J. Paul Getty Museum Director Resigns

Michael Brand is the director who has presided over the J. Paul Getty Museum for the past four year, and one year before his contract is up, he has announced he will be resigning from his position at the end of the month.

Michael Brand is an acclaimed expert in Indian art and has directed the J. Paul Getty Museum since December 2005 when the museum was “immersed in an embarrassing international scandal, with the governments of Italy and Greece accusing it of acquiring scores of valuable art objects stolen from their countries.”

Brand said that he was leaving at the end of this month to “pursue other interests but would stay on as a consultant until the end of summer.”

With the reopening of Getty Willa, an architectural masterpiece in the hills that overlook Malibu that saw a $275 million renovation, Brand became the first Getty director to head two museums simultaneously.

Brand says, “I am very proud of what I have been able to achieve in my four years as director of the Getty Museum, especially the successful conclusion of negotiations with Italy and Greece.” During his time as director, Brand brought many major exhibitions to the Getty, including “Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai,” “Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture” and “Drawings by Rembrandt and his Pupils: Telling the Difference.”

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