Max Hollein named next director of Metropolitan Museum of Art
After a year-long search, Max Hollein has been named the new director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, making him the tenth person to head the New York institution. He is currently the chief executive and director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and he takes the reins from Thomas P. Campbell, who stepped down in June of last year after eight years as director and CEO.
Hollein has been director of the Fine Arts Museums for almost two years. Prior to that, from 2006 to 2016, he was the head of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany; from 2001 to 2006, he was director of the Schirn Kunsthalle, also in Frankfurt. He has curated the American Pavilion at the 2000 Venice Architectural Biennale and the Austrian Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale, reported artnews. com.
Much of Hollein’s achievements have involved the integration of digital initiatives into institutional programming. At the Städel, alongside a $69 million expansion and renovation that doubled the museum’s gallery spaces, he developed a new digital strategy that placed a renewed emphasis on technology and outreach. And at the Fine Arts Museums, Hollein organized ‘Digital Stories’ — a part of the institution’s website that allows users to explore their current exhibitions via interactive displays.
Hollein said of his appointment in a statement, “The Met remains a unique place where visitors can experience firsthand the artistic achievements of humankind. We now have many other ways to disseminate cultural education and knowledge, and an obligation to do so. Celebrating artistic excellence goes hand in hand with broadening the stories we tell about the works of art in our care. Together with Dan, I hope to provide the guidance, energy, and support needed to lead this beloved institution into the future and inspire its audiences in New York and around the world.”
The Met has been without a director since June 2017, when Campbell departed as director and CEO amid reports of ongoing financial difficulties at the museum.
Daniel H. Weiss, the Met’s president and chief operating officer, was named CEO that same month. Hollein will not also take the CEO title that Campbell had, meaning that he will be underneath Weiss in the organizational chart.
Shortly before Campbell’s resignation was announced, in February of that year, the New York Times reported that, in 2016, the Met had a budget deficit approaching $40 million. That report came following news of layoffs and the indefinite postponement of a new wing estimated to cost $600 million that was once expected to open in 2020.