Sjarel Ex will step down as director of the Rotterdam Boijmans Van Beuningen museum this fall. The museum will be closed for renovations in the coming years, but will show the collection in a high-profile depot that has been built next door and is attracting international attention.

The deposit is the crowning glory of his work and Ex requested the supervisory board to terminate his current contract. Ex had been responsible for artistic and business matters for the museum since 2004, in recent years together with co-director and co-director Ina Klaassen. He will continue his career as an independent researcher and exhibition maker, says Boijmans.

Klaassen calls him “first and foremost a visionary with guts”. “His idiosyncratic view and inspired approach have fueled and propelled the growth that the museum has experienced.”

There are more dropouts in the art world this week. Charles de Mooij will retire after fifteen years as director of Het Noordbrabants Museum. Jacqueline Grandjean succeeds him. The board of the Rembrandt Association has appointed Geert-Jan Janse as its new director. He succeeds the current director Fusien Bijl de Vroe, who is retiring.