COURTESY TATE AMERICAS FOUNDATION
In an email newsletter sent out on Tuesday morning, Richard Hamilton announced that he would leave his post as the director of the Tate Americas Foundation. He will step down from the position he assumed in 2013 at the end of this year.
Hamilton has been an integral figure at the charity since it was first founded, in 1987, by Sir Edwin and Lady Manton. Then called the American Patrons of Tate (it rebranded in 2013), the enterprise was designed to help Tate in London acquire works by artists from North and South America. The charity has raised more than $300 million, and has helped the museum add pieces to its collection by Louise Lawler, Raymond Pettibon, Kara Walker, Cildo Meireles, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and many more.
Hamilton served as director of the Americas Patrons of Tate from 1999 to 2013, and has been director of the Tate Americas Foundation since 2013. Prior to that, he was head of charitable giving at Tate.
After stepping down, Hamilton will start “a consultancy to help develop philanthropic strategies for private individuals, foundations, and nonprofit institutions,” he said in a statement. Thanking a host of individuals associated with Tate, including Maria Balshaw, the museum’s current director, and Pamela J. Joyner, the foundation’s current chair, Hamilton added, “Thank you to each of you for everything you have done to help make my career at Tate so enjoyable. I hope to remain in touch with many of you as we all continue to support Tate, a truly remarkable and very much loved institution!”