Cuno to Chicago's Art Institute - Artworld - Brief Article

Art in America, March, 2004

James Cuno has been named president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago. He succeeds James Wood, who is retiring after 24 years as the museum's head. Cuno, a specialist in 19th-century French art, has been head of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London for one year. For 11 years prior to that, he was director of the Harvard University Art Museums, where he doubled the budget and staff, quadrupled the endowment, and expanded and renovated facilities.

Among the exhibitions organized at Harvard under his leadership are "Mondrian: The Transatlantic Paintings" (2001) and "Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography 01 Modern Times" (2000). He edited and contributed to the book Whose Muse? Art Museums and the Public's Trust, which was published last year. In Chicago, he will oversee the Institute's expansion, a plan set forth by Wood that calls for a new Renzo Piano-designed wing. Groundbreaking is set for the fall, with construction to be completed in 2007. Cuno assumes his new post in September.