Soriano Moves to Royal Academy

Compton Verney's Director Becomes Exhibition Director at London's RA

Oct 9, 2008

Following Sir Norman Rosenthal's departure, Kathleen Soriano, Director of Compton Verney, has been appointed as Exhibition Director at Royal Academy of Arts.

Another woman has risen to one of the top jobs in the British art scene. Following the appointment, earlier this year, of Diane Lees as Director-General of London's Imperial War Museum, it comes as no surprise to learn that more and more women are rising to the challenges offered by the UK's prestigious museums and galleries.

The latest woman to step into a top arts post is Kathleen Soriano who moves to London's Royal Academy of Arts following the departure of Sir Norman Rosenthal. Kathleen Soriano, currently Director of Compton Verney art gallery, has accepted the newly created position of Director of Exhibitions to commence on 1 January 2009.

Sir Norman Rosenthal

Sir Norman Rosenthal has stepped down, after 31 years, from his position as Exhibitions Secretary at the Royal Academy of Arts. During his time at the RAA Sir Norman was associated with many ground-breaking exhibitions, both at home and abroad, including:

Sir Norman was also responsible for exhibitions at the Martin Gropius-Bau in Berlin including Zeitgeist in 1982, Metropolis in 1991, and The Epoch of Modernism - Art in the 20th Century in 1997. Sir Norman, in 2005, was also curator of an exhibition for the Konferenz Nationaler Kultureinrichtungen [KNK] entitled From Luther to the Bauhaus-National Treasures from Germany.

The New Incumbent - Kathleen Soriano

Ms Soriano, who graduated from the University of Leicester and was one of the first Fellows on the Clore Leadership Programme, is well qualified to meet the challenges that the Royal Academy will offer. She has the added advantage of having previously worked at the Academy in the 1980s and also with the Academy's Chief Executive, Charles Saumarez Smith, as Head of Exhibitions and Collections Management at the National Portrait Gallery.

Ms Soriano is held in high esteem by Saumarez Smith who said, "I am delighted that the RA has been able to lure Kathleen Soriano away from her very successful tenure as director of Compton Verney". Soriano's achievements are reflected in recent exhibitions at Compton Verney including:

Chairman of Compton Verney, Grahame Greene (nephew of the novelist) said, "It is a deserved recognition of her personal achievements and we are naturally very sad that our gallery will be losing her exceptional talents."

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