Martin Roth, former head of London's V&A, dies at 62

Martin Roth "raised the V&A to new heights"

Tributes have been paid to Martin Roth, the former head of London's Victoria & Albert museum, after his death at the age of 62.

Roth took over at the museum in 2011 and left last year, having overseen blockbuster shows based on Alexander McQueen and David Bowie.

V&A chairman Nicholas Coleridge said he raised the museum "to new heights".

"Martin will be remembered as a man of prodigious energy, a director with a global reputation," he said.

'Thick fog'

Under Roth, the V&A was named 2016 Art Fund museum of the year and achieved record visitor numbers.

Arts editor Will Gompertz, BBC News

"He was a born frontman who enjoyed the warm glow of the spotlight, as do most museum directors.

"He put his natural showmanship to good use by raising the V&A's profile and status in the UK and abroad."

Read more from Will here.

Roth also oversaw the V&A's move towards a presence at the Venice Biennale and helped found the V&A Research Institute, as well as being closely involved in the expansion of the museum in Dundee and Shekou, China.

Coleridge said Roth was "a committed Europhile and cultural ambassador with a philosophical turn of mind, as well as a devoted husband and father", adding: "We will greatly miss Martin, and are profoundly grateful for his considerable contribution to the V&A."

But the German-born director voiced his concerns about the future after the UK's vote to leave the European Union.

In July last year, he told the BBC the referendum result had worried him, saying it "feels like skiing in very thick fog".

He added that he had received letters from potential funders "asking if we can put things on hold".

Former Labour MP Tristram Hunt quit his seat in Stoke to become the Roth's successor at the V&A earlier this year.

He tweeted: "@V_and_A is hugely saddened by death of Martin Roth - his was a prodigious internationalism & contemporary ambition."