Episode 50: Charles Saumarez Smith

We head to the UK to hear from Sir Charles Saumarez Smith about his new book The Art Museum in Modern Times. Former director of London’s National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, and Royal Academy, he reflects on contests of authority bearing down on museum leaders, ranging from the influence of private wealth, to restitution claims, the assault on the canon of art history, and the failure of museums to address the legacy of slavery and prevailing discrimination. He discusses the preparation of future directors, purging endowments of investments in regressive industries, challenges to the primacy of permanent collections, the ‘anti-woke’ agenda of Boris Johnson’s government, the dearth of educational collaboration among museums online, the ascendancy of a commercial paradigm over public access, and his hopes for the future of museums.