James S. Snyder, who was director of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for 19 years is returning to New York to take up the leadership reins of the Jewish Museum. Previously, between 1986 to 1996, Snyder was deputy director of the city’s Museum of Modern Art, leaving a year after Glenn Lowry took the helm.
For the past four years, Snyder has been president of the philanthropic Jerusalem Foundation. In 2016 Snyder, who had already announced his move from the Israel Museum, faced controversy for allegedly receiving ‘two salaries’. The independent Israeli news blog Ha-Makom reported that in addition to his comparatively low annual salary of between NIS 333,000–343,000 (£69,617–£71,721) from the state-funded museum, Snyder also received $8.3 million (£6,531,000) between 2010–2015 from the American Friends of Israel Museum, the New York–based organisation that is the Jerusalem institution’s main philanthropic funder. Snyder denied any impropriety, hitting out at the ‘slanderous claims and false accusations’ and that the payments related to two entirely separate roles at separate organisations. The Israel Museum board concluded similarly, though not without the reservations of individual members.
During Snyder’s tenure, the Israel Museum more than doubled its annual attendance to nearly one million visitors and increased its endowment more than fivefold to $200 million. Snyder also oversaw a series of building works across the Museum’s 20-acre campus, culminating in its $100 million, 28,000 sqm expansion.
Snyder takes over at the Jewish Museum from Claudia Gould, who announced her departure last year.
