Victoria Siddall’s appointment as Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, was announced Wednesday, 28 August 2024.
The appointment, made by the National Portrait Gallery’s Board of Trustees, was approved by the Prime Minister, and Siddall will take up the post in Autumn 2024.
Victoria Siddall has over 20 years’ experience of leadership positions in the art world, both in the public and private sectors. Most recently, she co-founded Gallery Climate Coalition and Murmur, two charities that drive environmental responsibility in the art and music sectors, and or the past two years she has also worked with Tate in a strategic advisory capacity. Victoria was previously Global Director of Frieze, founding Frieze Masters and then leading four international art fairs across London, New York and Los Angeles. After securing the launch of Frieze Seoul, she became a non-executive Director of Frieze in March 2022.
Victoria is a trustee of Gallery Climate Coalition and the Ampersand Foundation and was until recently a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. As Chair of the Board of Studio Voltaire she guided the organisation through a successful capital redevelopment campaign, greatly increasing the space dedicated to artist studios and public programmes. Other voluntary work has included securing a series of auction donations, which raised over $6.5m for the environmental charity ClientEarth.
The appointment of the Gallery’s thirteenth Director follows the departure of previous post-holder, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, who left the Gallery to become Director of the British Museum in June 2024, and Victoria Siddall will take over from Interim Director Michael Elliott.
David Ross, Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: “I am delighted to welcome Victoria Siddall as the new Director of the National Portrait Gallery. Her strengths as a cultural leader are considerable, as is her knowledge of the art world, understanding of audiences and international profile. I know that she has the vision and determination to build on our recent successes and lead the next stage of the Gallery’s development, and I greatly look forward to working with her.”
Victoria Siddall said: “I’m truly honoured to have the opportunity to lead the National Portrait Gallery, a museum that holds the world’s greatest collection of portraits and is unique in being about people and for people. The art within its walls tells stories of human achievement and what unites us as a society, inspiring and shaping our view of the world and our place in it. This is perhaps the most exciting time in the NPG’s history, following the recent reopening and Inspiring People project that the team delivered so flawlessly under Nicholas Cullinan’s leadership.”
And Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy said: “Victoria Siddall will bring a wealth of experience to this role and I am delighted that the National Portrait Gallery is making history by appointing its first female Director. Her leadership will lead the Gallery from strength to strength, building on their successful reopening last year and I am excited to see what she and the National Portrait Gallery team will have in store for us in the coming years.”
photo: Benjamin McMahon
