Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC Names Kaywin Feldman Its Fifth Director

December 11, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Kaywin Feldman

The National Gallery has announced the end of its search for a new director. Kaywin Feldman, currently the head of the Minneapolis Institute for Art, will become the National Gallery’s fifth director succeeding Earl Powell who has held the position for more than 25 years. Feldman has been in charge in Minneapolis for a decade where she made the institute free to the public. Here’s the NGA’s description of her time in Minnesota:

Kaywin Feldman is a champion of digital technology for expanding access to art. Feldman established a contemporary art department at Mia and new galleries for showcasing the art of Africa. She has overseen a series of experimental installations in the museum’s venerable period rooms, exploring new ways of engaging with history.

Feldman has galvanized the galleries and her field with groundbreaking exhibitions such as At Home with Monsters (2017), which featured the art of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty (2018), a dramatic display of Chinese art designed by avant-garde theater artist Robert Wilson. As a curator, she has helped organize popular traveling exhibitions, includingThe Habsburgs: Rarely Seen Masterpieces from Europe’s Greatest Dynasty (2015), which brought dozens of masterpieces to Minneapolis for the museum’s 100th birthday year.

Her efforts have helped double attendance while bringing international renown to the museum’s art, particularly its Japanese collection, which has more than doubled in size during her tenure. Other acquisitions include works by Kehinde Wiley, Ai Wei Wei, James McNeill Whistler, Edgar Degas, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Born in 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, Feldman’s fascination with museums began with childhood visits and an early interest in archaeology. She earned her BA in classical archaeology from the University of Michigan and an MA from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London. She also earned an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London, specializing in Dutch and Flemish art, and received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Memphis College of Art in 2008. Before coming to Mia, she was the director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee from 1999 to 2007.

More from Art Market Monitor

  • National Gallery Buys $7m ArcimboldoNational Gallery Buys $7m Arcimboldo
  • Reclaiming the National GalleryReclaiming the National Gallery
  • London Prepares for Russian Art FairLondon Prepares for Russian Art Fair
  • Christie’s Previews HK AuctionsChristie’s Previews HK Auctions
  • Do Wesselmann’s Nudes Keep His Prices Down?Do Wesselmann’s Nudes Keep His Prices Down?
  • RetrospectivesRetrospectives

Filed Under: Museums Tagged With: National Gallery

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Gorky, Kandinsky Works to Make First Public Appearance Since 1970s at Sotheby's
  • Soulages First Owned by Senegalese Poet-Politician Léopold Sédar Senghor Sells in France
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • For 2020, Phillips Brought in Total of $760.4 million, Down 16 Percent from 2019; Asia Sales Up 24 Percent
  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • A Season of Resilience: Fall 2020 Hong Kong Auction Analysis
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Calder, Miró, Léger and More Expected to Fetch $22 M. in Christie's London 20th Century Art Sales
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor