Three senior directors have left White Cube's New York gallery: Courtney Willis Blair, Sukanya Rajaratnam and Jessie Washburne-Harris, according to Artnet News Artnet News.

White Cube — the London gallery founded in 1993 by Jay Jopling, with locations in London, Hong Kong, Paris, Seoul and New York — opened its first US flagship on Madison Avenue in October 2023. The 8,000-square-foot townhouse, built in 1930 and sitting next to the Sant Ambroeus restaurant at 1002 Madison Avenue, was meant to anchor the gallery's American expansion White Cube.

Willis Blair joined White Cube as US Senior Director in January 2023, having previously been a partner at Mitchell-Innes & Nash. She is leaving this autumn to return to academia White Cube. Rajaratnam, formerly a partner at Mnuchin Gallery, came on as global director of strategic market initiatives in 2023 and is stepping down to focus on independent ventures White Cube.

Washburne-Harris had the shortest tenure of the three. Hired as global director in October 2025 to oversee long-term growth in the United States, she spent less than a year in the role White Cube. Her background includes running her own gallery, Harris Lieberman, and holding senior positions at Marian Goodman and Pace.

Two further names are gone from the roster. John Good, a former Gagosian director who joined White Cube in 2017 to build out its artist estates business, is no longer there. Neither is Angela Brazda, who held director positions at Gladstone and Lisson galleries before White Cube.

The gallery has seen senior figures depart before. Eric Shiner, former director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, was hired from Sotheby's in 2018 as White Cube's New York-based artistic director. He left a year later to lead Pioneer Works, the art centre in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighbourhood, where he is now president Artnet News.

A White Cube representative told Artnet News the three latest departures were not cost-cutting, pointing to a remaining staff of more than 30 on the Upper East Side. The gallery's sales team of nine is led by Clara Ingram, who became US chief operating officer in 2024 after more than a decade in operations. Victoria Campofranco, who spent 11 years at Sotheby's, is a recent hire supporting that team Artnet News.

The wider context is less settled. Pace, one of the largest galleries in the world, announced 50 layoffs in June. David Zwirner closed its Upper East Side space. Blue-chip galleries — the tier of dealers handling the most established and expensive artists — have been trimming as the art market cools from its pandemic-era highs.

White Cube's New York programming presses on. Major solo shows by Danh Vo in September and Doris Salcedo in November are on the schedule, alongside a David Hammons exhibition. The gallery is also slated to participate in the 2026 editions of Frieze New York and TEFAF New York, both in May White Cube.

The gallery also ended its long-running Miami Basel party after 13 years, with Art Basel's then-global director Marc Spiegler and art adviser Amy Cappellazzo among those giving a final toast in 2024 Artnet News. For a gallery that built its American profile on both exhibition muscle and social spectacle, the recent pullbacks are notable — though, by the gallery's own count, the roster on Madison Avenue is far from gutted.