The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced yesterday, August 3, that its current director Max Hollein will be adding the chief executive title effective next July, when current president and chief executive Daniel Weiss departs.
The move marks a return to the Met’s old leadership structure, wherein the director of the institution is responsible for both the programmatic direction of the museum as well as its day-to-day operations.
Weiss announced in late June his intention to step down by the following year, by which time he will have served in his position for almost eight years. He indicated that he, along with Hollein, recently completed a five-year strategic plan that led them to conclude that the best time for a leadership shakeup would be mid-2023. The fiscal year that Weiss began his reign, the Met faced a $7.7 million operating deficit. During Weiss’ tenure, the Met significantly reduced its deficit, saw record attendance despite the institution of fees, and balanced its budget following a five-and-a-half-month closure during the pandemic. Weiss also raised over $1.5 billion from private donors and oversaw several infrastructure and renovation projects.
Hollein was brought on as director in 2017, and has staged successful interdisciplinary shows like Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color and acclaimed retrospectives such as Alice Neel: People Come First, while expanding the Met’s curatorial team through hires like Patricia Marroquin Norby, the museum’s first full-time curator of Native American art.
“We are delighted to appoint Max to lead The Met into the future,” board co-chairs Tony James and Candace Beinecke said in a statement. “He has overseen the programmatic side brilliantly during this most turbulent period — finding a way to create an environment where the incomparable Met staff have been able to excel.”
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