Getty Museum Appoints Carolyn Marsden-Smith as Associate Director for Exhibitions

The veteran curator is currently Head of Exhibitions at the British Museum.

Carolyn Marsden-Smith. Courtesy J. Paul Getty Museum.

The J. Paul Getty Museum has announced the appointment of Carolyn Marsden-Smith as Associate Director for Exhibitions. The curator, who’s currently Head of Exhibitions at London’s British Museum, will take up the post in January 2017.

“I am delighted to be joining Timothy Potts and his team at the Getty,” Marsden-Smith said in a statement. “I am passionate about presenting stories of our shared global history through the visual arts, and in doing so, creating presentations that resonate deeply with diverse audiences. The J. Paul Getty Museum, with its stellar reputation, extraordinary collections, forward thinking, and innovative team, seems the perfect place to do this.”

The British curator began her career at London’s Imperial War Museum in 1989, where she was Deputy Head of Exhibitions.

In 2001, she joined the British Museum, eventually becoming its Head of Exhibitions. At the popular London museum—which received almost 7 million visitors in 2015—she oversaw a slew of blockbuster exhibitions, including “Celts: Art and Identity” (2015), “Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum” (2013), “First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” (2007), and “Michelangelo Drawings: Closer to the Master” (2006).

“We are thrilled that Carolyn Marsden-Smith has chosen to join the Getty to serve in this key role,” Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, said in a statement. “She has both the breadth of experience and the attention to detail necessary to oversee a complex and dynamic program. Her more than 16 years of experience and success at the British Museum are the ideal platform on which to continue to strengthen the Getty’s exhibition program in the years ahead.”

At the Getty, Marsden-Smith is replacing Quincy Houghton, who left the Los Angeles museum this summer to join New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as Associate Director for Exhibitions.


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