Art Gallery of NSW names first female director in 154 years

The Art Gallery of NSW’s Maud Page has been named the institution’s first female leader in its 154-year history.

The landmark ministerial appointment follows an international search for a successor to outgoing director Dr Michael Brand, whose departure has been unexpectedly brought forward from June to next Friday.

Maud Page has been announced as the new director at the Art Gallery of NSW - its first female director in 154 years.Credit: Peter Rae

Brand did not acknowledge his deputy’s historic appointment Friday in an Instagram post which flagged his exit from the gallery at short notice.

“I’ve just been informed that the NSW government is about to announce the Art Gallery’s new director who will start next week so that’s a wrap for me today,” he said.

“It’s been a huge honour and privilege to lead our public art museum through such an extraordinary transformation.

“I will always deeply cherish and appreciate the support I have received in Sydney, especially from all of my colleagues at the Art Gallery.”

With Page’s appointment, all NSW’s major galleries and museums are now headed by women.

Page said it was a “momentous” day for her, and her appointment was difficult to believe given deputies of such esteemed institutions were usually overlooked for directors’ roles. This is believed to be the first-ever director’s appointment made from within the gallery.

“My daughter is about to turn 20, and it’s such a fabulous demonstration to her that if you work hard and work with people, dreams can happen,” she said.

Page was the standout and only internal candidate on the shortlist, which included applicants from North America, Art Gallery of NSW Trust president Michael Rose said.

Rose said the selection panel had been swayed by Page’s genuine engagement with the contemporary arts scene, her curatorial strength and her close relationship with other cultural institutions with which she wants to more closely collaborate.

“I think of Maud as an international candidate who is well-connected in the international arts world, and speaks three languages,” Rose said.

“One of my things is to recognise what a smart and creative place Sydney is, and it’s such a pleasure to find the best candidate here in this city and in the institution.”

Page came from Queensland Art Gallery to Sydney in 2017 and has since cultivated deep connections with Pacific communities.

The French-born Page impressed French President Emmanuel Macron on his first official diplomatic visit to Australia in 2018 when he came to see the world-famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries that Page had secured on loan from the Musee de Cluny in Paris.

She has since been a vocal champion inside the gallery of First Nations art and wants to further extend the gallery’s outreach to western Sydney and regional NSW.

Responsible, with Brand, for international blockbusters such as Magritte, she has also engaged children in art, with the opening of the Children’s Art Library and the popular Hive Festival for children.

Under her leadership, it’s expected the gallery will lean more into Indigenous art, for which there is a growing international audience.

Page will commence in the prestigious role – that comes with a $509,161 remuneration package according to the gallery’s latest annual report – next Friday, March 28.

Brand departs after 13 years, during which the gallery’s new $344 million Sydney Modern building was opened in December 2023. The doubling of the gallery’s footprint caused the director to cut jobs while successfully arguing for millions more in government funding to cover part of an operational shortfall.

Arts Minister John Graham wished Brand the best for the next chapter of his career.

“I congratulate Maud Page on her appointment to the role,” he said. “She has already been a driving force to help grow its annual visitation to 2 million per year, ranking it 28 out of 100 in the world’s most visited art museums in the annual international Art Newspaper survey.”

In response to Brand’s abrupt departure, the gallery said an extended handover was no longer necessary because Page was an internal appointment. The gallery’s director had given six months notice to allow time to find a successor.