Glenn Lowry, director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, to step down after 30 years

Glenn Lowry, the longest-serving director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), is stepping down after three decades in the role, he announced Tuesday.

The 69-year-old, who oversaw major expansions of both the museum and its role in American cultural life, told the New York Times that he will vacate his position in September 2025.

“It’s the right moment to think about the future of the museum and I just thought, carpe diem. All the things I set out to do 30 years ago are either accomplished or in play in a very positive way,” he told the paper, adding: “I didn’t want to be the person who stayed too long.”

The Times reported that Lowry’s current contract ends in June, and that the museum had been open to renewing it. MoMA did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for further comment.

Joining MoMA from Canada’s Art Gallery of Ontario in 1995, Lowry is the sixth director in the storied museum’s 95-year history. He helmed the institution through a merger with the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, in 2000, and an ambitious 2004 renovation project that increased the museum’s gallery space from 85,000 to 125,000 square feet.

Serving as a fundraiser and spokesperson, among other responsibilities, Lowry also developed a public profile of his own. In 2019, he topped the ArtReview Power 100 list, an annual ranking of influential figures in the art world. That year, he led the museum through second major expansion, with the $450-million revamp expanding gallery space by a further 30%.

Welcoming 2.7 million visitors a year, according to the latest figures, MoMA is the USA’s third-most-visited art museum after the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art and Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art.

The museum’s website credits Lowry with increasing visitor numbers and significantly growing the museum’s endowment, a crucial source of income, as well as widening MoMA’s curatorial scope to include art forms like performance.

Through exhibitions, commissions and acquisitions, Lowry used art to address some of the most pressing social themes of the day. As CNN Style guest editor in 2016, he commissioned a series of stories around the theme of migration, arguing that contemporary art has the power to change the world.

Tuesday’s announcement comes just over a week after Lowry sat down with CNN’s Richard Quest for an interview at MoMA. In a seemingly prophetic question, Quest asked Lowry which painting he would like to take home with him, were he to retire from the role.

“That’s like asking a parent which child does he prefer — on Monday it’s this one, and on Tuesday it’s another one,” he said before landing on Paul Cézanne’s “The Boy in the Red Vest,” which he described as a “remarkable portrait.”

MoMA is yet to issue a statement regarding its search for Lowry’s successor, who will assume one of the art sector’s most coveted roles. Nor have any announcements been made regarding Lowry’s other positions, which include board roles at art organizations and institutions including the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and India’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.

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