Dali art masterpiece loaned out ‘with no benefit to Glasgow’
AN MSP has expressed his concern that “the crown jewel” of one of Europe’s great art collections is being loaned out with no “tangible social and economic benefit” to the people of Glasgow.
It comes after The Herald revealed that Salvador Dali’s Christ of Saint John of The Cross is to leave Glasgow on loan later this year, marking the fourth time the painting has left the city since 2010.
Valued at more than £60 million, Dali’s masterpiece is regarded as one of Scotland’s most treasured paintings and among the greatest works of art in Glasgow’s civic collection.
Featuring a dramatic depiction of the crucified Christ due to its dramatic perspective – but with no thorns, nails or wounds – the painting was inspired by John of the Cross, a drawing Dali had seen by a 16th-century Carmelite priest which is preserved in the Convent of the Incarnation in Avila in central Spain.
The painting has been a major draw for the hundreds of thousands who visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum each year, helping make it one of Scotland’s most popular free attractions.
The five-month loan, from November until the end of April 2024, will see Dali’s masterpiece “return home” to The Dali Theatre and Museum in the painter’s hometown of Figueres, in Catalonia, northern Spain.
It is the first time the painting will be displayed in Dali’s home town in more than seven decades since 1952, the year it was purchased by the City of Glasgow for the sum of £8,200.
The painting was originally scheduled to arrive at the museum in Figueres – where Dali himself is buried in an unmarked crypt – in 2020 but this was rescheduled due to the Covid pandemic.
It will form the centrepiece of a huge new temporary exhibition which is being billed as the largest the Surrealist museum has hosted since it opened its doors to the public back in 1974.
The forthcoming loan comes after the painting left Glasgow for a fivemonth period between July and December last year to go on display alongside El Greco’s Christ on the Cross at The Auckland Project in County Durham.
The painting was also absent from Kelvingrove from September 2017 to the summer of 2018, having featured
Glasgow needs to draw up a long-term plan for its cultural assets
in a Dali-duchamp exhibition in London’s Royal Academy of Arts before the exhibition travelled to The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida.
It was also loaned by Glasgow Museums in 2010, when it spent six months on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Giorgia, at an exhibition on the Surrealist artist.
Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney expressed his concern that the painting is being loaned out “with no reciprocation”.
He told The Herald: “While it may be the case that art exchanges between museums are important and commonplace, it is concerning that Glasgow Museums seem to be loaning out the crown jewel of its
Kelvingrove art collection with no reciprocation nor any tangible social and economic benefit to the people of Glasgow.
“With Glasgow Life primed to cut curatorial staff and re-evaluate its entire art collection due to Scottish Government-imposed budget cuts, I am worried that Dali’s iconic Christ of Saint John of the Cross and other famous artworks could be sold off to the highest bidder. That would be a disaster for Glasgow and one that should be avoided at all costs.
“Glasgow needs a long-term plan for its cultural assets, and consideration should be given to whether more central government funding could be allocated in the way it is for national museums in Edinburgh. That would be a fair way of dealing with the shortfall and one that would see Glasgow’s world class museums given parity with those in Edinburgh.”
Councillor Philip Braat, whose ward covers Kelvingrove Art Gallery, said he would prefer that Dali’s painting remain in Glasgow but conceded that there could be advantages to be had in the forthcoming loan.
He told The Herald: “I would prefer this world famous masterpiece to remain in Glasgow, so that our citizens and visitors can see it in our home city and, if it must go, that it does not stay away too long.
“However, I do understand that loans can be an important mechanism in the arts world, which can lead to reciprocal exchanges and enhances the reputation of a museum’s credentials.
“Further, if by dint of this loan, the Christ of Saint John on the Cross becomes an unofficial ambassador for Glasgow’s art and cultural scene that draws tourists to Glasgow, that surely must be a good thing.”