With profound sadness and gratitude, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud Cologne announced the passing of its long-term curator and vice-director Ekkehard Mai on 31 Juli 2020. Mai was a specialist in seventeenth- and nineteenth-century art, and the history of museums and art academies. He was a member of CODART from 1998 until his retirement in 2008.

Mai is well known for his many publications and exhibitions in the field of Flemish and Dutch Art, often organized in cooperation with other museums and accompanied by scholarly symposiums. Some of his more notable exhibitions in this field were Arent de Gelder (1645-1727), Rembrandt’s last pupil (Dordrecht, 1998-99), Painted illusions: the art of Cornelius Gijsbrechts (London, 2000), The aristocratic art of painting: Holland about 1700 (Cologne, 2006-07), and Gillis Mostaert – Ein Antwerpener Maler zur Zeit der Bruegel-Dynastie (Cologne, 2005-06).