Penny Says No To Modern Art

LONDON—The new director of the National Gallery in London, Nicholas Penny, said he will not continue the former director's plan to show contemporary and modern art, reports Bloomberg. "It would not be a major part of my acquisition policy at present to buy 20th-century works of art,'' Penny confirmed. He also noted that he would discuss any matters related to 20th- or 21st-century works with Tate Modern or Tate Britain.

The National Gallery's curatorial cutoff date of 1900 had been disputed by the gallery's former director, Charles Saumarez Smith, who argued that significant contributions in art did not stop being made in 1899. Saumarez Smith left the National Gallery in August for the Royal Academy of Arts, after a five-year stint.