Met director resigns

March 1 2017

Image of Met director resigns

Picture: New York Times

Thoms Campbell, the director of the Metropolitan Museum, has resigned after eight years in the post. In the New York Times, Robin Pogrebin sets out the backdrop to his departure:

The Met said that Mr. Campbell, 54, had made the decision to leave the job he had held for eight years. But the circumstances surrounding his departure point to his being forced out. As The New York Times reported extensively in an article in early February, Mr. Campbell’s financial decisions and expansion plans had been criticized by some trustees, curators and other staff members. During the last couple of years, despite the museum’s record attendance, much of his original agenda was rolled back because of the museum’s economic difficulties, including a soaring deficit.

There has been speculation for some time that he had been looking to return to the UK; it had even been suggested to me that he might have looked at the recent V&A vacancy (now taken by Tristram Hunt). The Times article suggests that the new interim CEO, Daniel Weiss, might be being lined up as a new Director. Other names mentioned include Michale Govan, director of LACMA, and Glenn Lowry, director of MOMA. It has also been suggested to me that Gary Tinterow, formerly at the Met and now director of the MFA Houston. 

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