The Bruce Museum has announced that Peter C. Sutton is retiring after a 17-year career as its executive director.

Sutton was the director of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford from 1996 to 2000 before joining the Greenwich-based Bruce Museum in 2001. Earlier in his career, he held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, was senior director of Old Master paintings at Christie’s New York and served as a vice president for art advisory service at Citicorp.

In a 2008 interview with the New York Times, Sutton noted that the majority of visitors to the Bruce Museum came from a 30-mile radius. “We cater very much to the local community and do tailor our offerings,” he said. “At the same time, we also try to mix things up, with shows ranging from old masters to contemporary art, with research catalogs and loans from collectors and museums. It is all about striking the right balance between responsibilities to the community and maintaining a commitment to professional, quality programming.”

The museum’s board of trustees has formed a transition committee to conduct a national search for a new executive director, and the firm Koya Leadership Partners has been retained to assist with identifying qualified candidates.