British Museum secures treasure
The governments decision to appoint Neil MacGregor, successful
Director of the National Gallery, London, to the even more prestigious
post of Director of the British Museum, is wise. Known as a
national treasure for his brilliant curatorship of the National
Gallery over the past 15 years, MacGregor was the obvious choice.
It could be that the ever-canny MacGregor secured agreement from
Her Majestys Government to reduce or even write off
the massive 3 million debt accumulated at the British Museum
as a condition of moving in.
Mr MacGregor joins at the height of his career. The British Museum
has recently received the resignation of the first Managing Director
of the Museum, Suzanna Taverne. She had expressed doubt as to whether
Peter Scott, the Chairman of the British Museum, could find the
scholar-director with great management ability whom
they sought. In a swipe at the value of scholarship, she had questioned
whether that quality was the defining aspect. Taverne, a city shooting
star with experience at Saatchi and Saatchi, Pearsons and
in banking, still failed to understand that, as in MacGregors
case, scholarship is simply a quid pro quo: an underlying quality
which can be developed by high managerial talent and diplomacy into
an unbeatable combination. MacGregor has accompanied such talent
with a rare degree of balanced professionalism and unselfish dedication.
Unlike other current superstar curators, he has the rare skill of
directing attention to the institution itself rather than the director.