He embarked in 2015 to stabilize the troubled Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he led the museum after sharing power with another director after being expelled. But on Tuesday, Daniel H. Weiss told the museum’s board of directors that he would resign as president and chief executive officer in June 2023.
“This institution is in a strong and positive position. We are proud of the work we have done,” Weiss, 65, said in an interview. “I think it’s always best to know what the right moment is. I’m ready to do something else.”
Weiss, a former president of Haverford College and art historian, said he wasn’t sure what the next chapter would be, but he looks forward to more writing and perhaps some teachings. The board will evaluate whether to replace Weiss or abandon the two-pillar leadership structure introduced in 2017, which is rare in museums.
The model will be presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Weiss as president, business and management leader, and directors (Thomas P. Campbell, who resigned under pressure in 2017, Max Holline, appointed in 2018). It seems to have helped me a lot. Curator’s vision and program ideas.
Under Weiss’s guidance, Met balanced a $ 310 million budget. He handed over Madison Avenue’s Broyerville to Flick. And with the help of a $ 125 million gift from Met’s councilor Oscar Tan and his wife Agnes Sutan, he advanced the delayed Modern Wing.
“Dan brought maturity and sympathy to the museum and really calmed down the problematic waters,” said Hamilton E. James, Co-Chair of Mets. “He has stabilized us financially and navigated the place through all these weird curve balls that you wouldn’t normally expect.”
Weiss also led the museum’s decision to change its 50-year admission policy, requiring out-of-state visitors to pay a mandatory admission fee of $ 25. Weiss has helped run the museum through pandemic and difficult racial debates and debates over Sackler’s donations.
Met was subsequently enacted in 2020 when Met’s staff urged museum leaders to recognize “a systematic culture of racism in our facility.” 13 Anti-racism and diversity initiativesHired the first Chief Diversity Officer to raise funds to undertake a paid Met internship.
Weiss said he was particularly proud to help foster a more communicative and open working environment. “We have created a more transparent and accountable institution,” he said.
However, his departure inevitably raised the question of whether he was a loser in the power-sharing arrangement. Starting as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2015, Weiss added Chief Executive Officer to his title in 2017 and has significantly reorganized his leadership. This means that the next director of the museum will report to Weiss, not the other way around.
The next director was Hollein, who has been the director of the museum since the age of 31 and has long been accustomed to being in charge. His resume included 15 years at several institutions in Frankfurt and 2 years as director and chief executive officer of the museum. Of San Francisco.
In San Francisco, Hollein manages to seize the reins, despite the reputation of Diane B. Wilsey (known as Dede), the museum’s strong board chairman, for reluctant to give up control. Was completed.
Weiss was also accustomed to running a show at Haverford College. Prior to that, he taught art history as President of Lafayette College and was Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences in Johns Hopkins.
In addition, by the time Hollein was hired by Met, Weiss had an appetizing hobby of running a museum and being a boss after Campbell resigned as director under pressure in 2017.
However, Weiss and Hollein said they enjoyed constructive cooperation, despite distinctly different management styles and occasional disagreements.
“I really believe in shared governance,” Wyeth said. “Max and I are very different people, but we work really well as partners. That’s why the museum has prospered.”
Hollein said in a statement: He is an extraordinary partner, and his wisdom and judgment set an example for all of us. “
Some of the major infrastructure projects completed during Wyeth’s tenure include the $ 150 million replacement of the skylights of European painting galleries, the rethinking of British galleries, and the refurbishment of musical instrument galleries.
In addition, Met recently introduced the reconstruction of Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, which houses a collection of art from sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and ancient America. The museum is also renovating the ancient Orient and Cyprus galleries.
Weiss continues to write. Next fall, the Yale University Press will publish his book.Why museums are important, “Examine the role of museums in our culture. In 2019, while serving as Met Chief, he published a biography of a helicopter pilot and poet of the Vietnam War. The person who died in the war (It will be released in paperback soon).
Some of the challenges Met faces are the realization of a new modern wing and who oversees the museum’s key branches. Last month, Met’s top curator of modern and contemporary art, Sina Wagstaff, announced she would be leaving this summer. ..
The dual partnership at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was extended to the Board of Directors in November 2020 when James and Candice K. Beinecke were appointed to replace Daniel Brodsky.
Asked if the museum would continue the shared structure of Weiss and Hollein, James said, “We are about to start. Think about the right leadership structure, and if there is a president, what is the definition of that role? “. He added that the board will consult Weiss and Hollein about their experiences, in addition to seeking feedback from staff and councilors.
The museum has been experimenting with management configurations for years. Its longtime director, Philip de Montebello, reported to President William McConver in 1977 and later became equal to William H. Lures. President of the museum in 1986 After a career at the US Foreign Office. When the Lures retired in 1999, the board added CEO to the title of Demontebello, and the museum’s president-elect, David McKinney, as well as McKinney’s successor, Emily K. Rafati, in 2005. Reported to.
Faced with an expected $ 40 million deficit and low staff morale after Campbell’s departure, Met is like a calm parent who takes advantage of Wyeth’s background as a competent manager. I considered it. In addition to leading his academic institution, Weiss earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management and spent four years as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton early in his career.
Despite his lack of experience in the museum, Weiss became a leader in the arts with Campbell’s departure. She met the curator about the upcoming show and became the public face of Met.
When Hollein was adopted, Weiss’s role became more clearly defined as the less sexy operations side. The new director has taken artistic leadership and quickly surpassed Weiss with a powerful move towards more comprehensive exhibition programs, collections and staff.
Hollein also builds on lessons learned from the knees of former Guggenheim director Thomas Cleanse, who made the New York institution a global powerhouse by expanding its ties to Europe and reaching in Bilbao, Spain. I am also devoted to the world of contemporary art. Mount the Giorgio Armani suit and Harley-Davidson motorcycle show while stirring the pot. Hollein has curated a number of influential shows of living artists such as Jeff Koons and Julian Schnabel in his career.
An elegant figure with Germanic accents, Hollein has become a regular presence in the swirl of power players and comfortable clinking glasses at the opening of art fairs, biennales and galleries.
In contrast, Weiss has a quieter college professor’s aura, but in all explanations he was not so ambitious or opinionative.
However, Weiss argued that his decision to leave had nothing to do with tensions and competition with Hollein. “We have great respect for each other,” Wyeth said. “There is no problem between Max and me.”
