Hartwig Fischer

German art historian and ex-museum director

Hartwig Fischer

Fischer in 2017

Born|  (1962-12-14) 14 December 1962 (age 62)

Hamburg, West Germany

Nationality| German
Education| Ph.D. in History of Art
Alma mater| Munich University of Applied Sciences
University of Bonn
Occupation| Art historian
Known for| Director of the British Museum
Predecessor| Neil MacGregor
Successor| Nicholas Cullinan

Hartwig Fischer (born 14 December 1962) is a German art historian and museum director. From April 2016 until his resignation in August 2023 following a theft scandal, he was the director of the British Museum, the first non-British head of the museum since 1866. From 2012 to 2016, he was director of the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden).

## Early life and education

[edit]

Fischer was born on 14 December 1962 in Hamburg, West Germany.[1] His father came from Mecklenburg. As a child, Fischer glimpsed art galleries while visiting relatives farther to the south, in Dresden in then-separate East Germany.[2] He undertook postgraduate research on Hermann Prell,[3] for which he received a doctorate degree from the University of Bonn (Universität Bonn) in 1994.[4] He is a German native speaker and fluent in English, French and Italian.[5]

## Career

[edit]

Fischer began his career at the Kunstmuseum Basel, an art museum in Basel, Switzerland. There, between 2001 and 2006, he was curator of 19th-century and modern art.[1] He became director of the Museum Folkwang in Essen in 2006 where he presided over a period of expansion.[6][7] In December 2011, he was appointed director of the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden).[4] Subsequently, he succeeded Martin Roth, after Roth left to take charge at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.[8]

### British Museum

[edit]

On 25 September 2015, the trustees of the British Museum announced that Fischer would be the museum's next director.[9][10] He is the first non-British head of the museum since the Italian Sir Anthony Panizzi stood down in 1866.[11] He took up the appointment on 4 May 2016.[1][12]

In his role as director, Fischer supported the museum's continued ownership of the Elgin Marbles, which were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by agents of Lord Elgin from 1799 to 1810.[13] In January 2019, Fischer gave an interview to a Greek newspaper (in English) in which he called the removal of the marbles a "creative act", reaffirmed the British Museum's position of not loaning them to other museums, and stated that they were owned by the museum's trustees, rather than by the people of Athens.[14] The Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Myrsini Zorba, said in response that Fischer's comments "ignore the international debate and the Declarations of Unesco",[15] while George Vardas, the secretary of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, described Fischer's views as "astonishing historical revisionism and arrogance".[14] In December 2022, it was reported in the British press that the British Museum had entered into talks with the Greek government for the permanent return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.[16][17]

In July 2023, Fischer announced that he would step down as director in 2024.[18] In August 2023, he resigned due to the museum's response to thefts and announced that he would step down once the museum had set up an interim director.[19] A staff member had previously been dismissed over the theft over several years of small works of art, mostly classical engraved gems.[20]

## Selected works

[edit]

* Fischer, Hartwig; Rainbird, Sean, eds. (2006). Kandinsky: The path to abstraction. London: Tate Publishing. ISBN 978-1854376770.
* Fischer, Hartwig (2013). Georg Baselitz: Hintergrundgeschichten (in German). München: Hirmer. ISBN 978-3777421667.
* Fischer, Hartwig (2014). Bernhard Maaz: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Dresden (in German). Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Konig. ISBN 978-3863356125.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Hartwig Fischer Appointed as Director of the British Museum". British Museum. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
2. ^ German Press Agency (Deutsche Presse-Agentur / DPA) (30 September 2015). "Museumschef Hartwig Fischer im Porträt: Leiser Intellektueller und Workaholic für die Kunst". Monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben. Juno Kunstverlag GmbH, Berlin. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
3. ^ Simona Block (29 September 2015). "Hartwig Fischer: Leiser Intellektueller". Volksstimme, Magdeburg. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
4. ^ a b Shea, Christopher D. (25 September 2015). "Hartwig Fischer to Lead British Museum". NY Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
5. ^ "Hartwig Fischer at the British Museum: On a mission: The new head of the British Museum wants museums to take a stand". The Economist. 18 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
6. ^ Aschendorf, Dirk (2 May 2012). "Scheidender Folkwang-Direktor Hartwig Fischer besorgt über Zukunft des Museums". Funke Medien NRW GmbH, Essen. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
7. ^ "Museum Folkwang / David Chipperfield". ArchDaily. 17 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
8. ^ "Hartwig Fischer neuer Chef der Kunstsammlungen Dresden". Sächsische Zeitung GmbH, Dresden. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
9. ^ "German art historian to become first foreign director of British Museum". The Guardian. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
10. ^ Rigby, Elizabeth; Malvern, Jack (25 September 2015). "German put in charge of British Museum's treasures". The Times. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
11. ^ "German art historian 'to run British Museum'". BBC News. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
12. ^ Jones, Jonathan (1 April 2016). "British Museum's new director brings lessons of German history". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
13. ^ "Elgin Marbles are better off in London! British Museum boss rubbishes Corbyn's Greek plot". Express. 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
14. ^ a b Brown, Mark (28 January 2019). "British Museum chief: taking the Parthenon marbles was 'creative'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
15. ^ "Greece to British Museum: "Fischer's views are remnants of colonialism"". Keep Talking Greece. 27 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
16. ^ "Greece in 'preliminary' talks with British Museum about Parthenon marbles". The Guardian. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022 - via www.theguardian.com.
17. ^ "George Osborne in 'advanced' talks with Greek PM over return of Parthenon Marbles". The Telegraph. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022 - via www.telegraph.co.uk.
18. ^ Seymour, Tom (28 July 2023). "British Museum director Hartwig Fischer to step down in 2024". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
19. ^ "Hartwig Fischer: British Museum director quits over stolen treasures". BBC News. 25 August 2023. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
20. ^ "What we know about the British Museum thefts so far". BBC News. 22 August 2023. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Whitworth, Damian (21 April 2017). "The new boss of the British Museum — and his to-do list". The Times. Retrieved 21 April 2017.

* v
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Directors and Principal Librarians of the British Museum

* Gowin Knight (1756)
* Matthew Maty (1772)
* Charles Morton (1776)
* Joseph Planta (1799)
* Henry Ellis (1827)
* Anthony Panizzi (1856)
* John Winter Jones (1866)
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* John Forsdyke (1936)
* T. D. (Thomas Downing) Kendrick (1950)
* Frank Francis (1959)
* John Wolfenden (1969)
* John Pope-Hennessy (1974)
* David M. Wilson (1977)
* Robert G. W. Anderson (1992)
* Neil MacGregor (2002)
* Hartwig Fischer (2016)
* Nicholas Cullinan (2024)

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