CINCINNATI, OH.- The Cincinnati Art Museum announced that Chief Conservator Per Knutås has resigned from the Cincinnati Art Museum, effective in July, to accept his new role as the Chief Conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Art Museum Director Aaron Betsky said "Per Knutås has been a wonderful asset to the Cincinnati Art Museum, having served as Chief Conservator since 2009. He worked to enhance the visibility of the conservation department within the public realm. His treatment of our Van Gogh, Undergrowth with Two Figures, garnered significant interest and international and national attention. Thousands of visitors came to the Cincinnati Art Museum to view Knutås as he cleaned the Van Gogh masterpiece in full view in the Cincinnati Wing."

Prior to joining the Cincinnati Art Museum, Mr. Knutås worked at the Moderna Museet and the Swedish National Heritage Board in Stockholm, and in the paintings conservation laboratories at both the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Per Knutås stated "I am sad to leave the Cincinnati Art Museum and my esteemed colleagues, and will miss the great relationships I've made with staff and the community. I'm excited to have the opportunity to create closer collaborations between the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art as both institutions advance research in the national and global conservation and technical art historian community."

Mr. Knutås will oversee one of the leading conservation laboratories in the country with an accompanying state-of-the-art, 18,000 square foot facility. Director Betsky stated "We look forward to continuing our relationship with Per Knutås and his new staff. The Cincinnati Art Museum wishes Mr. Knutås all the best in his new venture at the Cleveland Museum of Art."

The Cincinnati Art Museum will begin conducting a national search for a new Chief Conservator immediately.