The Minister of Culture dismissed the head of the National Gallery, Rösela

Prague - Culture Minister Alena Hanáková today dismissed the director of the National Gallery, Vladimír Rösel. She stated that he has not demonstrated an understanding of the gallery's mission and is not a guarantee for its development. The Czech News Agency was informed of this by the ministry's spokesperson, Lenka Brandtová. According to Hanáková, Rösel's qualifications to lead the most important art museum in the Czech Republic are very limited. The economist Rösel had been in the position for less than two years, and speculation about his departure had been ongoing for some time.
    However, thoughts about his dismissal were more pronounced a few months ago; experts believe that the recent period has brought a shift in the functioning of the National Gallery. The gallery organized several successful exhibitions and, after a long time, also prepared a large exhibition for foreign audiences. "I absolutely disagree with the reasoning (for my dismissal). I respect the decision, and at this moment, the most important thing for me is to maintain continuity and calmness in the National Gallery," Rösel told the Czech News Agency today.
    However, he believes that the decision does not benefit either the National Gallery or the Ministry of Culture. "The ministry has not officially expressed its opinion on the expertise or professional management of the National Gallery, including its professional staff, advisory bodies, and members of the scientific council, nor has it questioned their work," he stated. On the contrary, according to him, the ministerial department for museums and galleries reacted positively and without reservations to the proposed concept of the National Gallery. "And we have no information that the committee that assessed the concept last month reacted differently."
    Until the appointment of a new general director, who will be selected with the help of a panel of experts in the field of visual arts, the management of the National Gallery will be entrusted to Vít Vlnas, the director of the Collection of Old Art.
    According to the ministry, Rösel was appointed to the position as an expert in economic relations. He was primarily supposed to settle the gallery's finances and prepare a development concept. "Rösel had difficulty fulfilling the first task," the ministry states. After taking office, Rösel had to resolve the institution's debts amounting to 50 million crowns, which the gallery was repaying. In recent years, it received increasingly less money from its founder; while in 2009 the state grant was approximately 330 million crowns, last year it was just slightly over 200 million crowns.
    Regarding the concept of the National Gallery for the coming years, the ministry states that Rösel is not a guarantor of professionalism and "optimal work with people," which are, according to the ministry, two essential pillars of managing the largest art museum in the country. Allegedly, problems in communication between the National Gallery's management and its director with both employees and the professional public, as well as with the ministry, recurred.
    Vladimír Rösel replaced Milan Knížák, the long-serving director of the National Gallery, in June 2011. Rösel became the director of the contributory organization after long years of working in companies dealing with investments, private capital management, business restructuring, and real estate trading.