The planned international tour of works from the Burrell Collection, which the museum hoped would generate as much as £15m, is proving more challenging than anticipated. Although the institution is scheduled to close for a major renovation on 23 October, details of the tour have yet to be announced. The delay suggests that Glasgow Life, which runs the museum, is struggling to convince foreign venues to pay substantial fees to borrow works from its 9,000-strong collection.
Three years ago, trustees of the Burrell sought special approval from the Scottish Parliament to allow works to be lent abroad. In his bequest, the Glasgow-based shipping magnate William Burrell, who died in 1958, banned international loans because he feared works would be damaged if they travelled overseas. In February 2014, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill overturning Burrell’s wishes.
The trustees originally hoped the show of around 100 objects would travel to six venues. In 2014, the museum explored spaces in the UK, North America, France, Japan, China, Russia and Qatar. Discussions were held with the British Museum and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, but neither venue decided to take the exhibition.
So far, the Burrell has announced the loan of just four paintings. Works by Edgar Degas, including The Rehearsal (around 1874), are included in a major exhibition on the French artist that opens this month at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (16 October-16 January 2017). Other works from the Burrell are expected to go on display later this month at another Glasgow venue, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
Museum.
The eclectic collection reflects Burrell’s personal tastes. It includes important paintings, such as a 1632 self-portrait by Rembrandt, as well as antiquities, Renaissance tapestries, Chinese ceramics and stained glass. Late 19th-century French art is a particular strength. However, the collection is not well known outside Scotland (partly because of the earlier loan restrictions), which has made it more difficult to market the tour.
The purpose-built Burrell Collection building, which opened in 1983 in Pollok Country Park on the outskirts of Glasgow, is now badly in need of repair. Water damage forced the museum to evacuate some objects and climate controls need to be upgraded. The renovation, by the London-based architect John McAslan and Partners, will cost up to £66m.
The museum has raised two-thirds of the budget, with half coming from the Glasgow City Council, £15m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £5m from the UK government.
The Burrell is still hopeful that the international tour will take place from 2018 until mid-2020, ahead of a grand reopening in late 2020. The original £15m target, however, now appears ambitious. Nevertheless, a tour to foreign venues (along with key individual loans to major shows) will help to raise the profile of this important Scottish collection.
