One of the most important museums in the world has chosen a new leader from within.
The Museum of Modern Art announced to staff on Friday morning that the next director would be 55-year-old Christophe Cherix. In September he will take over Glenn Raleigh's leadership position, which has led the New York Museum for almost 30 years.
Sherix will be leading the facility for the first time. The museum, home to its sister facility, MOMA PS1, in Queens, is one of the largest museums in the art world, with nearly $1.7 billion in donations.
The appointment was announced in a letter from museum chairs Marie Jose Kravis and her president, Sarah Allison. The board, worried about leaks to news media, summoned members to a meeting called in Friday morning to appoint Cherix. Among those present, approval was unanimous.
“In all categories, Christophe came out in flying colours,” Kravis said in an interview, citing “the museum's strategic vision, knowledge of art history” and “a deep and passionate interest in contemporary art and management skills.”
In an interview, Cherix said he was humbled and excited by the opportunity. “There's a long way ahead, but there's an exciting one,” he said, adding that he wants to broaden his MoMa audience and help visitors get closer to the arts.
Cherix (pronounced Cheh-Reex) came to MoMA from Switzerland in 2007. There, he was a curator at the Museum of Art and History in Geneva. Three years later he was promoted to Chief Curator of the Drawings and Prints Bureau. He specializes in contemporary and contemporary art with a special focus in the 1960s and 1970s.
While leading the department, Cherix oversaw an ambitious exhibition program that reintroduced the audience to comical artists like Marcel Bradhars, serious thinkers like Adrian Piper, and pioneers like Betty Saa. One of his recent curatorial successes, Ed Laska's retrospectives in 2023-24, known for his deadpan wit, have received critic praise. “To call it a seasonal show is a modest thing,” writes Jason Farago of The New York Times.
“Christophe was an outstanding curator,” Laurie said in a phone interview. “He was a thoughtful choice. I realized that the best people in this field are in the Museum of Modern Art.”
Laurie said he recruited Cherix into the department 15 years ago, and the two worked closely together, including raising funds for the exhibition. And while the board clearly chose consistency and continuity in choosing insiders like Cherix, Laurie added, “he also has his own ideas.”
Specifically, Cherix led an effort to combine drawing and printing departments.
“MOMA has long been a leader who embraced new forms of expression, amplified the voices of artists around the world, and attracted the widest audience on the ground and online,” Cherix said in a statement.
The game of inheritance at MOMA has captivated the world of art for the past few years as it was revealed that Lowry would resign. Thelma Golden, which now runs the studio museum in Harlem, was considered the forefront, but some wanted to enjoy the fruits of the new buildings in the facility, opening this fall.
It was also important for the board to pick people young enough to bring a new perspective to the museum and secure a potentially long tenure, said three people close to the process that asked them not to name because they were not allowed to speak publicly.
Michael Ovitz, a Hollywood mogul and collector who works on the MoMa board, said he praised Cherix's thorough approach to the recent Ruscha exhibition. “He didn't post any photos on shows that he personally didn't go to see,” Obitz said.
With a staff of about 850 people and an annual operating budget of around $185 million, MOMA is sometimes likened to Raleigh, a company known for its simple facilities with donors, and to its chief executive.
Obitz said it was actually a complicated operation with equipment that Cherix handled. “There's a government issue, there's a city issue,” he said, adding Cherix. “He is a unique combination of commercial thinkers and aesthetic thinkers.”
Cherix must lead MOMA through periods of enormous turbulence. Cultural institutions are worried that the Trump administration can threaten their funds when many museums still feel the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. (MOMA has recovered the majority of viewers over the past five years. Museum attendance is down 4% compared to preschool levels.)
“It's going to be a long transition,” Cherix said. Meanwhile, he will be working with curator Beverly Adams at an exhibition that will open in November about Cuban-born artist Wifredo Lam.
