Barnes names chief curator for Parkway galleries

By Stephan Salisbury
Inquirer Culture Writer

Judith Dolkart, associate curator of European art at the Brooklyn Museum, has been named chief curator at the Barnes Foundation, home to a dazzling collection of Impressionist and early modernist work, foundation officials announced yesterday.

The foundation, currently in Merion, will move its gallery to a building scheduled to open in 2012 on the Parkway. Groundbreaking for the $200 million facility, which includes a large space for temporary exhibitions, is set for next Friday.

"As many people who are in my field know, the collection of the Barnes Foundation is one of the most interesting and important in the world," Dolkart said yesterday. "It's an honor and a privilege to work with it."

The renowned collection contains 57 paintings by Cezanne, 54 by Matisse, 171 by Renoir, and seven by Van Gogh, as well as caches of Pissarros, Soutines, Modiglianis, Seurats, and more.

Derek Gillman, head of the foundation, said Dolkart "has a demonstrated record of organizing thoughtful exhibitions" at Brooklyn. She is an expert, he said, in 19th-century French art and culture.

"We're thrilled to have her with us," he added.

While the Barnes has a curator at its Merion location, once the collection moves to Philadelphia curatorial responsibilities will increase, foundation officials said. For one thing, the new facility will feature special exhibitions, which Dolkart will oversee and organize.

"We're working on a plan to come up with an exhibition program that complements the holdings," she said, adding that she had begun "preliminary conversations" on the matter.

At Brooklyn, where she had been since 2000 and was responsible for the documentation, presentation, and interpretation of European art dating from the early Renaissance to 1945, Dolkart has organized two major reinstallations of the European paintings.

She also originated two shows: " 'Michelangelo of the Menagerie': Bronzes by Antoine-Louise Barye" in 2005, and "James Tissot: The Life of Christ" in 2009. The Tissot exhibition is accompanied by a full-length catalog.

Dolkart, 38, is a graduate of Radcliffe College and received a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania