Appointments & departures

Head of London's Royal College of Art, Paul Thompson, to step down in 2024

Vice-chancellor of the UK’s highest-rated arts college will leave after 15 years in the role

Adriano Pedrosa named curator of Venice Biennale 2024

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand artistic director is the first Latin American curator to take up the position

Tefaf appoints Bart Drenth as global managing director

The organisation's fourth leader in three years, he will oversee both Maastricht and New York events alongside chairman Hidde van Seggelen

Canada's National Gallery abruptly lays off four senior staff, including chief curator and Indigenous art curator

In an internal memo to staff, the museum's interim director wrote that the sudden changes were made "to better align the gallery’s leadership team with the organisation’s new strategic plan"

Mark Hallett appointed director of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London

He joins from Yale University's Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and will now oversee the next phase of the Courtauld's £57m redevelopment project

The Art Newspaper appoints Nick Sargent as chief executive

The Condé Nast business head brings with him more than two decades of experience as a media professional

Frances Morris to leave Tate Modern in April after seven years as director

London museum's first female chief, who was pivotal in diversifying the collection and programme, departs to pursue curatorial projects related to climate change and Modernism

Marc Spiegler steps down as Art Basel chief after 15 years—and is replaced by a familiar face

Noah Horowitz, formerly director Americas of the art fair brand, returns as chief executive following a brief stint at Sotheby's

Storm King Art Center appoints associate curator ahead of $45m capital project

Eric Booker was previously an assistant curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem and has held roles at the Guggenheim and the Calder Foundation

The Photographers' Gallery in London appoints Shoair Mavlian as new director

A former intern will replace Brett Rogers as the new figurehead of the photography space, but will face immediate pressures concerning income, footfall and sponsorship

Chris Dercon quits French cultural body Rmn-GP for leadership role at Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain

Belgian curator, who once headed Tate Modern, recently backed decision to kick Fiac out of Grand Palais in Paris

Former Dallas Contemporary director Peter Doroshenko to take the helm of New York’s Ukrainian Museum

Doroshenko, a Chicagoan of Ukrainian heritage, was the founding president of the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv and was the commissioner of the country’s Venice Biennale pavilion three times

Whitney curator David Breslin appointed to lead Metropolitan Museum’s Modern and contemporary art department

Breslin, who co-curated the 2022 Whitney Biennial, will oversee the Met’s major expansion project

Michelle Donelan named new UK culture secretary

The former minister for universities has been promoted under the new prime minister, Liz Truss

UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries resigns amid party leadership change

Dorries, the 10th culture secretary in 12 years, was closely aligned with former prime minister Boris Johnson

In surprise move, contemporary art specialist Christine Macel takes the reins at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris

Previously chief curator at Centre Pompidou since 2000, she also organised the French Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale

An historic appointment: Lynette L. Allston is the first Indigenous person to serve as board president of a major US museum

Allston had previously advised the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in devising its land acknowledgement agreement

Metropolitan Museum director Max Hollein to take on dual role of director and chief executive

Hollein, who will add the role to his title after Daniel H. Weiss resigns next year, was the “clear choice”, according to the Met’s board of trustees

Former dealer Caitlin Berry named inaugural director of the Rubell Museum's Washington, DC outpost

Berry was previously the director of the Cody Gallery at Marymount University and the director of Hemphill Fine Arts

Alistair Hudson appointed head of Germany’s Zentrums für Kunst und Medien

Whitworth Art Gallery chief stays in post until end of 2022 following exhibition controversy last year

Documenta's director steps down over antisemitism scandal

Sabine Schormann's decision to resign as head of the Kassel exhibition was supported by a number of leading German politicians

Longtime Guggenheim director Richard Armstrong stepping down

Armstrong, who led the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for nearly 15 years filled with triumphs and turbulence, will leave in spring 2023

Orlando Museum of Art director fired after FBI raids Basquiat exhibition

The museum’s board removed Aaron De Groft amid a widening scandal over issues of authenticity and reports of ‘inappropriate correspondence’

From Whitechapel to Saudi Arabia: Iwona Blazwick takes up a new post as AlUla public art supremo

Drive to rebrand Middle Eastern country as a cultural destination underpinned by human rights concerns

American Museum of Natural History president Ellen V. Futter steps down after almost 30 years in the post

Futter, who became the first woman to lead a major New York museum when she took the role in 1993, oversaw a period of enormous growth at the institution

Gilane Tawadros appointed director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London

The head of artist copyright society Dacs will replace Iwona Blazwick, who served as head of the East London institution for 20 years

Museum ethics body blasts dismissal of Polish museum director

Jaroslaw Suchan will be replaced at Łodz Museum of Art by the artist Andrzej Biernacki

Deborah Swallow retires as Courtauld director after 18 years

During her tenure she oversaw a £57m redevelopment of the London university's campus

Christie’s Middle East chairman Michael Jeha is stepping down after 23 years at the end of this month

Jeha began his career at the auction house as an intern in the Impressionism department