Corcoran names new director

Paul Greenhalgh, a British scholar who heads an art school in Nova Scotia, will take over as director and president of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and its College of Art and Design next year.

The appointment is part of a wrenching overhaul at the 136-year-old Corcoran after five years of bold plans and occasional turmoil.

Greenhalgh, 50, is a specialist in the decorative arts and artistic movements from 1850 to 1940. Before he became president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in January 2001, he was head of research at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the world’s largest museum of decorative art and design.

He succeeds David C. Levy, the Corcoran’s director for 14 years. Levy resigned suddenly in May as the board of trustees suspended efforts to build a wing designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry. Fundraising for the project had stalled, and the Corcoran -- the city’s oldest art museum -- had accumulated deficits in 17 of the past 21 years.

The Corcoran, like many museums, has faced hard times financially, but Greenhalgh said the Washington gallery’s reputation is intact. “It is one of the world’s great institutions. It is a household word on the other side of the Atlantic. We knew it was a great old collection. And the fact that it preserved the school and gallery was unique,” he said. “It is part of the art world to structure, restructure, define and redefine.”

Since Levy’s departure, the Corcoran’s staff and trustees have conducted a review to get the museum back on course. All salaries were frozen until next July. Four people were laid off.

A final report on the findings was postponed until the new director would be on board.

The Corcoran also spruced up, painting the first-floor walls chili pepper red, though the landmark building still needs $40 million in repairs.