TATE BRITAIN’S DIRECTOR STEPS DOWN TO HEAD LISBON’S GULBENKIAN MUSEUM
The director of Tate Britain, Penelope Curtis, is stepping down from her post, according to the Art Newspaper’s Javier Pes and José da Silva. Curtis will be heading to the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, as the first foreign director of the museum, which houses highlights from the 6,000 works amassed by the Armenian oil magnate.
After she became director of Tate Britain in 2010, Curtis oversaw the gallery’s refurbishment, which was completed in 2013. Before her work at Tate, she worked at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.
“I want to keep all that is good about the museum, which I admire deeply, while developing ways in which it can make more of its context and position,” Curtis said about her new job.
The Telegraph noted that Curtis was the subject of intense criticism during her tenure, with detractors alleging that she’d helmed unsuccessful shows. Meanwhile, her supporters included the Telegraph‘s Richard Dorment, who wrote that she did “more to change Tate Britain for the better than any director since the great Sir Nicholas Serota.”
