Ann Temkin
Ann Temkin (born December 26, 1959) is an American art curator, and currently the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Early life and education. Temkin was born in Torrington, Connecticut, to father Dr. Abraham Temkin, a dentist, and mother Joann Temkin (née Bernstein). In 1981, Temkin received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. In 1984, she received a Ph.D in art history from Yale University. Career. After completing her doctorate Temkin became an assistant curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at  MoMA in 1984. In 1987 she began working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art under director Anne d'Harnoncourt. After spending a year as Acting Curator, Temkin was named the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art in 1990. There, she worked on exhibitions including: "Barnett Newman" (2002), "Alice Neel" (2001), "Constantin Brancusi" (1995), and "Thinking Is Form: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys" (1994). She commissioned new work by artists like Sherrie Levine, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Richard Hamilton for her "Museum Studies" series, which she herself created. Temkin was also responsible for the renovation to the modern and  contemporary galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2003, after working for 13 years at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ann Temkin returned to working in the painting and sculpture department at MoMA. Temkin was named the Marie Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture in 2008. She was the first woman to hold this position, considered the most prestigious in the field of modern art. As the Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture she was responsible for curating or co-curating exhibitions including: "Picasso Sculpture" (2015); "Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not a Metaphor" (2014 ), the artist's first American retrospective; "Jasper Johns: Regrets" (2014); "Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New" (2013); "Ellsworth Kelly: Chatham Series" (2013); "Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store" and "Mouse Museum/Ray Gun Wing" (2013); "Abstract Expressionist New York" (2010); "Gabriel Orozco" (2009); and "Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today" (2008). In August 2013, she delivered a lecture at Torrington's Five Points Gallery. In order to address the lack of expertise in African American art at MoMA, Temkin hired African American art history specialist Darby English as consulting curator. He aims to expand MoMa's acquisitions in  the area. She is still MoMA's chief curator of painting and sculpture. Personal life. In 1998, Temkin married American biophysicist and University professor, Wayne Hendrickson. Works and publications. Temkin is the author or co-author of several books, including: