Thomas Krens Departs From Guggenheim

Thomas Krens, who built the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation into an international network of museums, is stepping down as director, the board of the foundation announced yesterday. Mr. Krens created the Guggenheim Bilbao, as well as outposts in Berlin and Las Vegas. He advised the government of Abu Dhabi on the formation of a cultural district of five museums, one of which will be a Guggenheim museum.

But his role overseeing all the museums made it difficult for the board to attract someone to run the museum in New York. Lisa Dennison, who became director of the New York museum in 2005, stepped down last summer to take a job at Sotheby's. The board is still looking for a new director. It said yesterday that the museum will now revert to the management structure from before 2005, in which a single director ran both the New York museum and the global outposts.

Mr. Krens's ambition — some would say hubris — has made him a controversial figure in the art world. He clashed with the Guggenheim's former chairman, Peter B. Lewis. Some of his expansion plans — a Frank Gehry-designed museum in downtown Manhattan, an Enrique Norten-designed museum in Guadalajara, Mexico — fizzled.

Mr. Krens's departure was not expected. The foundation said Mr. Krens would stay on as senior adviser for international affairs and continue to oversee the creation of the Abu Dhabi museum.