Eternal fame for sale
When Samuel Pepys left his books to Magdalene College, his only stipulation was that if a single one was lost, all would be removed and given to Trinity. His library has been exceptionally well looked after ever since." It is characteristic of Charles Saumarez Smith's self-deprecating charm that he should volunteer what is in effect an anecdote against himself or, rather, the National Gallery in London, of which he is director. The subject of our meeting was the Mond Bequest, a contentious issue from the time it arrived at the gallery in 1923.
Industrialist Ludwig Mond (the company he founded became ICI) died in 1909. His collection of Italian paintings (among them works by Botticelli, Titian and Bellini) was left to his widow and, on her death, to the National Gallery. There were conditions: the pictures were to be known as the Mond Collection and to be kept together. And so the 42 paintings were. But unlike Pepys', Mond's will lacked a penalty clause. Ten years after the bequest went to Trafalgar Square, Kenneth Clark, then gallery director, decided it was "more logical" to show them interspersed with related works. The Mond Room remained; his pictures no longer filled it.
Now a small, temporary reunion is taking place in Room 1 of the gallery until tomorrow and eight Mond "highlights" hang together again. In the booklet published to mark the event, Saumarez Smith makes plain its purpose. "We hope that his gift may encourage others to donate works of art to the national collection."
It's a gamble that may backfire; the exhibition may remind potential donors that the gallery ignored at least the spirit of Mond's bequest.
"I don't think they'd do such a thing again,' says Denis Mahon, the art historian. But just to make sure, in 1997 he bequeathed 58 works from his admired collection of Italian baroque paintings to the UK charity the Art Fund, which lends them to public galleries and makes sure the terms of his donation are met. Formerly called the National Art Collections Fund, the Art Fund has a long track record.
"Over the past 103 years something like 857,000 works of art have entered public collections through the Art Fund," says its director David Barrie. Many of these were gifts or bequests.
Among Mahon's conditions are that if a public gallery borrows a picture (and the National Gallery has 28), it must remain on public view (or be easily accessible). No work must be sold. If a gallery no longer wants to display a work, it must return it to the Art Fund.
Of course, some collectors attempt to control the destiny of their collections by opening museums of their own. London-based David Khalili is moving in just this direction in stages.
The son of a dealer who became a dealer himself, Khalili made his fortune (he's a Forbes billionaire) in real estate. He is a collector on a princely scale. An Iranian-born Jew, he owns the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of Islamic Art (more than 20,000 items).
Although he is best known for that, he is proud of having the world's largest collection of Japanese Meiji art and of his collections of Spanish Damascene and antique Swedish textiles. When he talks about these works, responsibility, sharing and tolerance are central themes. "Don't collect for financial reasons," he says. "First do it for yourself, because you enjoy buying and looking at the objects. Buy the object very carefully. And then conserve, publish and exhibit it."
A programme of publishing catalogues written by specialists and detailing every work in Khalili's collection is under way. In two years, everything will be in place; everything but the institution. "Establishing a private museum is the biggest undertaking of an individual," he says. "It must be properly endowed."
Of course, there will be some for whom the lure of attaching their collection to that of a great institution remains strong. Saumarez Smith is relaxed about it. But just where would he fit another collection the size of Mond's? "Oh, we have land out the back," he says. "An extension could be built."
So for only ￡110m, a benefactor can add a wing to the National Gallery, fill it with his or her collection and, at no extra cost, have their name over the door. When highly prized paintings sell for over $1m, it almost seems like a bargain. 'Ludwig Mond's Bequest: A Gift to the Nation', until tomorrow, National Gallery, London. Tel: +44 (0)20-7747 2885;
www.nationalgallery.org.uk 艺术捐赠品去哪了？
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落各地的“蒙德的遗赠”
“当塞缪尔?佩皮斯(Samuel Pepys)把他的藏书遗赠给麦格达伦学院(Magdalene College)时，他唯一的条件是，如果其中一本丢失了，那么所有的书籍将被收回，并转赠给三一学院(Trinity)。自那以后，他的图书馆得到了格外细心的照料。”这是查尔斯?索马里兹?史密斯(Charles Saumarez Smith)自谦性格的典型表现。身为伦敦国家美术馆(National Gallery)馆长的他，应该主动提出，这其实是关于他或这家博物馆的一个趣谈。我们此次会议的主题是“蒙德的遗赠”(Mond Bequest)――自从1923年进入该美术馆以来，这些遗赠品就成为一个富有争议的问题。
实业家路德维格?蒙德（Ludwig Mond，他创建的公司后来成为ICI）于1909年辞世。他把自己收藏的意大利画作留给了他的遗孀――其中包括波提切利(Botticelli)、提香(Titian)和贝利尼(Bellini)的作品，并在她死后捐献给了国家美术馆。条件是：这些绘画将统一命名为蒙德藏品(Mond Collection)，并保存在一起。这就是这42幅画作的由来。然而，与佩皮斯不同，蒙德的遗嘱没有订立惩罚条款。这些遗赠品来到特拉法加广场（Trafalgar Square，国家美术馆所在地）10年后，当时的馆长肯尼斯?克拉克(Kenneth Clark)决定，将这些遗赠品分开，与相关作品一起进行展示，似乎“更为合理”。于是蒙德展厅(Mond Room)还在，但他收藏的画作已经流落各地了。
如今，一场小规模的“短暂团圆”正在该美术馆的一号展厅上演，时间将持续到明天。蒙德收藏的8幅“精品”再次被悬挂在一起。在一本为这次活动而出版的小册子中，索马里兹?史密斯明确提出了此次活动的目的。“我们希望，他的礼物能够鼓励其他人向国家美术馆捐献艺术品。”
这是一次可能引起相反效果的赌博；此次展览可能提醒那些潜在的捐赠者，该美术馆至少忽视过蒙德遗赠的精神。
订下捐赠条件？
艺术史学家丹尼斯?马洪(Denis Mahon)表示：“我认为他们再也不会这么做了。”但要说明的是，1997年，他将自己收藏的58件意大利巴洛克风格画作捐赠给了英国慈善机构――艺术基金会(Art Fund)。艺术基金会向公立美术馆出借这些作品，并确保满足马洪的捐赠条件。艺术基金会原名为国家艺术收藏品基金会(National Art Collections Fund)，从事这样的工作已经很久了。
艺术基金会主管戴维?巴里(David Barrie)表示：“过去103年间，大约85.7万件艺术品通过艺术基金会进入公众收藏领域。”其中许多艺术品来自馈赠和遗赠。
马洪的捐献条件包括，如果一家公立美术馆借入一件画作（国家美术馆借了28件），必须公开展示（或者公众能够很容易的接近它们）。所有的作品都不能出售。如果一家美术馆不想展示某件作品，必须将其归还艺术基金会。
创办私人博物馆？
当然，一些收藏者试图通过创办自己的博物馆，控制自己藏品的命运。伦敦的戴维?哈利利(David Khalili)正在朝着这个目标努力。
作为一位子承父业的交易商，哈利利通过经营房地产积累起自己的财富（登上了《福布斯》(Forbes)富豪榜）。他的藏品非常丰富。这位在伊朗出生的犹太人，拥有全球数量最多、种类最全的伊斯兰艺术藏品（超过2万件）。
尽管他因此闻名天下，但让他引以为豪的，却是他那数量位居全球之冠的日本明治时期艺术品收藏，以及他的西班牙金属嵌制艺术品和瑞典古代纺织品收藏。当他谈到这些作品时，责任、分享和宽容是他的关键词。“不要为了经济目的而收藏，”他表示，“首先，你要为自己做这件事，因为你喜欢购买并观赏这些艺术品。购买艺术品时要非常审慎。然后，将其保存、出版并展示。”
有关方面正在进行一项目录出版计划，由专家撰写目录内容，详尽介绍哈利利的每件藏品。两年后，一切都将准备完毕，就等博物馆的成立。“创办一家私人博物馆，是一个人一生中最大的一项事业，”他表示，“它必须得到适当的捐赠。”
当然，也有人非常希望将自己的藏品与大机构的藏品联系在一起。索马里兹?史密斯对此泰然自若。但他会把另一个与蒙德遗赠规模相当的藏品放到哪里呢？“哦，我们已在后边辟出一块地方，”他表示，“我们可能会扩建。”
只需1.1亿英镑，捐献者就可以为国家美术馆增加一个侧厅，将他或她的藏品摆放进去，并免费将其名字镌刻在门上。在那些珍贵画作的售价动辄超过100万美元的时候，这似乎是一笔便宜的买卖。
