Portrait gallery chief to quit revamp done

Published on Saturday 21 January 2012 00:05

THE man who oversaw the refurbishment of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery has announced he is to retire.

James Holloway, a world- renowned expert on Scottish art, has been director of the gallery since 1997 and took a leading role its redesign, after which it reopened last month.

Yesterday, colleagues lauded Mr Holloway’s achievement and said it was an “open secret” he planned to retire once the refurbishment was complete.

John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “James has enjoyed an extraordinarily successful career at the galleries as an author, curator, exhibition organiser and manager.

“And of course James ends his time at the galleries on the highest possible note, shortly after the extremely successful reopening of the Portrait Gallery, a project which owes so much to his vision, leadership and passion.

“It has long been an open and rather badly kept secret that James intended to retire after the reopening of the new Portrait Gallery, but it is still hard to imagine the gallery without him.”

Ben Thomson, the galleries’ chairman, said: “It is very fitting that the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, full of the pictures of so many interesting people both past and present, should have been run by such a charismatic director as James. He leaves a legacy of a vibrant and successfully renovated gallery”

Deputy Director Nicola Kalinsky has been appointed interim director and the search to find a successor is under way.

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