The Guggenheim Closes In On a New Director

Kate Taylor breaks the news in the New York Sun that the Guggenheim museum is about to complete the final negotiations for Richard Armstrong to join as the new director:

Mr. Armstrong, who is 59, has been the director of the Carnegie Museum since 1996. He announced his retirement in June. Prior to going to the Carnegie, he was a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he organized four Biennials, as well as exhibitions on Richard Artschwager and “The New Sculpture 1965-7.”

The director of the Indianopolis Museum of Art, Maxwell Anderson, a former director of the Whitney, said in an e-mail message that Mr. Armstrong is “a seasoned director, who can both restore the Guggenheim’s art world credentials and bring sound management.” He added: “All should breathe a deep sigh of relief at his appointment.”

While she’s at it, Taylor reports that the Met has made the turn onto the back stretch in its search for a new leader with three inside candidates and one outsider:

The Met’s search committee is supposed to have done final interviews last week with four candidates. Three are said to be Met curators: the curator in charge of 19th century, modern, and contemporary art, Gary Tinterow; the head of the department of European sculpture and decorative arts, Ian Wardropper; and another curator in Mr. Wardropper’s department, Thomas Campbell, whose specialty is tapestries. Some sources have suggested that the fourth candidate is the director of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Max Hollein.

New Guggenheim Director Expected To Come From Carnegie (NY Sun)