Serota, or Sir Nicholas, as he is styled as a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, became the director of Tate in 1988, after serving for 12 years as the director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Serota will join from the Tate, where he has been director for the last 28 years.
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Shortly before announcing his departure, Sir Nicholas had expressed concern that Brexit could diminish the impact of Tate Modern, which regularly hires European curators. “I leave an institution that has the potential to reach broad audiences across the United Kingdom and overseas, through its own programs, partnerships, and online”.
Nicholas Serota has been appointed the new chairman of Arts Council England by the culture secretary Karen Bradley.
Serota, who turned 70 this year, is one of the most influential figures in the global art world, appearing in the top 10 – and in the top five, more often than not – of Art Review’s Power 100 list every year since the ranking was created in 2002.
Sir Nicholas, who will leave next year to take the top job at Arts Council England (ACE), said he was leaving “an institution that has the potential to reach broad audiences across the United Kingdom and abroad”.
Tate’s Chairman Lord Browne said the gallery had been “privileged” to have Sir Nicholas in charge.
The recent multi-million pound expansion of Tate Modern has cemented the gallery’s position at the top of the art world, with crowds flocking to the Southbank venue in ever-greater numbers.
The search for his successor has already begun with potential candidates including Tate Modern director Frances Morris and Maria Balshaw who has overseen the transformation of the Whitworht Gallery in Manchester.
He also oversaw the appointment of the same architects to design the newly opened £260 million Switch House extension to the building – which includes a display dedicated to the work of Jasper Morrison – and United Kingdom architects Caruso St John to undertake a £45 million renovation of Tate Britain.
He was also behind the creation of Tate St Ives and the new building designed by Eldred Evans and David Shalev and has helped pushed through Jamie Fobert’s current extension plans for the Cornish gallery.
Serota, one of the most powerful men in the visual arts, has turned Tate into a powerhouse arts organisation, opening Tate Modern in 2000 and, during the most challenging of economic times, its £260m extension in June.
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Serota started his career at the institution as chairman of the new Young Friends of the Tate in 1969, going on to curate some of the Tate’s most popular and critically well-received exhibitions including “Donald Judd”, “Howard Hodgkin”, “Cy Twombly”, “Gerhard Richter” and “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs”.
