Sir Norman Rosenthal is to step down as the Royal Academy’s head of exhibitions after 31 years.

According to the Financial Times, Sir Norman will remain a special adviser to the institution, while acting as a freelance curator to international museums and galleries.

It is understood that he will still be scheduled to work on projects at the RA until at least the Olympic year 2012.

Rosenthal has often courted controversy, staging exhibitions that at times have drawn protests from Academicians, such as the 1997 Sensation installation. Sensation included Damien Hirts’s shark in formaldehyde and Tracey Emin’s tent, entitled Everyone I Have Ever Slept with 1963-1995.