Nicholas Cullinan is to leave London’s National Portrait Gallery to take up a new position as director of the British Museum, which has been fraught with controversy over the past year. Cullinan’s appointment, which was unanimously approved by the museum’s trustees and endorsed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was announced today, March 28.
Cullinan’s appointment comes after a turbulent year for the British Museum, which saw a highly publicized theft scandal, the sacking of a museum staff member and the resignations of former director Hartwig Fischer and deputy director Jonathan Williams. Earlier this week, the British Museum sued former chief curator Peter Higgs, alleging he stole artefacts from its collections and distributed them to dozens of buyers over a 10-year period.
Cullinan has been at the helm of the National Portrait Gallery since spring 2015, overseeing a £41.3 million (~$52.1 million) building renovation and major re-display of the museum’s art collection. He was also instrumental in the co-acquisition of Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Omai (1776) with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, following the extension of the UK’s temporary export ban on the painting.
Cullinan previously held curatorial positions at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Tate Modern, where in 2014 he curated an exhibition of Henri Matisse’s prints, which later traveled to New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He earned BA, MA and PhD degrees in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, where he has attended major curators from the Frick Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Broad Museum and other cultural institutions.
As he steps into his new role, Cullinan will face a number of challenges, including the fallout from the thefts and growing pressure from environmental activists to divest British Petroleum of its longtime financier. The organization’s ties to imperialism continue to be scrutinized, in part due to its repeated refusal to repatriate looted cultural artifacts from its collection. In February, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni criticized the museum for allowing the Parthenon’s marbles — ancient sculptures the country had requested for years — to return as the backdrop for a fashion show.
Hyperallergic It has approached the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Cullinan for comment.
