Charles Saumarez Smith Appointed Senior Director at Blain Southern Gallery

Charles Saumarez Smith, who has been leading the Royal Academy of Arts as secretary and chief executive since 2007, is moving to Blain Southern gallery in London as their senior director. This marks his first venture into a commercial gallery after his roles at major UK institutions like the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. There, he organized exhibitions featuring famous photographers like Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon. Saumarez Smith has known the gallery's founders, Harry Blain and Graham Southern, since their days at Haunch of Venison. He previously held the Slade Professorship at Oxford and played a key role in acquiring Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks for £22 million in 2004. He received a CBE in 2008 and was knighted in 2018. Blain Southern showcases artists such as the Chapman Brothers and Rachel Howard.