Sarah Douglas Taking Over as ARTnews Editor-in-Chief

Sarah Douglas.
Photo: Jeff Zorabedian/JDZ Photography LLC

Sarah Douglas, longtime culture editor at the New York Observer, will be the new editor-in-chief of ARTnews, replacing Robin Cembalest, who has held the position since 1998. Douglas will assume her new role on July 3, while Cembalest will remain involved as a consultant. In addition to the editorial shuffle, Abbey House Group S.A.—which is merging with ARTnews publisher ARTnews LLC to form Artnews S.A., effective July 1—announced the appointment of Izabela Depczyk, Abbey House’s COO, as the magazine’s new publisher.

“Whatever happens on the content side is all in Sarah’s very trusted hands,” Depczyk told artnet News over the telephone. “We really want to focus on digital strategy. We want to broaden our audience to make it much more international, and we are planning to do that by launching a European edition of ARTnews in the second half of next year.”

The staff change-up will be accompanied by a makeover of the ARTnews website, which will launch a redesign in the fall of 2014. This will be accompanied with a corresponding print redesign of the magazine.

“The brand and the magazine have been a little bit stagnant over the past several years, there wasn’t much capital that was invested into the magazine at all,” Depczyk said. “We’re relaunching the magazine with a completely upgraded and redesigned feel and look with the September issue. It’s going to be beautifully designed, bigger format, better paper, just a beautiful magazine. Editorially, there’s not going to be much change until the full redesign of the magazine with the January 2015 issue.”

“I am extremely proud of the work I have done with my many colleagues over the last two decades and of the relationships we have built here, and I look forward to continuing those relationships in the future,” Cembalest said in a statement. “I am delighted to welcome ARTnews alumna Sarah Douglas back to the magazine in the position of Editor-in-Chief.”

Douglas added, in a statement: “As the global art world continues to grow and change, I look forward to building upon and invigorating the legacy of ARTnews, and continuing to make the news interesting.”


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics