Dr Penelope Jackson, Sue Lewis and Fiona Willan respond to an article and letters on art overload
I read with interest your article (The hill I will die on: Let me tell you the one big problem with art galleries. There’s too much art, 30 May) and the follow-up letters (5 June) full of advice from readers. Everyone will have an opinion on how to visit an art gallery. Clearly, trying not to view everything on show is key here. But what people have failed to grasp is that if galleries don’t show a vast amount of their collection, they are criticised.
For example, the National Gallery in London hangs about 40% of its collection, which is more than others such as Tate Britain, which has a tiny fraction on show at any given time. And the National Portrait Gallery would struggle to hang its entire collection. Galleries and museums are caught between a rock and hard place. They try to show as much as is logistically possible, but that doesn’t mean visitors have to eyeball each one. We should, however, be grateful that these cultural institutions collect and try to showcase as much as possible, for we don’t all like the same things.
Dr Penelope Jackson
Tauranga, New Zealand