Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones argues that Tate faces a mounting crisis and urgently needs radical reform, questioning whether newly appointed director Jessica Morgan, despite being billed as "an agent of change", is bold enough to deliver it. Morgan, a respected contemporary art curator who previously led New York's Dia Art Foundation and earlier worked at Tate Modern, brings strengths that Jones fears will keep the institution within its comfortable existing groove rather than prompting genuine transformation.

Jones highlights specific failings, including Tate Britain's neglect of older British art in favour of Victorian-onwards exhibitions, an over-hyped and "problematic" Frida Kahlo show, a widely panned Turbine Hall installation by Máret Ánne Sara, and the perennially disappointing Turner prize. He attributes these to a culture of institutional self-belief that treats criticism as hostility, and criticises Tate's heavy reliance on branding and PR, including the pre-emptive artist endorsements accompanying Morgan's appointment. He calls on her to fundamentally rethink the organisation, including its satellite sites such as Tate St Ives.