Michael Zakian (April 7, 1957-January 14, 2020) was an American art historian and museum curator. He was the director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Mali ...

for 25 years until his death in 2020. His academic research focused on

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

Early life and education

Michael Zakian was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1957. As a child, he visited museums, including the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

. These visits instilled Zakian's interest in the visual arts. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and earned his bachelor's degree in art history. Next, he earned his master's degree and doctorate, while serving as a teaching assistant, in art history from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

. His focus was

Career

In 1995, Zakian became the director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

. He also was an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University's Seaver College.

Later life and legacy

Zakian died in January 2020. Zakian's papers are held in the collection of Pepperdine University.

References

External links

"Pepperdine Mourns the Loss of Weisman Museum Director Michael Zakian"
from Pepperdine University
"Michael Zakian on Richard Diebenkorn: Beginnings, 1942–1955"
from the Richard Diebenkorn Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakian, Michael 1957 births 2020 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer in the United States American art historians Historians from California Historians from New York (state) 21st-century American historians 20th-century American historians Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Rutgers University alumni Directors of museums in the United States Pepperdine University faculty People from New York City