Mr. Snyder has done some remarkable work over the past decade in making the Israel Museum an international destination. Currently, he is in the process of overseeing the impressive and well-timed renovations we wrote about a few months ago. We think he’d make a fine director of NY’s prestigious Guggenheim.

From HAARETZ:

Israel Museum director is candidate to run New York’s Guggenheim

By Haim Handwerker

NEW YORK - The Guggenheim Museum in New York has formed a search committee to find a new director for the institution. One of the prominent names appearing on the list thus far is that of James Snyder, the director of the Israel Museum.

The museum did not confirm the report and said in response: “At the moment, the search committee has not yet approached potential candidates for the position.” Snyder, who is completing a visit to New York today, also responded diplomatically: “I have no information regarding the Guggenheim’s plans. If people are speaking of me positively as far as my professional skills, I take that as a compliment.”

When asked how much longer he would remain in Jerusalem, he answered: “When I accepted the job I didn’t know how long I would stay. In the meantime, I have been at the museum for 10 years already. When we launched the museum’s renewal plan, I committed myself to this plan. How much longer will I remain? I have no idea. What I do know is that I am enjoying this position very much.”

In the American museum world, Snyder is held in high regard, more so sometimes than he is in Israel. He worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 22 years, beginning as an apprentice and ending up as deputy director, a position he held for 10 years.

During his current visit to New York, Snyder attended, among other things, the Israel Museum’s annual banquet held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan and attended by 680 guests. At that event, $3 million was raised - an impressive sum even by American standards.

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