Giulio Malgara in happier times. Courtesy la Repubblica.

Giulio Malgara, a controversial choice for the president of the Venice Biennale who was appointed in October to replace Paolo Baratta, has withdrawn his candidature. The Italian minister of culture made the announcement yesterday and The Art Newspaper reported it today.

A recent petition to bring back Mr. Baratta collected 3,800 signatures. Mr. Malgara has been characterized as a “foodstuffs importer who has shown little interest in the cultural sector.” He was supposed to have taken over on January 1, 2012.

Unfortunately for Mr. Malgara, his biggest supporter was prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who offered his resignation to Italy's parliament this week because of the European debt crisis.

"In a delicate political situation I thought it was inopportune to continue with this nomination," Mr. Malgara told Italian news agency ANSA. "I think it's the right decision. I didn't want to add a problem to the many problems we already have.”

There is no word yet if Mr. Baratta will remain president of the Biennale or if another replacement will be chosen.

Mr. Baratta.

The former banker Paolo Baratta, who has served as head of the Venice Biennale from 1998 to 2000, and from 2007 until just now, has been dismissed as chairman from the Biennale Foundation.

The Art Newspaper reports that his successor Giulio Malgara is generally viewed to be a political crony, and in this way fits the traditional mold of a Biennale chairman. Mr. Malgara "brought Gatorade and Quaker Oats to Italy and founded Auditel, a company that collects statistics about television usage." The current mayor of Venice, along with a former mayor, have already decried the decision to replace Mr. Baratta, who is also president of the Venice Film Festival.

Barring any problems with his confirmation, Mr. Malgara is expected to take over early in 2012.