Jeu de Paume director Marta Gili to step down

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Jeu de Paume director Marta Gili to step down | Marta Gili, the director of the Jeu de Paume in Paris, is stepping down. In a statement issued yesterday evening it was confirmed that the Catalan director, who has led the photography centre since 2006, will depart in October in order to pursue other arts projects in Spain. Explaining her decision to Le Figaro, Gili said, ‘I think that my work for the Jeu de Paume is done […] and you need to know how to quit while you’re ahead.’

UK high court rules that Giotto painting left Italy unlawfully | A high court judge in London this week ruled that a painting by Giotto, brought to the UK from Italy in 2007, was exported unlawfully – and that the Arts Council England was therefore right not to grant a licence for the work to be exported to Switzerland. The Art Newspaper reports that the collector Kathleen Simonis, who purchased the painting (then thought to be by an unknown 19th-century artist) in Florence in 1990, intends to appeal the judgement on the grounds that Italian export laws are incompatible with EU law on free movement of goods. The estimated value of the painting is £10 million.

Powerhouse Museum director resigns amid fundraising row | Dolla Merrillees, director of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum since 2016, has resigned. It was confirmed this week that Merrillees, who is currently on personal leave, would not be returning or applying for the newly created role of chief executive, which is to replace the position of director. The news comes amid a row over a fundraising event held at the museum in February; Australian network ABC reported earlier this week that the MAAS Centre for Fashion Ball raised $78,500 while costing taxpayers over $215,000.

Lead image: used under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0; original image cropped)