Director of Getty to Stay at Job : Art: John Walsh withdraws as candidate for the top post at the National Gallery. His move boosts the chances of Los Angeles County Museum’s chief.

John Walsh, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu since 1983, has withdrawn from the competition to head the National Gallery of Art in Washington, improving the odds that the post could go to Earl A. (Rusty) Powell, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

According to sources close to the search process, Walsh had been considered the leading candidate to succeed J. Carter Brown, who resigned in January after 22 years of service.

“I was very flattered to be considered, but I have withdrawn my name,” Walsh said Friday afternoon in a telephone interview. “I love the Getty and I have a lot more to do here.”

John R. Stevenson, president of the National Gallery and chairman of the search committee, said Friday that the remaining candidates include Powell, director of the county museum since 1980; Edmund P. Pillsbury, director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth; Roger Mandle, deputy director of the National Gallery, and Anne d’Harnoncourt, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Powell, 48, came to Los Angeles from the National Gallery, where he served as a curator and senior staff assistant from 1976 to 1980. Powell was out of town for the weekend and could not be reached for comment.

Pillsbury, 48, was earlier considered the front-runner because of his prominence in the field, social connections and ties to Paul Mellon, whose father, Andrew W. Mellon, founded the National Gallery. However, Pillsbury has said that while he is still a candidate, he was not being invited back for a second interview.

Mandle, 50, confirmed Friday night that he has been interviewed for the position and is still in the running. He said he had no information about other candidates or the search process.

D’Harnoncourt was curator of 20th-Century art at the Philadelphia Museum from 1971-82, when she became director. From 1969-71, she was assistant curator of 20th-Century art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Walsh, 54, declined to comment further on considerations that determined his decision. However, responsibilities for the director of the National Gallery include fund raising, a function that Walsh has not had to perform at the Getty, which operates with a $3.9-billion endowment.

Another factor in his decision to stay at the Getty could be the institution’s vast new complex under construction in Brentwood. Walsh has played a major role in planning the facility, which will include a museum to display the Getty’s collection of European paintings and decorative arts, drawings and photographs.

Serving with Stevenson on the search committee are National Gallery board members Robert Smith, Ruth Carter Stevenson and Alexander M. Laughlin. The board of trustees will convene on May 1, when an announcement of the new director is expected.