Victoria Siddall, former global director of Frieze, has been appointed to lead the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), the first time a woman has held the position since the British institution was founded in 1856. A graduate of the University of Bristol with a degree in English literature and philosophy, she began her career at Christie’s in 2000. Four years later, she joined Frieze as head of development before becoming the first director of Frieze Masters, launched in 2012. In 2015, she succeeded the company’s founders as global director of Frieze fairs in London and New York, and six years later became chair of the board.
In 2020, Victoria Siddall co-founded the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC), a charity that promotes environmental responsibility in art. The charity’s 1,100 members, spread across 40 countries, have pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. With Britain’s cultural institutions facing criticism from environmental campaigners, the move may be a sign that the museum is prioritising the issue – or at least talking about it. It’s a theme that has cropped up repeatedly in the new director’s more recent career, with the NPG calling her a global ambassador for raising awareness of the issue in the art sector. Siddall also helped organise a series of auctions that raised more than $6.5 million for the environmental organisation ClientEarth.
A former strategic adviser to the Tate, she became a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery in July 2023, having served on the institution’s reopening committee the previous year. Her appointment to lead the national museum follows the departure of Nicholas Cullinan, who has been in the role since 2015, to lead the British Museum. Siddall will take up her new role in autumn 2024.
