The Team

History of the Department

The National Gallery’s art handling department officially came into being on the 31st of August 1992. As the newly recruited head of team I had started two weeks earlier on the 17th in order to gain some idea of how things operated at the gallery and meet some of the many members of staff we would be working with in the coming years. The team was set up by Patricia Goddard a conservator who the gallery had hired as their picture movements officer roughly three years earlier.

As the picture movements officer Trish Goddard oversaw all the gallery’s picture movements which were carried out by a team of the gallery’s security personnel known collectively as the special working party. They were handpicked by their head of team whose name was Peter Brett. Peter had been doing the job for 26 years and was close to retirement. He had a large practical knowledge of the collection and could tell you where most of the pictures were at any given time without having access to TMS or any of the systems we have in place today. Although the special working party were capable of carry out the work they did with supervision, because they were officially part of the security department there were often conflicts of interest and the personnel who Peter would choose were taught on the job with no previous art handling experience. This was not an ideal situation, given the quality and prestige of The National Gallery’s collection.

As the gallery was moving towards mounting more temporary exhibitions with the opening of the Sainsbury wing a year earlier Trish felt that what was needed urgently was a team of experienced art handlers who would be dedicated to the care of the gallery’s collection and could be relied on to get the work done when it was required and without having to juggle it with their security duties. It took her and the head of exhibitions (Michael Wilson) two years to convince the gallery they needed a dedicated team, and this was to be the beginning of a new chapter in how the gallery would manage the movement of its pictures and loans to and from the collection.

My first two weeks at the gallery went by in a whirlwind of activity. I worked with Peter, his supervisor (Colin Lyonette) and of course the special working party who were made up of a core team which depending on the day and the jobs would be supplemented with other members of the security department who would be called in to assist when needed. Out of this core team there were four who had successfully interviewed for the new department that was about to be launched. They were John Thompson, Ray Butcher, Nigel Stevens and Stewart Wilson. John, Ray and Nigel had all worked for the security department as warders for years but had become tried and tested members of Peter’s core team so had done a lot of work with the special working party. Stewart had joined the gallery just over a year earlier as a warder but on the condition that he would be able to work with the special working party. He was a lot younger than the others and was a practising artist in his spare time. He knew the new department was in the process of being developed and joined the gallery with a view to gaining a place in there when it was finally formed.

On the morning of the 31st of August, I went to collect the new team members from the waiting room by the Wilkins entrance. The new arrivals were Mark Slattery, Matthew Thompson and Dominic Moore. Mark and Matthew had come from art transport and service companies (as had I) and Dominic came from working over at the South Bank Centre. It was an understatement to say this was quite a change for all us moving to an institution like The National Gallery. Everything was a great deal more regimented and systems were in place for most of the things we did.

Over the first year as we gained confidence and became conversant with what we were expected to do we were able to start making changes to the way we operated. There were many archaic practises and pieces of equipment in place which needed updating. We added drawers and upgraded the two old wooden picture trolleys which seemed to have been in use since the 50’s or 60’s possibly even earlier than that. We got rid of slot head screws which seemed to be the gold standard when the rest of the world had moved over to cross headed screws decades before. We bought cordless drill drivers and made up new skates to replace the old piano wheels (which were all the team had available up till then.)

We were very fortunate in that Trish was keen to see us develop our roll and turn the art handling department into a world class unit. Looking back from my vantage point today I believe that vision has been realized beyond anything we could have imagined back at the beginning and continues to be improved on constantly. We have gone from a gallery where all work at height was done off tall apex ladders which would make any health and safety officer shudder to Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPS).

We have developed and had manufactured a range of new adjustable picture trolleys to help us move pictures and make their installation simpler and safer along with a case roller to make the packing and unpacking of paintings safer and easier. We have also redesigned and changed most of the hanging hardware the gallery uses and are continuing to innovate and improve the systems we have in place. It is exciting to see how much we have changed and improved our equipment and methods of working over the years. As we look to the future it is safe to say that we will not be stopping the designing and innovating that characterises this department any time soon.

Danny Metcalf, Senior Technician

Organisational Chart

Current Roles

The art handling team at The National Gallery has gone through a number of structural changes throughout its 30-year history, the most recent of which included an expansion of the technician resource.

The team complement of the art handling department had remained relatively stable for most of its history, established at between 9 and 10 technicians plus the head of department on the department’s formation in 1992. This figure decreased slightly from 2000 onwards but since 2015 the volume and ambition of the gallery, particularly in the field of exhibitions and site reconstruction, has expanded enormously. This has led to a corresponding need to increase our resources and reappraise our approach in the face of this expansion.

The team complement is now 14 with 12 dedicated technicians plus an administrator role and the head of department. The technician structure is now split into three sections consisting of 3 senior technicians, 4 team supervisors and 5 art handlers.

The following is a description each role and its primary function, the tasks mentioned being by no means exclusive.

Senior Technician

As the volume and complexity of our work has increased over the years, we have adopted a project-based approach to our schedule to organise ourselves. The aim of the department is to have enough resources and team management capacity to be able to deliver two major projects plus our normal collection management work in any given week. Crucial to this is the role of the senior technician. As projects are assigned to each senior technician. Their role is to accept the responsibility of all necessary logistical, communication and team functions that will deliver the project from the point of view of art handling. This includes liaising with the head of department, keeping them informed of the progress of the project and seeking assistance where necessary.

A key element is the management of the main team, assessing and securing the resources necessary and then instructing the team in their actions. As part of team management, the senior technician will appoint a team supervisor as their deputy on each of the projects they have responsibility for.

National Gallery senior technicians are required to have extensive and expert knowledge and experience of the role of art handling. This will include an accumulation of technical knowledge concerning the gallery collection itself. The role of the senior being the primary source of art handling expertise when representing the gallery in any area.

In addition, senior technicians are expected to innovate both in the area of process and equipment. This will also involve managing projects begun by other members of the team including evaluating the project viability and designing a road map to see through to completion.

Team Supervisor

The National Gallery team supervisor works closely with the senior technician on any project as defined by the head of department and the senior technician. The team supervisor will work directly with the main technician complement of the team, supervising them in the tasks assigned to the department. This involves active participation in all activities, ensuring the standards required of the team are met and that each technician has the necessary support to fulfil their role.

The team supervisor will also deputise for any senior technician on a temporary basis according to the needs of a particular project. This includes representing the senior technician at planning meetings as well as accepting the responsibilities of the senior technician at major events such as installations.

The role requires extensive practical experience and the team supervisor is expected to have developed significant knowledge and expertise within the area of art handling.

In addition, the team supervisor is expected to be able to contribute to any technical discussion including innovating on technical solutions. The team supervisor is also expected to instigate or accept leadership of some projects, referring to the senior technician for guidance where necessary.

Art Handler

The role of an art handler at The National Gallery covers all practical considerations within the area of art handling. This includes activity around the collection, any exhibition on site and the correct handling and preparation of any work of art within the confines of The National Gallery site. In addition, National Gallery art handlers frequently work as couriers for the gallery, representing all gallery concerns when loaning elements of the collection to our partners and allied institutions.

Art Handlers are expected to already have developed a strong knowledge of the principles of art handling before they join the team at the gallery. This will include extensive experience within the field and the acquiring of excellent practical skills associated with the work.

Art handling teams rely on strong communication and teamwork attributes and each National Gallery art handler is expected to be a willing team member, adaptable to the many different scenarios they may experience within the discipline.

Though art handlers do not ordinarily lead on projects, all team members are expected to be capable of innovation and independence of thought dedicated to the solution of a problem. Each art handler will normally be assigned a senior technician as their line manager and will be prepared to accept instructions from any member of the management team.

Administrator

The department administrator is a critical role that works closely with both the head of department and the senior technicians in all planning concerns regarding the activity of the team. The administrator is the main point of contact for all other gallery departments wishing to engage the art handling team or to share information.

The administrator will commonly make initial decisions on the viability of daily tasks of the team (for example the loans program) before working with the head to finalise the long-term schedule. They will act as support for each team project, working closely with a senior technician on all logistical matters to realise the goals of the department. All daily admin functions of the department fall within the remit of the administrator. This includes invoicing and budgeting, worksheet production, all external communication (including GDPR management) and the critical role of location recording and database management (from the perspective of art handling) of the collection.

The administrator is also the manager of the department’s wiki page, formulated to ensure the history and knowledge of the department is recorded and to promote high standards of practice within art handling.

Head of Department

The head of department takes responsibility for all aspects of the team’s performance. The main role of the head is to ensure the team performs its function within the principals and priorities as defined by the main mission of The National Gallery. This will include taking overall responsibility for all strategic and tactical concerns within the context of the department.

The head will have a strong working relationship with all members of the department, but this is particularly focused on the senior technicians and the department administrator.

The head will represent the department within the context of the management of the gallery including at external meetings or presentations. The department sits within the collection directorate and is considered an arm of preventative conservation, being closely associated with the gallery’s conservation department. The Head’s role in this area is to ensure the department functions within the principles of preventative conservation which should inform each part of the department’s activity.

The head works closely with the department administrator to plan both the daily and long-term work of the team. The head is also expected to have extensive experience and knowledge of all art handling areas and will on occasion lead or participate in significant activity.

The head will also innovate and promote improvements in all areas concerning the department. This may include equipment development, process design or team structure and requirements, both designing and implementing changes and improvements wherever necessary.

A Day in the Life ...

As of writing, my time working behind the scenes in the art industry stands at approximately 7 years. During that time, I've had the privilege to explore a few distinct faces of the industry. The bulk of my experience lies in the private sector, having spent several years at art shipping / logistics companies. This experience saw me installing exhibitions at commercial galleries / art fairs, fabricating crates for shipping, and installing in private residences to name a few.

Working in the private sector can be incredibly fast paced, exciting and stressful. Often your own ingenuity and that of your colleagues is all you can rely on, as equipment and materials are often limited or lacking. As stimulating as that can be, it often left me feeling dissatisfied with the motivations of the individuals and companies I worked for.

The opportunity to work for a publicly funded institution like The National Gallery was something I couldn’t pass up.

Adapting to the processes and methods of the art handling department at The National Gallery required some un-learning and adjustment on my part. The department is well established and as a result has its own well-established idiosyncrasies. The department's equipment has been designed in-house and is unique to the Gallery. Equally so, the hardware art handling uses, has also been designed in-house by the various stalwarts of the department. Each new piece of equipment is designed or adapted out of necessity to solve a problem and is in a constant state of evolution and review to ensure it better fits its required use.

My colleagues and I are invited to engage in this conversation constantly which is flattering and refreshing. Before now I hadn’t worked in such a collegiate and collaborative environment.

Working at The National Gallery is almost the antithesis of my experience as a technician. The National Gallery is custodian to some 2,300 works and has been building its collection for nearly 200 years. Being a part of that, however small is incredibly humbling and I’m incredibly happy that I’ve found myself here.

Sam Hallett, Art Handler

Profiles of Staff: Present and Past

Team (current and former); left to right: Simon Wallis, Dan Haddock, Sam Hallet, Alex Hinks,
Mark Slattery, Patrick O'Sullivan, (seated back) Jamie Bell, Kasper Pincis, Tom Hemming
(seated front) Alan Brooks, James Lindley, Danny Metcalf and Dave Morgan

Ray Butcher | Art Handler 1988 - 2012

The pathway into professional art handling in museums is often highly varied. Among the traits that are indispensable are an ability to use tools safely and effectively, and an understanding of the materials that are commonly used in the production of paintings, frames and mounts. With these essential abilities at Ray’s disposal, he was recruited onto the art handling team twelve months after joining the Gallery in 1987. He had just moved to London with his family from North Wales where he had been living and working. The drive to London was all the more dramatic due to the effects of the severe storm that hit the country the night before.

He was first hired as a room warder, guarding the paintings during opening times. He soon came to attention of Peter Brett, then head art handler. Back then the technicians were known as the Working Party. Ray says, ‘Given my background working with tools and my hands all my working life, he gave me a trial picture handling’. Members of the Working Party were recruited from the corps of warders and were required to continue working as such when not engaged in art handling duties, particularly on Sundays. He continues, ‘It went well for me and I took to it like a duck to water. In short, I loved it’.

Ray had served a trade apprenticeship in auto repair and made a good living repairing car bodies. It is a complex area requiring multiple skills and abilities from welding to paint spraying. Whilst welding generally isn’t a requirement for handling the collection, an ability to solve technical and mechanical problems certainly is. Ray came up with a number of innovations which served the needs of the department and was always keen to build and adapt equipment as necessary.

Along with technical prowess, personal skills are another necessary trait. Art handlers are frequently deployed to sites elsewhere where they perform a variety of duties normally associated with care of our collection. Representing the gallery in a professional capacity is another responsibility we demand of our team. Ray’s character lent itself very well to this diverse role.

He says, ‘In those days the new occupants of number 10 and 11 Downing St, were able to borrow paintings from the Gallery’s secondary collection. These were normally chosen by the spouse of the Prime Minister or Chancellor. That in turn afforded me the opportunity of visiting number 10 twice and number 11 once to courier paintings back after a change of personnel’.

Ray’s time at the gallery dates from before the Sainsbury Wing opened. He was one of the founding members of the modern art handling department, when the gallery changed from recruiting from the security team and established art handling as a specialism. During his time on the team he became a supervisor, personally mentoring and training newly appointed staff.

Ray retired from the gallery in 2012 and moved away from the hustle and bustle of inner-city Earls Court to a quieter life by the Kent coast.

Mark Slattery, Senior Technician