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The Morgan's New Director, Board Shuffling at MoMA, and More


Published: June 5, 2007
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Photo courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art
William M. Griswold


Photo courtesy The Museum of Modern Art
Jerry Speyer

We launched our first "Comings & Goings" column last week, and judging from the section's popularity, everyone wants the lowdown on museum and art gallery job hopping, artists joining and leaving galleries, and deaths in the art world. Since "Comings & Goings" appeared, we've received a flood of news from people and institutions all over the country (and Europe) letting us in on the latest. Here's what happened in recent weeks. Keep the news coming (and going) by sending information to NewsEditors@artinfo.com.

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NEW YORKThe Morgan Library & Museum has named William M. Griswold as its new director, The New York Times reports. The announcement comes four months after Charles E. Pierce Jr. announced plans to retire. Griswold has served as a curator at the Morgan for six years and is now director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He starts his new job in early 2008.

NEW YORKThe Museum of Modern Art told us the Board of Trustees has elected Jerry Speyer as its new chairman. Speyer, president and CEO of Tishman Speyer Properties and a member of the MoMA Board of Trustees since 1982, succeeds Robert B. Menschel. In addition, Leon Black was elected a vice chairman, Donald B. Marron becomes president emeritus, and Marie-Josee Kravis, elected president in June 2005, remains in office. The elections are effective July 1.

NEW YORKColumbia University art historian James Beck, a well-known critic of what he viewed as "the ruinous conservation of world masterpieces, including Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling," died May 26 in Manhattan, according to The New York Times. He was 77.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.Roy DeForest, a nationally renowned artist and professor known as a founding member of the “California funk” art movement, died in Sacramento at 77, The Associated Press reports.

SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Art Institute let us know it has named Marko Peljhan as the fall 2007 fellow for its Center for Art and Science. Peljhan founded the arts organization Projekt Atol, and co-founded Ljudmila (Ljubljana Digital Media Lab), one of the first open-access digital media labs in Eastern Europe. He is also the coordinator of the international Insular Technologies initiative and the Makrolab project. His work has been presented at major international exhibitions and institutions such as Documenta, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and the Venice Biennale.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—The Palm Springs Art Museum informed us that although we reported on Steven Nash stepping down as the director of the Nasher Sculpture Center in March, we forgot to mention that he joined the Palm Springs museum as its new executive director (sorry!). In his new post, Nash is “revitalizing the place like you would not believe, for example, bringing a Bill Viola piece here this fall to kick off a new season and direction—first video art in this place ever!” a museum spokeswoman told us in an e-mail.

CLEVELAND—The Cleveland Museum of Art named John L. Seydl the Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos, Jr., Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, 1500-1800. Seydl, who starts the job in July, comes from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where he served as associate curator of paintings.

FORT WORTH, TexasTimothy Potts will leave his post as director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth on Sept. 1, The Dallas Morning News reports. Potts, a native of Australia, helped the Kimbell acquire some of its highest-profile artworks during his nine-year tenure, including Virgin and Child (The Borromeo Madonna), a sculpture attributed to Donatello. The Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) reported that Potts will join the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge as its director.

VENICE—In a controversial departure, just a week before the 52nd Venice Biennale kicks off, the event’s managing director Renato Quaglia has called it quits, citing differences with the exhibition’s curator Robert Storr, The Independent reports. Quaglia said the final straw came when the bill for the festival swelled to a million euros over budget, but Storr denied exceeding budget.

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