Christina Yu Yu Appointed Chair Of Asian Art At Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston

Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), announced on March 9 that Christina Yu Yu has been appointed the Matsutaro Shoriki Chair, Art of Asia. Beginning on July 2, Yu Yu will be responsible for overseeing the more than 100,000 works from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East that are housed in the museum.

Chinese-born Yu Yu, a scholar of historical and contemporary Chinese art with a doctorate degree in art history from the University of Chicago, joins MFA from the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California, where she has served as director since 2014. She was also an assistant curator of Chinese and Korean art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from 2011 to 2014, notably co-curating “Chinese Paintings from Japanese Collections” in 2014, the first major exhibition in the United States to explore the status and circulation of Chinese paintings in Japan over the course of 600 years.

Commenting on the appointment, Teitelbaum stated: “Christina’s breadth of experience, international outlook and track record of leadership align with our ambitions for presenting and engaging with one of the world’s greatest collections of Asian art. She will be a leader for us, and I look forward to seeing her collaborate with the MFA’s acclaimed staff to create programs that bring our works of art to new audiences. Christina’s dynamic approach is inspiring, especially during a time when museums around the world are being challenged to think globally while also deepening ties within our existing communities.”

Sophie von Wunster is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.

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