'Culture is fundamental to how we think of ourselves': The head of the Courtauld on The Arts, AI and the impoverishment of the public realm
Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen talks to Carla Passino how our approach to culture can define British identity, what makes him optimistic about the future and why he’s looking forward to the sounds of diggers and jackhammers.
The office of Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, head of the Courtauld Gallery, London WC2, is a scholarly oasis of books, papers and windows perched high in Somerset House’s northern wing above the central courtyard. Soon, the thuds and beeps of heavy machinery, the screeching of saws and the rattling of jackhammers will shatter that peace — and Dr Vegelin can’t wait.
‘We will be going through a big campus building project. It is about bringing the students and faculty back from their temporary home near King’s Cross. I think for us it is a really historic moment ahead of our centenary in 2032.’ Having its teaching arm relegated to Vernon Square, London WC1 — ‘not the easiest place to reach from the Strand’ — must have been hard for The Courtauld, which is at once a museum and a university.
'People are funding us partly because they believe our students are going to go out and be the critics, run the art galleries, run the museums or be curators'
Ever since Samuel Courtauld founded it in 1932, it has brought together the art of the past with the future of art history, an approach Dr Vegelin credits for the institution’s enduring appeal with philanthropists: the project for the new campus, slated to open in 2029, received a generous donation of £30 million from the Reuben Foundation. ‘People are funding us partly because they believe our students are going to go out and be the critics, run the art galleries, run the museums or be curators, not only for that purpose, but in order to be able to continue to open up the Arts to the widest population. That was exactly Samuel Courtauld’s idea. It’s not language you would use now, necessarily, but he said that The Courtauld had to be a missionary centre, where people could be trained who would go out into the world. It is what I think this institution has done and can feel quite proud of — and needs to continue to do into the future.’
Hence the building work, but how does this quest to spread artistic knowledge square up with The Courtauld’s policy of charging for admission? ‘We do it because we haven’t got a choice,’ admits Dr Vegelin. ‘If a wonderful philanthropist walked in next week and said, “Look, I want to solve that problem for you and endow free admission for everyone”, we’d embrace it, no question.’ Indeed, he passionately advocates against national museums charging for admission. ‘Personally, I believe you can’t send a more powerful message about the importance of art than throwing open the doors and inviting people to walk in freely and with no barriers.’
'Creating an environment in which culture is seen as something at the heart of the nation is so important: it says it isn’t merely a decorative adornment, but fundamental to how we think of ourselves as people and how we think of the UK in the future'
Nothing matters more to him than this connection between museums and the public, but he believes the question of admission fees and Government funding — or lack thereof — is broader than that. In his view, it can help define British identity. ‘Creating an environment in which culture is seen as something at the heart of the nation is so important: it says it isn’t merely a decorative adornment, but fundamental to how we think of ourselves as people and how we think of the UK in the future. The country of Shakespeare and the country house and parish churches, great museums, contemporary design—that is so much more resonant for me than thinking about, say, AI or productivity. That very materialistic way of defining who we are or what we do is a road to perdition, there is a real impoverishment of the public realm.’
He returns to why Courtauld founded the Institute. He derived great joy from his collection — so much so that the mere thought of loaning a Renoir reduced him to tears — and intended to share that with the nation through his bequest, but he was also a man who had endured the tragedy of two World Wars and that experience shaped his vision: ‘He and many other people were thinking: “What type of society do we want to create when we come out of this crisis?” For him, the answer was a deeply humanistic one, a world filled with art and poetry, a meritocratic society with free education, healthcare and opportunity. He was one of the great captains of industry, but, in many ways, very anti-materialistic. He felt that that spirit and those humanistic values should be at the heart of the world that they were reimagining for the future. I think some of the philanthropists we are speaking to or who are funding the National Gallery’s great programme are thinking about these things.’
Samuel Courtauld: 'He was one of the great captains of industry, but, in many ways, very anti-materialistic. He felt that that spirit and those humanistic values should be at the heart of the world that they were reimagining for the future.'
Public policy hasn’t (yet?) reached the same conclusions, however, and Dr Vegelin acknowledges the past few years have been rather challenging for the country in general and the Arts in particular. Yet, he firmly believes Britain’s cultural ecosystem remains strong. ‘There’s perhaps nothing that compares, in terms of the quality of the museums, the great collections, the variety and the density of what there is in London; it’s absolutely extraordinary. The fantastic exhibitions, the auctions, the fairs, the galleries, all the creativity in the young people, in universities — that mix is something very remarkable. I’m still convinced that, really, there isn’t any city that does it quite like London and that combination is full of promise for the future.’
If anything, he would like to see the many strands of London’s artistic community working together more closely: ‘There was a wonderful moment some time ago where you had the Monet exhibition at the Courtauld, the van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery’ — the way he says van Gogh in that hissing, guttural way only the Dutch can pull off is one clue that Dr Vegelin originally hails from the Netherlands—‘and Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery, the Frieze art fair was on and I had people say to me: “This is what you should be doing to put London on the front foot. It’s brilliant that you guys have all planned this together.” But we hadn’t. It was good luck and I have often thought that actually, perhaps we’re at a moment where national institutions and others should coordinate more fully, as they do in some other countries.’
The new museum openings of the past year have added to the vibrancy. He mentions the V&A Storehouse in Stratford, E20, as an especially inspiring place: ‘I went again last weekend and I was so moved by this great hymn to the museum enterprise, to preserve and study the past and learn from it. This sort of temple to curiosity is simply wonderful.’
'There are great institutions outside London, in cities that have come through some tough times, but are doing brilliant things, and there’s more of a sense that they are equals and peers'
Nor is this cultural energy only a London affair. The urgency to share collections between town and the regions is as strong as ever, but where in the past it might have been perhaps a touch condescending — ‘we will send our masterpieces, so that they can be enjoyed by people outside the capital’ — things have changed for the better: ‘There are great institutions outside London, in cities that have come through some tough times, but are doing brilliant things, and there’s more of a sense that they are equals and peers.’ He mentions as examples the highlights from the collection of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, on show at The Courtauld until the end of August as the Birmingham museum undergoes renovation, and The Courtauld’s own closure between 2018 and 2021: ‘We had a programme of lending to museums in towns and cities where Courtauld’s business used to be and then some things were lent to The Courtauld from these institutions. I think it’s much more a conversation between partners than simply distributing things from London to the provinces — and that’s critical, because there shouldn’t be a situation where it’s all about London. The UK has so much to offer.’
All this — coupled with an underlying faith in British ingenuity — fills him with hope: ‘I think, in the UK, there are still huge ambitions to do fantastic projects in the Arts and culture more widely, not only museums, but design and theatre and music and opera and ballet. I feel very optimistic about what this country can achieve.’ First, however, he can enjoy the chaos of construction.
