Curatorial Experiments at the National Gallery After the Second World War

The Two World Wars provoked a major disruption across museums in Britain and the rest of Europe, given the unprecedented level of destruction, which had caused the evacuation of collections and the closure of many museums. ¹ It also saw the ensuing emergence of diplomatic ties to ensure the protection and preservation of works of art and other historical artefacts through bodies such as the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation (IIC, 1922–1946) after the First World War and through UNESCO and ICOM (International Council of Museums) from 1946 onwards, when both of them were founded. ² In the aftermath of the Second World War, museum professionals reflected on how the recent events would impact their work and they reviewed their collections in the light of present needs. ³ Grace Morley, a well-known museologist and the first leader of the Museums Division of UNESCO, noted that the period had “challenged professional museum people to examine their traditional conceptions and to adapt their thinking to a wide range of possibilities.” ⁴ Reconstruction seemed to harbour a tabula rasa to reorient the museum and its display strategies according to new methods.