Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Art, Debrett's 500 2016, People of Influence

Dr Nicholas Cullinan

Director, National Portrait Gallery

Curator and art historian Nicholas Cullinan was announced as the new director of the National Portrait Gallery in January 2015, becoming, at 37, its second-youngest in its 157-year history. Prior to taking over from Sandy Nairne at the gallery, Cullinan was curator of international modern art at the Tate Modern and worked for two years as a curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Together with Sir Nicholas Serota, Cullinan co-curated the Tate Modern’s 2014 exhibition of Matisse cut-outs that became its most successful ever, attracting over half a million visitors. He studied for his BA, MA and PhD at the Courtauld Institute, during which time he worked as a visitor services assistant at the institution he now leads.