Fine Arts Museums hire Frick curator
Kenneth Baker and Sam Whiting
Updated 10:43 pm, Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Colin Bailey will leave the Frick Collection in New York City to be director of S.F.'s Fine Arts Museums. Photo: Lea Suzuki, Bill Zemanek
In a move expected to boost San Francisco's international art reputation, the board of the city's beleaguered Fine Arts Museums on Wednesday approved the appointment of Colin Bailey, the deputy director and chief curator of the Frick Collection in New York, as its new director.
In addition to his work at the world-renowned Frick, Bailey has served at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. An expert on 18th and 19th century French painting, as well as an authority on Pierre Auguste Renoir, he has also organized exhibitions devoted to Gustav Klimt, Hans Memling and Rembrandt.
Bailey, 57, takes over the long-vacant position on June 1. He replaces John Buchanan, who died from cancer in December 2011. Bailey, who has never been the director of a museum, has twice seen his candidacy for the directorship at the small, elegant Frick sidelined by the institution, which has a history of appointing directors from the outside.
Reached by telephone in New York, Bailey said that his first priority in the San Francisco job will be "to immerse myself. Of course, I've been closely monitoring radio interviews and news coverage of the museums. Museums are in some ways like families, regardless of size. The museums' staff and board have done a tremendous job maintaining the programming and membership that John Buchanan did so much to advance. And of course we want morale to be as high as it should be."
Reached by telephone in New York Frick said that his first priority in the San Francisco job will be "to immerse myself." Of course, I've been monitoring radio interviews and news coverage of the Museum. Museums are, in some ways, like families, regardless of size. The museums' staff and board have done a tremendous job of maintaining the programming and membership that John Buchanan did so much to advance. Of course we want morale to be as high as it should be."
In addition to his work at the world-renowned Frick, Bailey has served at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. An expert on 18th and 19th century French painting, as well as an authority on Pierre Auguste Renoir, he has also organized exhibitions devoted to Gustav Klimt, Hans Memling and Rembrandt.
He starts June 1
"He's a star," said Dede Wilsey, president of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). "It's time we had a leader who is really focused on the great collections within this museum." She was interviewed before she made the announcement at a news conference in the Piazzoni Mural room of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, a conference which Bailey did not attend due to previous commitments.Bailey, 57, takes over the long-vacant position on June 1. He replaces John Buchanan, who died from cancer in December 2011. Bailey, who has never been the director of a museum, has twice seen his candidacy for the directorship at the small, elegant Frick sidelined by the institution, which has a history of appointing directors from the outside.
Reached by telephone in New York, Bailey said that his first priority in the San Francisco job will be "to immerse myself. Of course, I've been closely monitoring radio interviews and news coverage of the museums. Museums are in some ways like families, regardless of size. The museums' staff and board have done a tremendous job maintaining the programming and membership that John Buchanan did so much to advance. And of course we want morale to be as high as it should be."
Reached by telephone in New York Frick said that his first priority in the San Francisco job will be "to immerse myself." Of course, I've been monitoring radio interviews and news coverage of the Museum. Museums are, in some ways, like families, regardless of size. The museums' staff and board have done a tremendous job of maintaining the programming and membership that John Buchanan did so much to advance. Of course we want morale to be as high as it should be."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Fine-Arts-Museums-hire-Frick-curator-4390372.php#ixzz2OrTeWJTm
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