Wash Heights Museum Names Former Louvre Curator As New Director

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Guillaume Kientz, the former curator at the famed Louvre museum in Paris, has recently been named director and chief executive of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in Washington Heights, according to the New York Times.

The museum, which contains one of the world's largest collections of Spanish art and literature, is located at 613 West 155th Street.

Kientz is not walking into an easy situation as the Hispanic Society Museum & Library has been closed for renovations since 2017, and has faced mighty financial struggles in the past decade.

"The Hispanic Society Museum & Library is on the cusp of transformation physically and intellectually," Kientz told the NY Times in an interview on Wednesday. "And now is the perfect time to rethink and rebuild the museum."

The museum was founded in 1904, quickly building up a collection "unparalleled in their scope and quality outside of Spain," according to the Hispanic Society Museum & Library website.

The museum continues to reflect the vision of Archer Milton Huntington, a philanthropist born in New York City in 1870 who dedicated his life and wealth to create the collection of Hispanic art and literature.

Kientz currently works as the curator of European Art at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to begin his new role at the Washington Heights museum in early 2021, according to the NY Times.

He will succeed Mitchel Codding, who retired in the fall of this year after directing the organization for 25 years.

The museum has not yet formally announced Kientz as the new director.

You can read more about Kientz and his new role at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library on the NY Times website.