Victoria Siddall has become the first female director of the National Portrait Gallery in London, taking over the position left by Nicholas Cullinan, who departed for the British Museum in June. Siddall has been a key figure in the arts for more than two decades, working mostly in the commercial sector. In 2012, she rose to prominence after launching Frieze Masters, going on to become global director of the contemporary art fair, which takes place in London every October, and has offshoots in New York and Los Angeles. She was the chair of Studio Voltaire’s board and has been an advocate of sustainability in the art world, but this is her first position at a large, publicly funded arts institution. She takes over from the interim director, Michael Elliott, becoming only the 13th director in the NPG’s 168-year history. Siddall arrives at the NPG after it began a new era with a £41.3m refurbishment. The gallery was closed for three years and reopened in June last year with a rehang and Tracey Emin-commissioned doors that serve as the new entrance. The reopening was seen as a success, with the NPG being nominated for museum of the year, but the departure of Cullinan for the British Museum after a nine-year tenure left a void at the heart of the organisation during the summer. In a statement, Siddall – who started her career at the auction house Christie’s – said now was “perhaps the most exciting time in the NPG’s history” and praised Cullinan’s leadership and handling of the reopening, which she said he had done “flawlessly”. “The perfect stage has been built and I am thrilled to work with my new colleagues, the museum’s trustees and supporters and of course the artists, as we look to the future and embark on a new chapter,” she added. David Ross, the chair of the trustees at the NPG, praised Siddall’s strengths as “a cultural leader”, adding she had the “vision and determination to build on our recent successes and lead the next stage of the gallery’s development”. Siddall’s appointment has to be approved by the prime minister, usually a formality. However, in recent years successive Conservative governments have meddled with or vetoed certain appointments at national museums and galleries. Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said Siddall brought “a wealth of experience” to the role, adding she was delighted that “the National Portrait Gallery is making history by appointing its first female director”. “Her leadership will lead the gallery from strength to strength, building on their successful reopening last year and I am excited to see what she and the National Portrait Gallery team will have in store for us in the coming years,” Nandy said. Siddall has recently spoken about the progress made in the arts sector on gender imbalance. In a speech given to graduates at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London in May, she said: “When I started at Christie’s in 2000 [as head of proposals], women had only just been allowed to wear trousers to work, and there were certainly no women running the major London museums. “This has improved radically in that we now have women in some of the top jobs in the art world and cultural sector.”