Appointments & 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

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

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

Lawnews

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

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

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

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

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

Metropolitan Museum board appoints first woman co-chair

Candace Beinecke and Hamilton James will lead the trustees

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

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

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

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

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

Icom in turmoil after row over new definition of museums

Wrangling over "ideological" text prompts resignations from International Council of Museums

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

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

'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

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

Serge Lasvignes re-appointed as president of Centre Pompidou

French government endorses his strategy of establishing satellite branches overseas

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

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

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

a blog by Martin Bailey

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

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

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