Keith Christiansen (born 1947 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

) is an American art historian, curator, and author. He was the chairman of the department of European paintings at

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

from 2009 to 2021.

Education

Christiansen did his undergraduate studies at the

University of California Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay ...

where he received his B.A. in history and French literature in 1969. He remained in California and attended the

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

where he received his Masters of the Arts in 1971. He next received his PhD in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

in 1977.

Career

Christiansen was with the Metropolitan Museum since right after his Graduate Studies finished in 1977 and became the

John Pope-Hennessy Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy (13 December 1913 – 31 October 1994), was a British art historian. Pope-Hennessy was director of the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1967 and 1973, and director of the British Museum between 1974 and 1976. ...

Chairman of the European paintings department at the museum in 2009. Christiansen curated and or coordinated many exhibitions at the museum including: ''The Age of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

'' (1985), ''The Age of

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

and the Carracci'' (1986–87), ''

's Cardsharps Rediscovered'' (1987), ''

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

's Descent into Limbo'' (1988), ''Painting in Renaissance

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

: 1420–1500'' (1988–89), ''A Caravaggio Rediscovered: The Lute Player'' (1990), ''Andrea Mantegna'' (1992), ''

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...

'' (1992), ''

Giambattista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; 5 March 1696 – 27 March 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

'' (1996–97), ''From

Van Eyck Van Eyck or Van Eijk () is a Dutch language, Dutch toponymic surname. ''Eijck'', ''Eyck'', ''Eyk'' and ''Eijk'' are all archaic spellings of modern Dutch ("oak") and the surname literally translates as "from/of oak". However, in most cases, the fam ...

to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art'' (1998–99), '' Donato Creti: Melancholy and Perfection'' (1998), '' Orazio and

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...

'' (2001–2002), ''

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

'' (2003–2004), ''From

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento (fifteenth century) and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many paint ...

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...

: Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master'' (2005), ''

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece'' (2006), ''

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...

and Nature'' (2008), and ''

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

's First Painting'' (2009). Christiansen announced his retirement from the Metropolitan Museum in 2020.

2020 controversy

In June 2020 Christiansen ignited a bit of a firestorm including within the ranks of Metropolitan Museum's own staff when he published an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post decrying the destruction of monuments by "zombies". The post was published on

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...

and considered by some to be a commentary on certain "

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

" protestors. Therein a letter was sent to the museum's leadership by staff members asking for recognition of "what we see as the expression of a deeply rooted logic of white supremacy and culture of systemic racism at our institution.” A day before the staff letter was sent Christiansen apologized to the European paintings department calling his Instagram post "not only not appropriate and misguided in its judgment but simply wrong.” Christiansen had uploaded a picture of a

pen and ink PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

drawing by the

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Alexandre Lenoir Marie Alexandre Lenoir (; 27 December 1761 – 11 June 1839) was a French archaeologist. Self-taught, he devoted himself to saving France's historic monuments, sculptures and tombs from the ravages of the French Revolution, notably those of Sain ...

(1769–1831) of his efforts to try to save monuments during the French Revolution and had the caption "Alexandre Lenoir battling the revolutionary zealots bent on destroying the royal tombs in Saint Denis. How many great works of art have been lost to the desire to rid ourselves of a past of which we don’t approve"...

Publications

Christiansen is the co-author with Judith W. Mann of ''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi'' (2001) from the Met Publications. Christiansen edited ''From Filippo Lippi to Piero della Francesca: Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master'' (Met publications 2005) as well as contributing an essay to the volume. He is the co-curator with Carlo Falciani of the 2021 exhibition ''The Medici Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570'' at the Metropolitan Museum as well as the co-editor (again with Falciani) of the corresponding book from

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

. He was the co-editor with Maryan W. Ainsworth of ''From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art''.

References

External links

Metropolitan Medici portrait exhibition curatorial walk-through
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Keith 1947 births American art curators Living people American male non-fiction writers American art historians University of California, Santa Cruz alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni People from Seattle People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Historians from Washington (state)