PRESIDENT OF LONDON’S ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS TO STEP DOWN

The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London announced that its president, Christopher Le Brun, will step down in December after serving in the role for eight years. During his tenure, the institution experienced a period of significant growth. It completed an expansion, which connected the campus’s Burlington House with its Burlington Gardens and added new galleries and a theater; admitted artist collaborations such as Gilbert & George into the academy for the first time; and received some of the largest donations in its history.

“Christopher Le Brun, as president, has been the driving force behind the visionary redevelopment in our two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary year,” said Rebecca Salter, keeper of the RA. “This has given the Royal Academy the opportunity to expand its program in many new ways and his legacy will shape the RA for many years to come. It has been an honor and pleasure to work with him.”

A painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Le Brun also maintained his studio practice throughout his presidency. Following his departure from the RA, he will return to his studio to devote time to his forthcoming solo exhibitions in Shanghai and New York. “I leave confident that today’s Royal Academy is bigger, brighter, and better,” Le Brun said. “Its prestige has never been higher, with professional staff of enviable quality, an art school and exhibition program of world class, and academicians who represent the very best of contemporary art and architecture.”