Anne Baldassari. Photo via Liberation.
Anne Baldassari, president of the Picasso Museum in Paris, long under renovation, was dismissed from her post on Tuesday, as reported in the New York Times. The Culture Ministry appointed Jérôme Bouët, a veteran cultural affairs officer, to temporarily oversee the nearly 30-year-old museum.
In 2009 the museum began construction on an expansion that will eventually double its size. Over the years the budget ballooned to approximately $70 million (twice the initial estimate) and the re-opening date moved from October 2013 to this coming June to, most recently, September. The past two years have been tumultuous: two executive directors have left, half of the staff issued a statement deriding Baldassari’s management and communication style, and the museum is currently lacking contracts for security personnel and restaurant workers.
According to an anonymous ministry official quoted in the Times, Baldassari, 59, was offered another position, overseeing the display of paintings, which she declined.