LONDON, UK.- Wilf Weeks, chairman of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery, has announced the appointment of Ian Dejardin as the new Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Wilf Weeks said, “Ian has been an exceptionally creative and dedicated curator. He is passionate about the Gallery and its collection and has a clear vision of how he will lead it in the future.”

Ian Dejardin said: ‘I know and love this Gallery so well that I am thrilled to be given this opportunity of extending my association with it in this new and challenging capacity. In 2011, we will be celebrating the bicentenary of our Foundation, and I look forward to building on Desmond Shawe-Taylor’s legacy as we approach yet another milestone in Dulwich’s remarkable history.’

Ian Dejardin, who is 49, has been Curator of Dulwich Picture Gallery since 1998, responsible for the care of collections of paintings, furniture and works on paper and for the mounting of three exhibitions a year. He was part of the team that oversaw the major refurbishment of the Gallery, which was reopened by the Queen in 2000.

Ian succeeds Desmond Shawe-Taylor who takes up his post of Surveyor Designate of the Queen’s Pictures in April. Ian studied at Edinburgh University where he graduated with a first class degree in history of art. He began his professional career at the Royal Academy, and then was appointed as senior curator and subsequently Head of the Historic Team for the London Region of English Heritage before becoming the Curator at Dulwich.

Dulwich Picture Gallery is England’s oldest public art gallery, founded in 1811. The magnificent collection of Old Master paintings includes works by Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude, Rubens, Murillo, Van Dyck, Watteau, Gainsborough and many others. This historic collection is housed in Sir John Soane’s famous Gallery, considered by art historians and architects alike to be the perfect building for showing paintings. The next exhibition at the Gallery will be Graham Sutherland, starting on 15 June.