Douglas Druick Named as New Director of the Art Institute of Chicago

Douglas Druick, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago has looked within its own ranks to replace James Cuno. The famed museum announced today that Douglas Druick, a 26-year veteran at the museum who has served as acting director and president since the former director's departure in June, will be taking the reins of the institution permanently. He has been named the Institute's president and Eloise W. Martin Director, effective immediately.

A 66-year-old museum veteran, Druick is respected within the Institute, where he has been chair of its core Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture as well as the Department of Prints and Drawings. Until now, however, he has had a lower profile on the national and international stage.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Art Institute board chairman Tom Pritzker praised Druick's tenure at the museum, which since 2006 has involved managing its vaunted collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Modern art. "Douglas is one of the leading curators in the world, and his contributions over more than two decades have been immeasurably important to the development and presentations of the collections as well as the exhibitions at the museum," Prizker said. "As we looked for a new director, the search committee kept returning to Douglas' experience, intellect, and vision for the museum."

Druick, who received a PhD in art history from Yale University in 1979, has curated numerous exhibitions at the museum, including the highly regarded "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde" in 2006 and "Jasper Johns: Gray" in 2007. "I have served this institution for more than two decades because I have the greatest respect for it and believe it to be one of the finest museums in the world," the new director said in the statement. "To now be asked to lead the Art Institute is a great privilege."

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