Ironically, on the 250th anniversary, the Düsseldorf Art Academy falls into turbulence. After weeks of quarreling, the renowned university is now without a leader.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – The leadership crisis at the renowned Düsseldorf Art Academy is coming to a head. The provisional rector Johannes Myssok declared his resignation in a letter to Science Minister Ina Brandes (CDU). Myssok confirmed this to the German Press Agency on Wednesday. The “Rheinische Post” had previously reported. According to Myssok, he also declared his resignation as pro-rector in a letter to the Senate of the Academy. In the year of its 250th anniversary, the art academy is thus left without a guide.
Myssok’s resignation follows weeks of quarrels over the election of a new academy leadership. The 57-year-old art historian temporarily headed the Academy after the early departure of Rector Karl-Heinz Petzinka in the summer of 2022.
In December, the architect Donatella Fioretti, who has been a professor of architecture in Düsseldorf since 2017, narrowly defeated Myssok in the new rector’s election. However, the NRW Ministry of Science declared the vote invalid at the beginning of February due to procedural errors. The election must now be repeated.
Both the art students and the majority of the professors protested against the cancellation of the election and expressed their confidence in Fioretti.
Myssok announced that he would not run for rector again. After the way in which he was treated by his colleagues and the ministry, he sees himself “so questioned by both sides that I will not run again”. However, he will continue to be a professor of art history at the Academy.
According to Myssok, the new election was actually planned for the end of April, but the date is now open. It is also unclear who is standing for election. “My concern was to make this house shine in its anniversary year,” said Myssok. It is “very sad” that the situation has taken such a turn – also collegial. For him, “the limit of what can be endured” has been reached.
World-class artists such as Gerhard Richter, Joseph Beuys, Günther Uecker, Andreas Gursky and Jörg Immendorff emerged from the Düsseldorf Academy. Famous artists such as Markus Lüpertz and Tony Cragg have also been among the previous rectors.
