Serota’s first resignation from the Tate, aged 24

Nicholas Serota may have announced that he is moving on to Arts Council England, but this is not the first time that the outgoing director has resigned from the Tate. Back in 1971, Serota (then aged 24) was chairman of the Young Friends of the Tate, which found itself at loggerheads with the institutions director and trustees. The Tate Gallery was shying away from cutting-edge art, so the rebellious Young Friends decided to set up their own exhibition space and began to convert a dilapidated bu