It had to happen, after the last few years; Graham Beal, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts for the past 15-plus year, will retire on June 30.
Here’s what the release said:
Since joining the DIA, Beal has presided over some of the most significant accomplishments in the museum’s history, including a tremendously successful reinvention of presenting art to the public; passage of a tri-county regional millage to support museum operations; and the DIA participation in the historic and unprecedented grand bargain initiative, which secured for future generations’ the DIA’s widely acclaimed art collection while also successfully facilitating resolution of the Detroit bankruptcy.
Beal also helped raised tons of money. The release also cited his major acquisitions and exhibitions, as follows:
Major Acquisitions
Double-Cup, Hans Petzolt, 1596
Ewer, Medici Manufactory, between 1575 and 1578
Chief’s Throne, Olówè of Isè, 20th century
Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (The Marseillaise), Francois Rude, ca. 1835
Study for Birds, Albert Joseph Moore, 1878
Officer of the Hussars, Kehinde Wiley, 2007
Seated Nude Woman Brushing Her Hair, Edgar Degas, 1885/1908
Russet Landscape, Edgar Degas, ca. 1890
Charger, Ottoman, between 1480 and 1500
Das Geviert, Anselm Kiefer, 1997
The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1634
Major Exhibitions
Van Gogh: Face to Face, 2000
Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur, 2001
Over the Line: The Life and Art of Jacob Lawrence, 2002
Degas and the Dance, 2002
Magnificenza! The Medici, Michelangelo and the Art of Late Renaissance Florence, 2003
American Attitude: Whistler and His Followers, 2003
Camille Claudel and Rodin: Fateful Encounter, 2006
Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500 to Present, 2010
Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, 2011
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit, opens March 15
In the last few years, I think Beal has done yeoman’s work, so I am not surprised at all by this.
The trick will be finding a replacement.