adapt our
exhibition schedule. Art Deco by the Sea was originally
Sainsbury Centre was one of the first museums in intended to run from 9 February – 14 June 2020 but the
the country to reopen to the public on 7 July 2020. exhibition was extended to 20 September 2020, after
We introduced numerous measures to make the which it will travel to the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.
building safe for visitors. These include timed tickets Art Nouveau: The Nature of Dreams was due to open
to moderate visitor numbers, one-way systems 29 March 2020, however the lockdown meant that the
throughout the building with clear signage, Perspex exhibition could not open until we reopened to the
barriers at reception, hand sanitiser stations and public on 7 July. In the meantime, we reconfigured the
additional cleaning. exhibition to make it suitable for socially distanced The Sainsbury Centre team during virtual couriering of Dante Gabriel
Rossetti’s Bruna Brunelleschi for Art Nouveau: The Nature of Dreams.
The reopening of the Centre was welcomed by our visits. The exhibition has been extended to 3 January
museum visitors, who posted the following positive 2021.
feedback on social media: In summer 2020 we were due to celebrate Japanese
art and culture to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics
and Paralympics. An exhibition of Japanese-Swiss
“SCVA has created a safe one-way system with artist Leiko Ikemura would have been presented Conservation
sanitiser at the entrance, which works well. We alongside a selection of objects from Japan from our COVID-19 had a huge impact on conservation work. relative humidity (RH) in the galleries. On the basis of this
felt safe the whole time we were there and we collection. The Leiko Ikemura exhibition has been Installation of the Art Nouveau exhibition and other report, motion sensors were added to external and
postponed to 2021. projects had to stop abruptly as the country went into internal doors around the Lobby, effectively creating an
enjoyed coffee and a snack before entry into
lockdown. In the preceding weeks, the Sainsbury Centre airlock around the area and reducing the effect of
the exhibition…. Because entry was staggered Tours team worked fast to provide safe and secure art storage outside air. Air conditioning in the building had to be
it never felt uncomfortable and we were safely The Centre’s touring exhibitions programme was for an unknown period of time. Vulnerable objects were adjusted to allow in a greater proportion of fresh to
socially distanced from other visitors.” greatly impacted by the closure of museums across moved into stores, made secure, and shielded from light. recirculated air, in line with government guidelines. This
the world. We worked closely with our hosting venues During lockdown, the Sainsbury Centre Conservator change was also trialled before re-opening to ensure the
“I’m semi-retired and the Arts are a large and and with lenders to mitigate the impact for all continued to monitor environmental conditions remotely gallery environment remained stable. As a result of the
concerned and provided flexibility to allow and worked closely with essential security and lockdown, several conservation projects planned for this
important part of my life. I really appreciate the programmes to be rearranged. We thank our lenders year were interrupted and extended, which had a
maintenance staff ‘on the ground’. A reduced Sculpture
work and effort the Sainsbury Centre has put in for their unwavering support in extending their loans to Park maintenance and monitoring regime was in knock-on effect on next year’s workload, staffing, and
the Centre. All touring exhibitions currently showing or budgets.
to enable visitors to come back in spite of the operation throughout.
due to open were either extended or postponed and
strange and difficult times we are in. You are a we look forward to welcoming visitors to those Post-lockdown, new operations and procedures were Standard conservation activities were risk assessed for
beacon of much-needed light!” exhibitions when the individual institutions are able. assessed and trialled prior to re-opening to the public. A COVID-19 transmission and modified to reduce shared
Unfortunately, some exhibitions suffered more with new one-way visitor route in the Lower Galleries meant use of equipment, close-contact working, overcrowding,
venues having to withdraw from the tour due to that visitors would need to exit through the Crescent and other identified hazards. The Sainsbury Centre
financial pressures. To those we offer our continued Wing Lobby, allowing an influx of external air to enter became one of the first museums in the UK to pilot virtual
support and best wishes and we extend our thanks to climate-controlled gallery spaces. In preparation, the couriering, with a courier from the Fitzwilliam Museum
those remaining venues for their understanding in Conservator carried out a test, which simulated proposed overseeing the installation of Bruna Brunelleschi via
these challenging times. conditions; it clearly showed a detrimental effect on video link.
10 11
Annual Review
2019–2020
Finance and Development
In the wake of COVID-19, the Sainsbury Centre has
ambitions to develop its digital and outdoor resources
for the widest access, to grow and diversify audiences
and professional networks and support all our
communities, to innovate with interpretative and
creative outputs, to maintain artistic and scholarly
excellence, and ensure our organisational resilience.
In a challenging financial climate, grants from
charitable trusts and foundations are playing a key role
in achieving these aims. We are extremely grateful for
this support.
In March the focus of development activity switched to
online. Our strategy turned from transactional to
impact to engage our donors.
Key messages from our corporate supporters were
integrated into our social communications via
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We are grateful to
our donors and Exhibition Circle members who
generously continued or renewed their support and
made additional donations at this difficult time. Our
monthly e-news turned into the Uplifting Armchair Art
E-mailing with news of our initiatives as well as links to
podcasts and tips of what to tune into, which related
back to the collections.
As in-gallery events were not permissible we launched
Learning Arts Awards Box contents, and the boxes piled up in Sophie’s studio aspects of the work and make their own creative At Home with the Sainsbury Centre, a monthly Zoom
before delivery in June. responses. All participants who wrote back received
Art lives on constraint, and this has certainly been true meeting for all our supporters. The programme began
for the Learning team, where the need to radically revise bespoke replies leading to new questions and activities. with Acting Director, Ghislaine Wood, updating on
our practice post-lockdown has been a creative driver. To enable the Living Area to be accessible remotely, the activities during lockdown and future programming.
Thanks to generous funding from David Kogan and Leah
This has led to a greater use of digital tools, as with the team quickly worked to create remote resource packs for Paul Greenhalgh gave “a virtual personal tour” of the
Schmidt, the Learning team were able to send pizza-box
Online Studio, but it has also led us to distinctly analogue teachers. ‘Art Gallery in My Mind’ introduces students Art Nouveau exhibition. Being virtual provided the
art packs to 121 students at local SEND schools. These
solutions, such as delivering pizza-box art packs and from KS1-5 to Robert and Lisa Sainsbury and their wonderful opportunity to include and welcome donors
were carefully designed to introduce young people with
making optimum use of outdoor spaces as sites for Collection, whilst the ‘African Masks’ pack, aimed at KS1 living outside the local area. These will continue for the
special needs and disabilities to the Sainsbury Centre; to
creativity and wellbeing. and KS2 groups, contains images, information, question foreseeable future on the third Wednesday of the
support their life skills; to provide creative activity as part
prompts and creative activities to support engagement month but every effort is being made to establish
The Sculpture Park became a key asset: a place where of home learning; and to support their work towards Arts
with this ever-popular topic. opportunities for socially-distanced occasions to enjoy
visitors could continue to wander safely, combining art Award qualifications.
art in the gallery and around the Sculpture Park.
with their daily exercise. To capitalise on this, our Bespoke support to schools remained a priority during For the Artist’s Programme, working remotely during the
Schools Managers commissioned a number of resources this particularly difficult and uncertain time for teachers. We are immensely grateful to the support from our
pandemic sharpened the focus for peer working and
that could be used remotely, or in combination with an A project with Heartsease Primary School repurposed Chairman and all our donors at this extremely
support. This very much chimed with our general
independent visit to the park. Artist, Kaitlin Ferguson, the distinctly old school idea of ‘pen pals’, inviting KS2 challenging time and are optimistic that many
commitment to support the artists we work with
designed an activity pack for A Level Art and Design children to start an email correspondence with artworks conversations with potential corporate supporters will
throughout the crisis, creating opportunities for their
students themed on site-specific sculpture. She also in the Sainsbury Centre Collection. Artists Annie Brundrit bring results in the forthcoming year.
professional development, as well as seeking funding so
devised a bird-themed activity pack, including simple art and Holly Bodmer went into character as figures or that we could continue to offer paid work.
materials, for primary pupils. objects in the artworks, prompting children to notice
12 13
Programme 14 15
Annual Review
2019–2020
Exhibitions
Overcoming unprecedented challenges, the
Sainsbury Centre staged four inspirational
exhibitions this reporting period in its Lower
Galleries and West Mezzanine Gallery. Generously
supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and
Research England, our successful exhibitions
inspired visitors, attracted praise on social media
and critical acclaim from the national and
international press.
“Human expression in all its myriad
diversity seems to be coded into the DNA
of Odundo’s works, breaking down the
barriers of such polarising classifications Magdalene Odundo: The Journey of Things
as art and craft, beauty and function, 3 August – 15 December 2019
African and European, pot and sculpture. Magdalene Odundo: The Journey of Things brought
together more than 50 of her works with a large selection
Displayed to resonate with the sources of of objects chosen by Odundo from across the globe and
her inspiration, her art proves itself to be spanning 3000 years. The show revealed the rich and
at once timeless and contemporary, diverse range of objects and making traditions that have
informed the development of her work. The installation
earthbound and transcendent, profoundly Transition II, formed of 1,001 individually suspended
intimate and universally human…” glass pieces, was shown in a new site-specific
configuration.
Robert Weinberg, The Telegraph
Dame Magdalene Odundo DBE is one of the world’s most
esteemed artists working in the field of ceramics. Born in
Kenya in 1950, Odundo moved to the UK in 1971 to
attend art school. After choosing ceramics as a preferred
medium, she travelled to Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria to
study their ceramic traditions. Her journeys around the
globe have led Odundo to explore her own diasporic
identity and the charged role that objects have played,
and continue to play, in intercultural relationships today.
The exhibition design, by Sir David Adjaye OBE reflected
its transnational themes with islands of plinths, allowing
for juxtapositions of objects across the entire gallery.
Organised in partnership with The Hepworth Wakefield,
the exhibition was curated by Andrew Bonacina, Chief
Curator at the Hepworth Wakefield and Tania Moore at
the Sainsbury Centre. The Journey of Things received
support from the Henry Moore Foundation and was
accompanied by a book published by InOtherWords. Magdalene Odundo with Transition II installation.
16 17Annual Review
2019–2020
Art Deco By The Sea
9 February – 20 September 2020
Curated by Ghislaine Wood, Acting Director of the
Sainsbury Centre, Art Deco by the Sea was a major new “What’s unique to ‘Art Deco by the Sea’ is that
exhibition exploring how the Art Deco style shaped the it touches on aspects of Art Deco that haven’t
modern British seaside during the 1920s and ’30s, in a
before been examined. With over 150 objects,
new age of mass tourism. From the Midland Hotel in
Morecambe to the villas of Frinton-on-Sea or Hunstanton, the show explores all media, from clothing and
Art Deco became the seaside style. The exhibition swimming costumes to sporting games,
featured iconic examples of Art Deco architecture from
hotels and apartment blocks to cinemas and amusement
furniture, advertising posters, artworks,
parks. The show explored a number of themes including photography, ceramics, design, textiles and
the depiction of the seaside, travel and transport, design plenty more, and the exhibition is, as curator
and industry, sport and amusements, popular culture
and women’s liberation. Ghislaine Wood put it, ‘shockingly beautiful’ .”
Art Deco by the Sea presented around 150 works in all Jessica Douglas,
media including paintings, posters, brochures, drawings, Bbys Magazine; Barenbys UK
industrial design, fashion, furniture, ceramics and textiles
and was drawn from public and private collections
across the UK. The exhibition was selected for the BBC’s
Culture in Quarantine series.
18 19Annual Review
2019–2020
“Georges Fouquet’s extraordinary brooch from
c. 1898, with its squishy, mollusc-like pearl
encased in gold, like a heart within a ribcage…
is no eager-to-please bauble of the rich, but a
thing of compelling, sophisticated strangeness,
suggestive of narcotic hallucination and dark
psychological complexity.”
Alastair Sooke, Daily Telegraph
Doris Lessing 100 Art Nouveau: The Nature of Dreams
13 September 2019 – 9 February 2020 7 July 2020 – 3 January 2021
On the centenary of her birth, an exhibition The Nature of Dreams explored how the progressive
commemorating the life and work of Nobel Laureate designers and artists of Art Nouveau integrated all the
Doris Lessing (1919–2013) was presented by the arts – architecture, design, ornament, painting, sculpture
Sainsbury Centre working in collaboration with the – to create a single, complete environment or
University’s British Archive for Contemporary Writing. gesamtkunstwerk. Through the treasures of the Anderson
Using her personal correspondence, notebooks and Collection at the Sainsbury Centre and select loans, The
diaries, this exhibition provided an unprecedented Nature of Dreams revealed how English masterpieces in
insight into Lessing’s life. avant-garde design influenced Art Nouveau in Belgium,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the
Now widely regarded as one of the most important United States.
post-war writers in English, Lessing used literature to
comment on the politics of race and gender, and the role Over 150 examples of ceramics, furniture, glass,
of the family and the individual in society. The exhibition jewellery, paintings, posters and prints, sculpture, and
showed how the dramas of her political and spiritual life textiles introduced audiences to the flowing tensile lines
became the backbone of her powerful and enduring and organic imagery of Art Nouveau. Featured artists and
novels. Lessing’s trustees in consultation with her official designers included Aubrey Beardsley, René Lalique,
biographer, Patrick French, agreed the release of William Morris, Alphonse Mucha and Gabriel Dante
previously embargoed material for use exclusively within Rossetti. The exhibition was curated by Professor Paul
the exhibition. The exhibition was curated by academics Greenhalgh, Director of the Sainsbury Centre and
from UEA Creative Writing and the Library including Paul accompanied by a publication The Nature of Dreams:
Cooper, Dr Matthew Taunton, Dr Nonia Williams and England and the Formation of Art Nouveau, edited by
Justine Mann. Greenhalgh.
20 21Touring 22 23
Touring Exhibitions
Installation photograph, Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA. Installation photograph, Brian Clarke: The Art of Light at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. Photo: Jenna Bascom, Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design.
The Centre continues to collaborate with The exhibition focuses on the highly skilled artworks of Brian Clarke: The Art of Light The exhibition brings together over 100 works and
museums, nationally and internationally, to tour the 19th century, including wood sculpture, bowls, Continuing our collaboration with stained glass artist elaborates on themes of colour, light, life and death,
our programme of exhibitions and showcase key canoes, weapons, breastplates, jewellery, barkcloths, Brian Clarke, the Sainsbury Centre is pleased to present demonstrating Clarke’s ground-breaking practice in
pottery, mats, fans and a wealth of ivory ornaments, our 2018 exhibition, Brian Clarke: The Art of Light, at the stained glass. An entire light-filled floor is dedicated to
objects from our collections as an opportunity to
stressing the importance of artworks and valuables (iyau) Museum of Arts and Design, New York. Unfortunately an arrangement of 30 free-standing screens, each
extend knowledge of the permanent collections telling a story in colour and bathing the space in jewel
for establishing and maintaining relationships. Examples delayed by widespread closures, the exhibition opened
and the Centre’s research. of contemporary canoe-building, woodcarving, barkcloth, tones. As if entering another world the second floor is
in September 2020 and will run to February 2021.
mat-making, and fashion demonstrate continuity in art The exhibition is the first US museum presentation of painted in dark hues, revealing two other bodies of
Fiji: Art and Life in the Pacific practice in Fiji today. Clarke’s practice. work, the Night Orchids and earlier leaded works. An
The Sainsbury Centre, with the Sainsbury Research expanded series of Night Orchid drawings, in colour,
The Centre and the Sainsbury Research Unit were monotone and leaded glass, fill one room floor to
Unit, were pleased to reassemble the exhibition Fiji: Art pleased to continue our relationship with the Fiji Museum
and Life in the Pacific at the Los Angeles County ceiling, contrasting against neighbouring metre-high
as a major lender to the exhibition, bringing star objects glowing lead skulls.
Museum of Art this year. The exhibition is the first from their collections to the US. The team collaborated
substantial project on the art of Fiji to be mounted in with many original lenders including the British Museum, A new film about Clarke from HENI sits alongside an
the United States. It opened in December 2019 and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, archival display, detailing the artist’s continued
has been extended to January 2021. The exhibition Cambridge, and the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. relationship with New York and his friendships there.
was curated by Professor Steven Hooper, Dr Karen 145 objects from the UK were joined by objects from The exhibition is generously supported by David
Jacobs and Katrina Talei Igglesden of the Sainsbury private collections and institutions in the US such as the Yurman, master jeweller, who showcased a spectrum
Research Unit. Peabody Essex Museum and the Smithsonian National of screens in their nearby boutiques during New York
Museum of Natural History. Fashion Week, as well as a newly commissioned film
about the exhibition.
As at the Sainsbury Centre, LACMA commissioned their
own 8m-long double-hulled sailing canoe (drua),
constructed in Fiji using traditional materials and
techniques. It was shipped to Los Angeles to take pride
of place at the exhibition entrance.
24 25Collections 26 27
Annual Review
2019–2020
Collections New Acquisitions
The professional stewardship of the permanent In recent years, there have been significant donations
collection is central to the Sainsbury Centre’s mission. and this year was no exception.
The display, acquisition, research and care of
Following the success of our exhibition, Elisabeth Frink:
nationally and internationally significant artworks are
Humans and Other Animals in 2018, the Centre acquired
the core activities of the Sainsbury Centre. Exhibited
29 sculptures and drawings, made possible in
across the ground floor, the Living Area display
accordance with the wishes of the artist’s late son,
remains at the heart of the Institution’s identity as a
Lin Jammet. The acquired works, produced by one of
lasting legacy of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury. Culturally
the most important British sculptors of the 20th century
diverse works, from across time and place, have been
include powerful examples from all periods of Frink’s
exhibited as the Sainsburys wished their objects to be
artistic practice. This includes Vulture (1952), shown in
enjoyed. The temporary exhibition programme
her first exhibition while still a student at Chelsea College
provides opportunities to undertake new research on
of Art. She created a series of expressionist bird
aspects of the Sainsbury Centre Collection.
sculptures, which, for her evoked ‘strong feelings of
Art Deco by the Sea showcased eight works from the panic, tension, aggression and predatoriness’, such
Collection including important chair designs by Alvar as Harbinger Bird III (1961). Frink’s most famous theme
Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Gerald Summers, Serge is a series of monumental heads, the ‘Goggle Heads’
Chermayeff, and the wonderful Beehive Electric Fan (1967-69) and ‘Tribute Heads’ (1970s–80s). The
Heater by Christian Barman. The selection of works in acquisition includes examples of both series. Mirage I
The Nature of Dreams was drawn predominantly from and Mirage II (1969) illustrate her work in large-scale
the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau. bronze and take up residency in the Sainsbury Centre’s Above: Elisabeth Frink, Green Man (Blue), 1992.
Sculpture Park. They represent a more playful and Below: Julian Stair, Monumental Jar VIII, 2011.
The Centre borrowed three works for the East End
abstracted form of depiction set against the backdrop
Gallery exhibition, Monet/Hockney: Modern
of a Norfolk Broad. Frink was one of the 20th century’s
Landscapes. A display that revealed affinities between
great draughtsmen and the acquisition of nine drawings
Claude Monet’s Allée de sapins à Varengeville
and four prints includes her Green Man series (1992),
(Avenue of Fir Trees in Varengeville, 1882) and two of
which she made at the end of her life.
David Hockney’s Yosemite iPad drawings from 2011.
Working in collaboration with Houghton Hall, the Following the success of the residency of First Nation
Centre’s East End project space featured Untitled contemporary artist Sonny Assu, the Centre acquired
(2010) and Involute (2017) by Anish Kapoor. This Dance As Though the Ancestors Are Watching (2019)
spectacular intervention of Kapoor’s two sculptures with the help of a grant from the Art Fund. The work
was chosen to resonate with works in the Sainsbury relates and responds to the important, historic Chilkat
Centre Collection. Robe in the Collection. This project supported the
Centre’s mission of integrating historical and
contemporary art to encourage greater accessibility
and understanding. Assu’s residency was part of the
research project Beyond the Spectacle: Native North
American Presence in Britain, a collaboration with the
University’s Department of American Studies.
In October 2019, we accessioned a planned bequest of
207 works from Michael and Joyce Morris. This is a major
collection of post-war abstract art consisting of both
Left: Anish Kapoor, Involute, 2017.
British and international artists working in the field of
Previous page: Sonny Assu, abstraction and Constructivism. The highlights include
Dance As Though the Ancestors works by Mary Martin, Kenneth Martin, Anthony Hill, John
Are Watching, 2019. Ernest, Stephen Gilbert, Michael Kidner, Eduardo
28 29Chillida, Raoul Dufy, Jean Tinguely, César Domela, Loans and Tours
Charles Biederman and Hans Hartung. There is a This year, our touring exhibitions and loan programmes
significant and important group of sculptures by the ensured that the Collection was seen by audiences
important British artist, Robert Adams. The Bequest will around the world. Highlights included four works in Fiji:
receive an extensive project to both research and Art and Life in the Pacific at the Los Angeles County
document the works and prepare them for an exhibition Museum of Art, Los Angeles, US. Three works were
project and publication. exhibited in British Surrealism 1783–1952 at Dulwich
The Centre accepted a donation of three works by Picture Gallery, London, and a sculpture and seven
Natalie Dower (b.1931). Dower was recently cited by drawings in Henry Moore/Bill Brandt at The Hepworth
Paula Rego as: ‘the most underrated’ cultural figure, Wakefield.
‘practically unknown after a lifetime’s work’ – (The Art
Newspaper, December 2019). She is closely associated Cataloguing Project
with the British Constructivist groups of the 1950s – This year’s major project has been the re-cataloguing of
1970s. our 5000-strong Collection generously made possible by
a grant from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The
In 2019, Tania Moore received the New Collecting Award
Collections Database has been upgraded alongside
of £80,000 from the Art Fund, granted to acquire
work on our new website to establish a more
sculptors’ drawings by contemporary women artists. So
comprehensive online presence and capacity for new
far, Tania has acquired two exceptional works by
content. This will allow an enhanced ‘search the
prominent contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker, Bullet
Collection’ capability. The curatorial team have been
Drawing (2011) and Mona Hatoum, Composition with
engaged in writing new catalogue texts. This has
Circles I (2018).
included updating descriptions, core data, provenance
David Queensbury on behalf of the Paolozzi Foundation information, exhibition history and bibliography. Part of
donated one of Eduardo Paolozzi’s highly polished this project will see an enhanced visual presentation of
chromed sculptures of the 1960s. Queensbury also works in the Collection. Although a very high percentage
donated a work by the celebrated Japanese ceramic of the Collection is photographed, some of the older
artist, Shimaoka Tatsuzō (1919–2007), a student of image assets need improving, in line with the
Hamada Shōji. contemporary standards of digital photography. The
topical issue of restitution forms an important part of the
Another major acquisition this year was Monumental Jar
cataloguing project, and we intend to fully disclose
VIII (2011) by Julian Stair, acquired with help from the
provenance information via the online catalogue. This
Arts Council/V&A Purchase Fund and Martin and
part of the project focuses on works that were removed
Katharine Pinfold. Stair is one of the most prominent
ceramic artists working today and Monumental Jar VIII is from their indigenous context during the colonial period.
an outstanding example of his large-scale work. The
Sculpture Park
piece recently featured in the exhibition Magdalene
Odundo: The Journey of Things. The Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park continues to grow
with the addition of Man of Stones (2019) by Laurence
Finally, a small etching Footbridge at Cringleford, Edwards. This sculpture was commissioned by former
(c.1810) by the celebrated Norwich Trustee, Paul Cooke through the Paul and Loulou Cooke
School artist, John Crome was Endowment, as a site-specific work that responded to
donated by Lysiane Bysh, in one of the more remote locations on the University
memory of her husband UEA campus. Two further works have been added to the
alumnus Gordon Maclean who grounds: Sun’s Roots II (2008) by Phillip
studied in the then School of King and Head (1997) by John Davies,
European Studies 1966–1969. which came to the Centre from Cass
Sculpture Foundation with the support Laurence Edwards,
Elisabeth Frink, Cat, 1953. of Ivor Braka. Man of Stones, 2019.
30 31Conservation 32 33
Sculpture Park
The maintenance programme for the Sculpture Park was
expanded to include new arrivals by Laurence Edwards,
John Davies, and Phillip King. Chemical analysis of salt
encrustations on Lynn Chadwick’s Pair of Walking
Figures was carried out in collaboration with the UEA
Science Analytical Facility, and identified as sodium
carbonate hydrate, a component of flux and grog used in
bronze casting, which is not harmful to the bronze.
Analysis of flaking patina on all three outdoor Henry
Moore sculptures was carried out in collaboration with
Tate and AntiqueBronze Ltd, and identified as degraded
lacquer coating; further investigations and treatment
proposals are underway.
Collections
A variety of objects from our collections have been
conserved or remounted this year.
Untitled (13), a 1976 mixed media construction by
Brian Falconbridge, has undergone conservation in
preparation for the artist’s retrospective exhibition at
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery. Due to historical
storage in a sealed wooden container, the sculpture’s
VOC-sensitive lead components had acquired a layer
of white corrosion (a mixture of lead carbonate, acetate
and formate), which was so thick and uniform it was
previously misdiagnosed as “white paint”. This stubborn
Top and above: Analysis of corrosion layer, built up over many years, was removed
salt encrustations on Lynn in stages, using a combination of chemical poultice
Chadwick’s Pair of Walking and mechanical cleaning with glass brushes, with
Figures (Long loan L.105):
salt deposits and SEM
extreme care being taken to protect adjacent areas of
imagery. the construction. Throughout the treatment, Sainsbury
Centre Conservator, Maria Ledinskaya, communicated Top: Untitled (13) by Brian Falconbridge
Left: Sculpture Park directly with the living artist in order to restore all (Acc. no 31275) after treatment.
maintenance – elements of the work to his original vision. Brian
Conservation Technician Above: During treatment. Mechanical
Laura Robinson with Lynn Falconbridge was very pleased with the outcome of removal of outer layer of lead corrosion
Chadwick’s Crouching this challenging treatment and for preserving what he using brushes, conservation vac, glass
Beast II (Loan L.91. considers to be an important early work. bristle brushes and Micromesh.
34 35Annual Review
2019–2020
Exhibitions and Tours
A significant number of external loans this year for
both Art Deco by the Sea and Art Nouveau: The
Nature of Dreams required remedial conservation
before they could go on display. In particular, both
exhibitions featured a variety of textiles, which needed
cleaning, humidification, and custom mounting. This
presented an interesting new challenge for the
Conservation team, who rarely work with historic
textiles in the context of the Sainsbury Centre
Collection. Other conserved external objects included
painting, works on paper, furniture and ceramics.
Preventive conservation
The Sainsbury Centre continued to work closely with
our colleagues in Estates at the University of East
Anglia to deliver a programme of planned
improvements to our systems. Notable collaborative
projects this year included full LED re-lamping of the
Living Area, East End and West Mezzanine. Humidifier
interlocks were added to the climate control plant as
part of our emergency planning. Controlled HV
shutdown of the building was carried out in May, in
order to assess building efficiency in the event of
power outage.
More analysis and predictive modelling in Power BI
was done for lux monitor data on West Mezzanine.
This work enabled us to secure the loan of the light-
sensitive painting Bruna Brunelleschi by Dante Gabriel
Another project entailed the repair of the PEL chair, Grand Papillon brooch by Philippe Wolfers Rossetti for Art Nouveau: The Nature of Dreams. As in
which has been in the Centre’s Abstract and (Acc no 21150) during treatment.
previous years, light-restricted loans are continuously
Constructivist Collection since 1990. Unfortunately, it has monitored and covered outside gallery opening hours,
never been on display due to a large tear at the edge of in order to reduce exposure.
the canvas seat. As the fabric needed to be stretched
and held under tension, an insert was made from new Further improvements were made to art storage
canvas material, which was sewn to the structurally facilities.
sound seam of the original seat. This allowed the seat to
be re-stretched over the steel frame, with frayed edges
Another iconic Sainsbury Centre object, the Chilkat
of the original damaged fabric couched over the top of
Robe, has been given a new conservation-grade mount
the new insert. This reversible, structural intervention
and returned to display after several years in dark
allowed this object to finally have its moment in the
storage. Our entire collection of Henry Moore drawings
limelight, as part of the Art Deco by the Sea exhibition.
was unframed for the first time in 20 years, revealing
Philippe Wolfers’ Grand Papillon brooch, one of the most secondary sketches and artist’s inscriptions on the verso
striking objects in the Anderson Collection, had a small of some objects. The drawings were conserved and
repair to one of its wings as a piece of opal had become re-hinged where needed, and re-mounted in better Light control measures on West Mezzanine:
loose in its mount as a result of vibration during transit. quality housing. blackout covers and lux monitor.
36 37Learning 38 39
Annual Review
2019–2020
Learning at the Sainsbury Centre offers a wide Young people developing project ideas
range of programmes for all ages, using close- The relationship between artistic practice and political
looking, dialogue, material inquiry, and creative activity also emerged as a key theme for us this year,
making to animate our collections and exhibitions. inspired by the Doris Lessing 100 exhibition. Eight
students from the University of East Anglia worked with
the British Archive for Contemporary Writing and the
Bold Contact Zones
Sainsbury Centre to put together a display in the
This year, people from across the region joined us in our Millennium Library. Drawing on material from the Doris
spaces (physical and virtual) to consider the relevance of Lessing archive, students explored the writer as a ‘voice
the gallery to the world today, creating a bold contact of resistance’, challenging societal expectations and the
zone for dialogue around complex and urgent concerns. professional limitations she experienced.
Environmental issues were important for our 20 Young Lessing was also the initial point of inspiration for artist,
Associates, aged 15-25, who began the year asking how Ian Brownlie, who created the ‘Review Reassemble
art museums can engage in contemporary social and Reform’ schools activity pack. This invites KS3 students
political issues. This culminated in a zine, bringing to creatively disrupt, subvert and appropriate the words
together their creative responses, and written reflections. and images they find around them as a way to voice their
This will be an important resource as we reconsider the current experiences and concerns during these
purpose of museums beyond 2020. unsettling and challenging times. It will be rolled out to
Environmental issues were also investigated with support our schools’ ‘recovery curriculum’ in September.
educators from the region who joined us in December for
an INSET day to consider the impact of their own art
practices. At the end of the session, an environmental
manifesto was drafted for display in classrooms and
staffrooms.
Facing Page:
Young Associates.
Left: Lessing in
the Library.
40 41Annual Review
2019–2020
For adult audiences, contemporary artist, Nicky Deeley, Art and Home
drew on Lessing to investigate her own concerns with The homely, informal ethos of the Living Area has always
sci-fi futures, hybrid bodies, feminism, fiction and been a central point of reference in our Learning work.
folklore. She created a new, site-specific performance in This year, it inspired a new approach to our popular
the area around the Broad, attracting over 60 people. Sunday Studio for families and Children. Retitled ‘Family
The event was part of our ‘Interpretations’ programme. Sunday’, the event held in the main collections space,
This asks contemporary artists and writers to respond to was an informal drop-in, allowing visitors of different
our exhibitions with a new, public-facing work, allowing ages to engage with objects and make their own
audiences to make connections between our programme creative responses. It offered parents welcome social
and current research and practice. opportunities to chat to each other or grab a coffee in
the cafe.
Facing page: The idea of homeliness took on a whole new relevance
Nicky Deeley interpretations.
when the country went into lockdown at the end of
March. Thanks to generous support from the Art Fund,
we were able to launch the Online Studio in April, offering
artist-led creative activities for all ages using everyday
materials.
Our participants’ homes became a substitute museum
and studio. Artist, Annie Brundrit, invited children in the
5–11 age group to turn a windowsill in their home into an
exhibition space, whilst for adults, Paul Patrick Fenner
showed how even the most mundane household objects
could be seen anew through drawing.
CASE STUDY
Site Writing
Site Writing is a programme of looking, shared reading and writing in response to the Robert and Lisa
Sainsbury Collection, co-led with writer, curator and researcher, Sarah Lowndes. Each session starts
by looking at and talking about an artwork in the Living Area. Sometimes it is easier to circle the
peripheries of an object than address it directly, so conversation might focus on the way something is
lit, the display case it is in, the label beside it. Next, a chosen piece of text is offered as a device to
begin to talk about ideas. The session ends with a creative writing exercise, reflecting on participants’
own lived experiences. The resulting texts tell stories of birth, death, power, family dynamics,
friendship and the way we adapt to our environment. This, in turn, reveals a particular quality of the
artworks in the Living Area: at once intensely personal and universal, timeless and urgent.
42 43Annual Review
2019–2020
CASE STUDY
Neighbourliness
Architecture and the Body We have always enjoyed close links with schools and
nurseries in our neighbouring community of West Earlham,
Artists, Paul Patrick Fenner and Anna Brass, created a four-week drawing course for 12–18 year olds. and this year was no exception. From October –
In a series of four videos, they shared a range of inspiring artworks that imaginatively linked architecture November 2019, the school’s team and artist Ian Brownlie
and the human body. They offered practical guidance on how participants could explore buildings and delivered a weekly after-school club at West Earlham
Infant and Nursery School, culminating in a visit to the
bodies in their own drawings, and stay inspired during social distancing. Each week, participants
Centre with parents and friends. Our long-standing
enjoyed a 40-minute tutorial with the artists, where they looked at their drawings together, and received collaboration with West Earlham Nursery School also
bespoke feedback and advice. continued.
Neighbourliness is not always about connecting with
communities in our immediate vicinity. Thanks to generous
funding from the Ranworth Trust, we were able to work
“Walking around the art to find an object to with students from East Coast College who used the Art
draw was a novel experience. Exciting and fun.” Deco exhibition to explore the architectural heritage of
their own locality in Great Yarmouth. Starting with an
on-location photography workshop with Associate Artist,
Genevieve Rudd, the project culminated in a display of
their own work alongside the main exhibition. The students
were excited and proud to see their own photographs in
the gallery and, in turn, brought an important regional
story about art deco coastal architecture to our audiences. Partnership with Earlham Early Years 2.
As with so much of our work this year, the idea of
neighbourliness took on a new urgency following the
lockdown. Networks began to form in our neighbouring
communities as we asked how we could help and support CASE STUDY
each other during the crisis.
With the generous support of the Art Fund and the ‘Abundance’ Project with Earlham Nursery
Norwich Freemen’s Charity, we have been able to use School
these networks to work with target groups in the
community. We are currently providing weekly artist-led ‘Abundance’ began in November when 80
creative activities for the Henderson Trust. These will be
children visited the Odundo exhibition in small
used as part of their summer programme at the Cadge
Road Community Centre for local children eligible for free groups. In the spring term, artist Rach Anstey-
meals. Also in development are baby boxes that will be Sanders worked with the children in small
delivered to new parents via local maternity services and groups to explore the material properties of
groups, and dementia-friendly resources that can be
empty containers – squashing them, filling
shared with local care homes and support groups.
them, blowing into them – allowing us to pursue
Finally, we are not forgetting our closest neighbours.
Launching in September, the ‘Campus’ project will invite our own research questions about how children
new and returning UEA students to work with three artists learn through the objects they play with. When
over the autumn term. A range of creative prompts will the work was interrupted by the COVID-19
inspire them to engage with the special and distinctive
lockdown, Rach worked with the nursery school
qualities of the University campus, helping them connect
School visit to the with their environment and with other students whilst social to develop a series of short videos allowing the
Sainsbury Centre. distancing is still in place. children to continue the project.
44 45Annual Review
2019–2020
CASE STUDY
Story Pot
Artists’ Programme Saturday morning Story Pot
family activity sessions A shell
The Artists’ Programme brings together up to continued into 2020 with washed up
20 professional artists from the region each sponsorship from the on a beach.
month. This became a particularly important Goodman Trust. These weekly
free, gallery-based story-
lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering making sessions were set up
peer support and impetus for collaborative by Children and Families
projects. Manager, Lawrence Bradby,
A thirsty wolf
and facilitated by Sainsbury
Faced with the constraints of lockdown, Nell Centre associate artists. Each hoped to find
week, an artist led a group of a drink inside.
Croose-Myhill, the Learning Manager for Adults
children on an imaginative
Norwich School Year 7, Odundo Workshop. and Young People, looked to models of remote, adventure in the Living Area or
collaborative art projects from the past. This led Sculpture Park. On the way,
to three innovative new projects. they met objects from the Gr r r r r r rrr r r r. . .
collection, which became Aw
ooooo!
oo
‘Situations’ drew inspiration from an untitled characters embedded in a
magazine exhibition for Studio International in co-created story. Children
Creative Ecologies were encouraged to draw on
A key aim of Learning at the Sainsbury Centre is to 1970, the brainchild of curator and critic, Lucy their own knowledge and
support creativity in the region. This year, the Magdalene R. Lippard. Reconstructing Lippard’s approach, ideas, working constructively
Odundo exhibition provided a dynamic hub, bringing together with adults and other He shook and Small creatures
each artist was asked to pass onto the next a
together old and young, amateur and professional alike. children. Activities within the shook his head, came out of the
situation within which to work. The resulting sessions included drawing, trying to get sea to see what
A study day, for example, invited artists, museum
work was collated as a magazine-exhibition. drama, puppetry, mapping and the shell off. was going on.
professionals, and researchers to consider Odundo’s
music making.
relationship with objects from our collection, asking how The second model was Parallel of Life and Art,
contemporary artists can illuminate collections and their
histories in new ways. In response to a high demand for
an exhibition of found images and various
places, a second study day took place in December, materials from print media, by members of the
with post-graduate and undergraduate students from Independent Group at the ICA in 1953. This
University of East Anglia and Norwich University of
inspired ‘Sources’, a project that invited artists
the Arts.
to bring together, interrogate and share their You
At the same time, our Associate Artists worked with are
own source material, and to work collectively to
school children to develop creative responses to stuck
Odundo’s work. In November, Year 7 students from establish shared concerns, ideas, and interests. tight! Poor
the Norwich School joined artist, Genevieve Rudd, old
for a felt-making session, whilst Year 5 students from As lockdown began to ease, the final project, wolf.
Kessingland Primary made drawings, playful sculptures ‘Sites’, invited the artists to revisit a familiar
and coil pots with artist, Kate Munro. place with fresh eyes, or explore somewhere
Our volunteers, a key part of our creative ecology, new. This was informed by a field trip made by
offered daily guided tours of the exhibition. They were the artists, Bernd and Hilla Becher and Robert
thrilled when Magdalene Odundo wandered into one of
their training sessions, chatting to them about her work Smithson, to the large industrial complex
and thanking them for their commitment and support. Oberhausen in Germany, in December 1968. Story Pot: Wolf Shell, illustrated by Rose Feather.
46 47You can also read
