The National Gallery's Christine Riding shares her Out of Office essentials

Walpole: In a world where we’re always available, how do you separate your personal time from your work time?

Christine Riding: This is an extremely good question because the challenge for me is that a lot of the things that I would be doing in my spare time, I actually love doing as part of my job; I would be going to galleries, I would be going out to meet artists, I would be attending private views, and many of my friends are in the museum and gallery sector. So, the important thing for me is to get involved with things that are unrelated to work, socialising with friends and family who are not in the art world, and focus on hobbies that are very different to my day job. That really helps me to separate out the two worlds.

What’s one thing you do after the workday to help you unwind?

The thing I do is cycle home. Riding from the National Gallery, right in the centre of London, down Whitehall or the Embankment, across Waterloo bridge, along the south side of the River Thames, through Vauxhall to Stockwell where I live, is a really fantastic journey. It’s something tourists would love, because it takes you past the Tate Britain, Lambeth Palace, and all these amazing landmarks – but I get to do it as a cycle home. And I have to say, by the time I get home, I might be a little bit exhausted, but I do feel I’ve had that decompression moment, it definitely helps me unwind. 

What activity do you do in your time away from the office that helps you relax and recentre after a stressful week?

I don’t have a garden, but I’ve got a lovely 40-ft terrace, where I have lots of plants and flowers and grow my own vegetables – it’s something I really got going over the numerous lockdowns. I even started my own wormery. I especially like trying to keep alive the things that people have given me for birthdays and Christmas, rather than just buying things new. At the moment, I’ve become very successful with roses (I don’t know how this has happened!), but I’ve got about six rose buses on my terrace, all different colours, and some of them are heritage roses so they have a lovely scent. For my health and wellbeing, I do find having a terrace with flowers and plants, and a space to grow my own vegetables is really good.

What’s something you’ve read, listened to, or seen in your spare time that’s helped you at work?

Recently, I was invited to participate in an interview during an interval between performances at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The subject was ‘art, painting and music’ and how intimately connected they were in the 19th century. The music being played was by composers like Fauré and Debussy, who were intimately connected to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Sitting there and listening to this music, focusing on the sounds of Impressionism as opposed to the visual style of Impressionism, did remind me that works of art by artists like Monet, Manet, Degas and so on, should always be appreciated as part of bigger, dynamic cultural landscape.

After home and the office, where’s your favourite ‘third space’?

Away from the world of museums and galleries, my favourite ‘third space’ at the moment is the wonderful Kennington Park in Lambeth, near where I live. Not only is it a beautiful park, but they’ve been redeveloping some of the spaces recently to include almost ‘formal’ gardens, looked after by the local community. My favourite thing to do when the weather is lovely, is to sit in the park café, also run by the local community, and have one of their pizzas and some ice cream. That’s really been a game-changer in terms of having somewhere local to go, being able to sit and relax and have some food, watch people exercising and walking their dogs, and then I amble home. It’s one of the reasons I love London so much, because there are so many public parks.

On Sunday night, how do you prepare yourself for the week ahead?

I actually prepare by not really thinking about the week ahead. I go to bed early, and I listen to something on Audible – maybe a novel that’s read out by a famous actor, or something dramatised, and I also have podcasts that I listen to regularly. I’m an early bird – I’m up at 5:30am – so I prepare for the week ahead at that point. No whisky at night for me!

Best reason you've had to turn your out of office on recently?

The best reason I’ve had to do this recently is because of a conversation with a colleague who said, "Christine, you’ve got to have time away from work, you’ve got to have time away from your phone." So, I suppose I owe it to my colleagues on some level, who encourage me to really think about my own health and wellbeing. I’ve also started going more to the opera, and to the theatre – places where you have to turn your phone off. Sometimes I forget to put it back on, which is a fantastic way of having down-time, if only temporarily. 

Your go-to out of office outfit: Although I’ve only ever worked in the arts and heritage (I studied History, Art History, and Museum studies at degree level), I’ve always rather fancied the idea of having studied at the London School of Economics – it’s always seemed a very vibrant and exciting college at the heart of London. My sister gave me a sweatshirt that she was given after participating in a talk with Mike Leigh at the LSE (my sister worked with Mike on his film, Peterloo, and they were doing the event together). The sweatshirt was too small for her, so she gave it to me with ‘LSE GOVERNANCE’ written on it. That, and my tracksuit bottoms is what I always wear lounging around at home. It represents something so different from what I do during the day.

Your happy place anywhere in the world: I recently went to the Biennale in Venice – and I know its an obvious one to say, but I really have had some very happy times in Venice. I worked at the Peggy Gugenheim Collection museum as a student, so if I have to think about somewhere where I’ve always had a wonderful time, Venice would be it. And, if I have to be even more specific, I would say the Frari Basilica, sitting in front of the Titian altarpiece – that’s a very happy place for me. I’m also a Pisces, so perhaps the fact that Venice is a city on water might also attract me (only joking!).

Your favourite bar or restaurant: Anything to do with St John – the original one in Clerkenwell, the ‘Bread and Wine’ St John in Spitalfields, or the one where you can buy bread and pastries on Borough High Street. I’ve never had a bad experience at St John. When I go to the Clerkenwell one, I always have the Welsh rarebit and a tasty green salad, then I move on to the half-dozen madeleines that they make for you (not all for myself!), and dessert wine.

Something cultural or sporting you booked recently that you'd recommend and why: The BBC Proms. For £8 you can just try anything out (as long as you don’t mind standing!), and the variety in the Proms schedule is just amazing. I would recommend everyone does it.

Something you've listened to or read recently that you'd recommend: I recently went to the Rodin Museumin Paris and stood in front of his wonderful sculpture of Honoré de Balzac, and this has prompted me to start re-reading Balzac’s novels, that I previously read in my mid-twenties. Now that I’m decades older, I’m reading them in quite a different way. It’s funny how my perception of what Balzac is saying about human nature has changed because I’m older, more the age that Balzac was when he was writing these novels. I think going back to stories some years later, and seeing if your perception has changed, just because you’re at a different moment in your life, is fascinating.

A hobby you'd like to cultivate: When I was younger, I didn’t want to be a fine art curator – I wanted to be a decorative art conservator, more specifically a textile conservator. I was particularly interested in tapestry (and still am). So, over the lockdown period, I downloaded an online tapestry course and bought all the materials to do tapestry at home. It’s a lot harder than I imagined! One of my favourite places to visit is West Dean College in West Sussex, where they have one of the only tapestry loom studios in the UK (the other being Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh). That is one thing I’d really want to be able to cultivate: my ability to weave and make tapestry!

A luxury that’s actually a necessity: Bobby Brown lip gloss in various colours. It’s the only thing I wear and I now can’t do without it.

Best luxury under £25: A packet of cantuccini biscuits with almonds – not the ones from the supermarkets, but the homemade ones you get from a proper Italian delicatessen. Perfect with a coffee, and absolutely worth the extra cost! 

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Transcription of interview by Françoise Le Clercq

Image credit: Christine Riding, Director of Collections and Research © The National Gallery, London