The Getty gets a new president

Just received an E-mail with some surprising news (or maybe not so surprising to some...)! Apparently yesterday James Cuno (see picture below) was appointed the new president of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles. It was reported in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.


James Cuno means business! Copyright: New York Times.

I think this is a victory for the Encyclopaedic museums! Colin Renfrew is certainly already starting to get worried...
"...if he maintains the new acquisition policy, he may do no harm," Renfrew says. "If he persuades the trustees to renege on that policy he will make the Getty once again the black sheep of the Western world. We shall have to wait and see."

For the moment however, Cuno doesn't seem intent on changing the museum's acquisition policy. Cuno says: "No, I'm certain they won't change. The decisions that the Getty made were absolutely right for the Getty."

However, then there's the following comment, also made by Cuno.
"In terms of my criticism of cultural property laws, I think reasonable people can disagree on these matters, and I very much look forward to engaging in conversations with colleagues around the world. I think we are all seeking the same thing: to preserve the objects of antiquity and broaden public and scholarly access to them."

To be continued I'm sure...