The new director of the National Gallery in London has a rather different perspective from his predecessor when it comes to the view from his office window. Former head Nicholas Penny was waspish about the succession of temporary sculptures that graced the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square; he said that Antony Gormley’s One & Other was theatre, not sculpture, and that he would leave it to theatre critics to comment on its quality. But Gabriele Finaldi is taking a rather different line. Asked by the Evening Standard newspaper to name the capital’s “best pop-up”, he said: “The Fourth Plinth is a brilliant way to make art connect with contemporary people.” He has, however, only seen one piece through his window since taking over—Hans Haacke’s Gift Horse.
