SYDNEY.- Edmund Capon AM OBE will retire as director of the Art Gallery of NSW at the end of this year after 33 years in the role. The President of the Board of Trustees of the Gallery, Mr Steven Lowy AM, made the announcement today at a media conference with the Premier, Mr O’Farrell, and Mr Capon. Mr Lowy said Mr Capon’s service to the Gallery and the cultural life of Australia had been extraordinary. “Rarely, if ever, has a single person so embodied the spirit and ambition of an institution as has Edmund with the Art Gallery of NSW,” he said. “Edmund’s achievements are many, but his single most significant achievement has been to make good on the goal he set for the Gallery soon after he was appointed in 1978. “Back then, Edmund made it clear he wanted the Gallery to pursue quality and not, to use his words at the time, ‘a broad expansion of all areas at a mediocre level.