NewsAppointments & departures
Succession: critics take aim at Louvre chief Jean-Luc Martinez as he seeks reappointment
French president Emmanuel Macron will decide whether to renew or replace the museum's director in the coming weeks
NewsArt market
India Art Fair appoints Jaya Asokan as new director
She will take over from Jagdip Jagpal who led the Delhi fair for three years
NewsAppointments & departures
Tate curator Mark Godfrey, who was disciplined for questioning the decision to postpone a Philip Guston show, parts ways with institution
Godfrey is taking voluntary redundancy as part of cost-cutting measures due to impact of Covid-19
NewsAppointments & departures
Charles Venable, president of Indianapolis museum, resigns after controversial job post
The board has issued an apology and pledged to improve its representation of the local community
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Royal British Columbia Museum CEO Jack Lohman resigns, after internal report finds a ‘dysfunctional and toxic workplace’
An investigation into management was prompted by the departure of the museum’s head of Indigenous collection, who complained of racism and discrimination
NewsAppointments & departures
After a controversial year, director will leave the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Neal Benezra’s departure follows the museum’s deletion of an Instagram comment that faulted the institution on racial issues
NewsLaw
Art lawyer Frank Lord opens private practice in New York
As well as working on high profile restitution cases, the former Herrick Feinstein partner has a PhD in art history
NewsNational Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada adds community and HR leaders to management team
Angela Cassie and Tania Lafrenière join the institution as part of its first strategic plan
NewsDavid Hockney
David Hockney appoints Royal Academy curator Edith Devaney as his new managing director
Devaney, previously at the RA for 22 years, will oversee artist’s catalogue raisonné among other projects
NewsAppointments & departures
Peabody Essex Museum director is resigning after just 17 months
Brian P. Kennedy says he will seek a “new challenge” but offers no further details
NewsLiverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial director Fatos Üstek resigns after run-in with board of trustees
Two trustees, the artist Fiona Banner and the art lawyer Jon Sharples, also stepped down in support
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Metropolitan Museum board appoints first woman co-chair
Candace Beinecke and Hamilton James will lead the trustees
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Ghana appoints experts to draw up 'radical' new plan for museums and monuments
Committee will advise on cultural initiatives in the country and research Ghanaian objects held in international collections
NewsAppointments & departures
'We are not a suburb of Paris': incoming director of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts champions a North American identity
Stéphane Aquin is taking over after Nathalie Bondil’s controversial dismissal
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Nancy Spector steps down as chief curator of the Guggenheim Museum, after months of controversy
At the same time, museum’s board announced that an independent investigation found she did not mistreat a guest curator based on her race
NewsHong Kong
Hong Kong's M+ museum delayed to autumn 2021 amid management troubles and spiralling costs
West Kowloon Cultural District chief executive heads for early exit, accused of contributing to cost overruns and delays
NewsMuseums
Chair of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts steps down as former director sues over unfair dismissal
Michel de la Chenelière is not seeking term renewal as controversy over Nathalie Bondil's departure rumbles on
NewsAppointments & departures
Six women, one foreigner: Italy appoints 13 new museum and heritage directors
Culture minister Dario Franceschini reverses trend for appointing foreign leaders for its leading institutions
NewsInternational Council of Museums
Icom in turmoil after row over new definition of museums
Wrangling over "ideological" text prompts resignations from International Council of Museums
NewsMuseums
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts placed on 'concerned status' over sacking of director
Canada Council for the Arts will monitor the crisis following Nathalie Bondil’s dismissal, which could put the museum's public funding at risk
NewsAppointments & departures
Influential political cartoonist Steve Bell dropped by the Guardian newspaper after 40 years
Biting satirist looks to art history for some of his caricatures, such as a recent sketch of Boris Johnson as Mona Lisa
InterviewAppointments & departures
'The show must go on': new Rencontres d’Arles director promises 'less is more' approach after pandemic scuppers this year's edition
Head-hunted from Paris Photo, Christoph Wiesner will begin role as Luma Foundation officially opens its headquarters in the French city
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture plagued by delays after top curators quit
Turkey’s national modern art collection, closed off for much of its 80-year existence, will be hard-pressed to open $25m new building this year
NewsAppointments
'As reassuring as Mr Bean'? London's National Portrait Gallery appointment attracts criticism
Conservative MP Chris Grayling has been named a trustee of the museum
Newscoronavirus
Austrian culture minister steps down after coming under fire over pandemic response
Ulrike Lunacek was in office for less than four months
NewsCentre Pompidou
Serge Lasvignes re-appointed as president of Centre Pompidou
French government endorses his strategy of establishing satellite branches overseas
NewsAppointments & departures
Ex-presidential press director who led billionaire François Pinault’s art empire quits after six months
Sylvain Fort steps down ahead of Paris gallery launch at the historic Bourse de Commerce, which has been delayed due to coronavirus
NewsBonhams
Bonhams chief executive Matthew Girling to leave auction house
Former jewellery specialist, who joined the firm in 1988, will be replaced by Bruno Vinciguerra, who will also continue in his role as executive chairman
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
Wooing Dutch visitors and an impending birthday: the challenges facing Van Gogh Museum's new director
Emilie Gordenker, from the Mauritshuis, will move from the Golden Age to the birth of Modernism when she takes up her role next week
NewsAppointments
BBC head Tony Hall joins London's National Gallery to lead board of trustees
Hall will leave his top media job in the summer to take up the unpaid position at the museum
NewsAppointments
Nazi loot expert joins Louvre to investigate its wartime acquisitions
Hire of French art historian Emmanuelle Polack suggests a more proactive stance on Nazi-era provenance research at Paris museum
NewsVenice Biennale
Cecilia Alemani appointed artistic director of the 2021 Venice Biennale
The High Line and Art Basel Cities curator is the first Italian woman to hold the position
NewsAppointments
Rebecca Salter elected president of London’s Royal Academy—the first woman in its 251-year history
The printmaker replaces Christopher Le Brun who stepped down after eight years in the post
NewsMuseums & Heritage
KAWS joins board of American Folk Art Museum
The contemporary artist is among four new trustees elected
NewsAppointments & departures
Frieze LA director Bettina Korek appointed chief executive of Serpentine Galleries
Los Angeles art veteran takes the reins at the London institution in its 50th anniversary year
NewsAppointments & departures
Charles Saumarez Smith steps down as senior director at Blain Southern
Gallery is going through a “period of restructuring”, according to founder Harry Blain
NewsJewish Museum Berlin
Hetty Berg is appointed new director of Jewish Museum Berlin
She will take over the German institution following the controversial departure of Peter Schäfer last June
NewsMuseums
Chiara Parisi lined up as new director of the Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Rome-born curator will oversee the gallery’s tenth anniversary programme and events
NewsAppointments
Tate’s Andrea Lissoni to lead Munich’s troubled Haus der Kunst
Challenges include financial problems and a major planned renovation
NewsAppointments & departures
Co-directors step down from London's Design Museum after more than a decade
Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black will leave in January
NewsAppointments & departures
Uffizi's Eike Schmidt reveals why he cancelled move to Kunsthistorisches Museum at the eleventh hour
Uffizi director says he is able to pursue reforms at Florence museum under Italy's new centre-left government
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Minneapolis Institute of Art names Katherine Crawford Luber as president and director
She comes to Minnesota from the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she grew the collections of African American and Aboriginal artists, and expanded programmes for underserved youth
NewsAppointments
Uffizi’s Eike Schmidt cancels move to Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
Move comes just one month before the German art historian was due to take the reins of the prestigious museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Wolfgang Tillmans is the new chair of London's Institute of Contemporary Arts
The move marks the institution's return to an artist-led board
NewsWhitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum vice chairman Warren Kanders steps down after months of protests
His company Safariland has been criticised for manufacturing tear gas canisters that have been used on asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border
NewsAppointments & departures
Emma Lavigne lined up as new president of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
Director of the Centre Pompidou-Metz would be first woman to hold the position
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Uzbekistan's Nukus Museum names new director
Former Roerich Museum director Tigran Mkrtychev wins international competition to head up the famed Russian avant-garde collection long embroiled in controversy
NewsAppointments & departures
In damning online critique of British Museum's ethics, trustee Ahdaf Soueif announces resignation
Prominent Egyptian-born writer cites the institution's BP sponsorship, treatment of workers and its silence over restitution as key issues
NewsPolitics
Plan to merge Uffizi and Accademia in Florence stokes row over Italian museums reform
Critics say the move by Italy's populist coalition government will compromise the autonomy of museums
NewsAppointments & departures
MoMA PS1 hires former Garage Museum curator as its director
Kate Fowle, known as a champion of artists and curatorial innovation, succeeds Klaus Biesenbach
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Donna De Salvo steps down as Whitney senior curator
After organising popular shows like a Warhol retrospective, she resigns to “pursue other interests’’
NewsAppointments & departures
Serpentine Galleries chief Yana Peel resigns
She was in the post for three years
News
Jewish Museum Berlin director steps down after a tweet misfires
Germany’s Council of Jews said Peter Schäfer “lost the trust of the Jewish community”
NewsAppointments & departures
Diane 'Dede' Wilsey steps down as board chair of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The leader has been both generous and controversial
NewsAppointments & departures
Lonnie Bunch elected new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture is the first African American, and first historian, to lead the organisation
NewsAppointments & departures
President Macron’s former public relations chief heads up François Pinault’s art empire
Opera expert Sylvain Fort will oversee the billionaire’s museums in Venice and Paris
News
Czech culture minister resigns amid outrage over dismissals of museum chiefs
Antonin Stanek’s sudden firing of National Gallery director Jiri Fajt sparked international protests and a petition
NewsConservation & Preservation
Guggenheim launches conservation fellowship with help from Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin
Initiative aims to boost Russian expertise in rapidly developing field of preserving contemporary art
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Uzbekistan’s troubled Nukus Museum embroiled in new row
Museum seeks fourth director in as many years amid claims its renowned avant-garde collection is being “mistreated”
NewsAppointments & departures
Alexandra Suda takes over as director of the National Gallery of Canada
The Ontario native is just the fourth woman to take the post, and the youngest in more than a century
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Kaywin Feldman shatters the glass ceiling at the National Gallery of Art in Washington
During her first week on the job, the new director reveals her aspirations for the museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Terra Foundation’s transformational leader Elizabeth Glassman to step down
During her two-decade tenure, the Terra closed its Chicago museum and turned its attention to grant-making and collaborations
NewsAppointments & departures
Zeitz Mocaa appoints new director following #MeToo scandal
Koyo Kouoh, who founded RAW Material Company in Dakar, replaces Mark Coetzee who was accused of misconduct
NewsAppointments & departures
Fatos Üstek appointed director of the Liverpool Biennial
The Turkish curator has worked on Art Night and was recently named director of the Draf project
News
Munich's Haus der Kunst, leaderless since June, appoints expert commission
Commission is to support curators until successor to Okwui Enwezor is found
NewsAppointments & departures
Stedelijk Museum issues conciliatory statement insisting that feud with Beatrix Ruf is over
Unusual press release is latest twist in long-running dispute between Amsterdam institution and its former director
NewsAppointments & departures
Marc-Olivier Wahler steps down as director of MSU Broad Art Museum
The Swiss curator is resigning from the Michigan institution for family reasons
NewsControversies
'Too conservative' to direct France's arts academy? Jean de Loisy hits back at critics
A petition protesting his appointment at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts has been signed by 60 arts professionals
News
National Gallery of Art in Washington hires its first female director
Kaywin Feldman, to begin in March, currently leads the Minneapolis Institute of Art
NewsAppointments & departures
Galleria Borghese director Anna Coliva reinstated after suspension over gym visits
Decision to take case to court prompted a public outcry and an online petition
NewsAppointments & departures
Sotheby’s Germany chief Philipp von Württemberg resigns
Heinrich von Spreti will serve as interim managing director until a replacement is found
NewsAppointments & departures
SculptureCenter’s Mary Ceruti named as new executive director of the Walker Art Center
The Minneapolis museum’s former director, Olga Viso, announced her departure a year ago
NewsAppointments & departures
Former Tate Modern chief Chris Dercon takes the reins at the Grand Palais in Paris
The Belgian curator, who quit the Volksbühne Theatre in April, has been appointed head of the culture body Rmn-GP
NewsAppointments & departures
Liverpool Biennial chief Sally Tallant named executive director of Queens Museum
She replaces Laura Raicovich who stepped down in January, citing differences with the board of the museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Director swap: former Met chief Thomas Campbell succeeds Max Hollein at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Hollein took Campbell's old job as director of the Met
News#metoo
Riyas Komu, co-founder of Kerala's Kochi-Muziris Biennale, steps down after #MeToo allegations
Accusations were posted on an Instagram account that claims to uncover abuses of power in the Indian art world
NewsAppointments & departures
The Met's Luke Syson to head Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge
Curator returns to the UK where he organised the blockbuster 2011 Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery in London
NewsAppointments & departures
Art Dubai appoints new international director Chloe Vaitsou, formerly of Frieze Fairs
Emirati fair says she will work alongside the artistic director in a move away from having a single leader
NewsCensorship
Wolfgang Tillmans and Tania Bruguera pledge support for censored Serralves Museum director
João Ribas has stepped down following censorship row around Robert Mapplethorpe show
NewsAppointments & departures
Palestinian Museum appoints Adila Laïdi-Hanieh as director after surprise departure of previous head
The writer and academic replaces Mahmoud Hawari who was only in post two years
News
New York to LA: Klaus Biesenbach to take over MoCA
The board of the West Coast “artists’ museum” welcomes the MoMA PS1 director with open arms
NewsAppointments & departures
Charles Saumarez Smith to leave Royal Academy of Arts to become senior director of Blain Southern
Secretary and chief executive of the London museum says he wanted to leave “at a time of obvious strength and success”
NewsArt market
White Cube appoints Warhol expert Eric Shiner artistic director in New York
Is the London-based gallery growing its US team to open an exhibition space there?
NewsDocumenta
Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019
Quinquennial appoints eight-member search committee for curator of 2022 edition
NewsAppointments & departures
Brexit reshuffle means Jeremy Wright is seventh UK culture secretary in eight years
Museum admission charges will be on the agenda of MP who cites “James Bond films and playing golf badly” as interests
NewsAppointments & departures
IRL to VR: Daniel Birnbaum leaves Moderna Museet to head-up virtual reality gallery
Museum director due to take up new role at London's Acute Art early next year
News
Okwui Enwezor steps down as director of Munich’s Haus der Kunst
Enwezor cites ill health as reason for departure
News
Philippe Vergne to step down as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles
The announcement that he and the board “mutually elected” not to renew his contract comes on the heels of the chief curator Helen Molesworth’s surprise departure
NewsAppointments & departures
Zeitz Mocaa director Mark Coetzee embroiled in #MeToo scandal
Curators accuse the Cape Town museum director of inappropriate and abusive behaviour, according to local reports
NewsAppointments & departures
Mark Coetzee suspended from the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
An inquiry has been launched into the executive director and chief curator’s professional conduct
News
Road to the Met: how Max Hollein rose to become its next director
A gifted manager and fundraiser, he inherits a museum dogged by financial troubles and discontent
BlogIn the frame
Prince’s Paisley Park is looking for archivist, carnivores need not apply
NewsTate
Tate drops ticket prices for young people and seeks trustee to represent 16-25s
New appointee should be “a cultural entrepreneur and digital native”
News
Max Hollein is the next director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art
The current director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has both the experience needed to lead the encyclopaedic museum and “real integrity”, says the Met’s president Dan Weiss
NewsAppointments & departures
Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez’s contract extended for three more years
Paris museum chief must focus on partnerships with Asia and sustained attendance, culture minister says
NewsAppointments & departures
Hartmut Dorgerloh nominated to head Berlin’s Humboldt Forum
If appointed, Dorgerloh, who currently manages the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, will replace the three founding directors
NewsAppointments & departures
Helen Molesworth is out as LA MoCA's chief curator
The director Philippe Vergne reportedly fired her as the two clashed over the museum's programming
NewsPhotography
Tate's first photography curator Simon Baker named new director of Maison Européenne de la Photographie
Parisian photography centre's programme will show a "strong commitment to women and emerging artists"
NewsBiennials & festivals
Mali Wu and Francesco Manacorda named co-curators of next Taipei Biennale
Exhibition opening in November will explore grassroots communities
Comment
Museums have a duty to be political
Activist curators and directors can make truly democratic spaces, but they need brave boards to support them
Jillian Steinhauer