Curator of Japanese Objects, Freer and Sackler

The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, which together form the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, seek a full-time curator for Japanese objects. “Objects” are defined as pre-modern, modern, and contemporary ceramics, pre-modern, modern and contemporary lacquer ware, modern and contemporary metalwork, which together number over 3000 works.

The Freer and Sackler are complementary, co-administered, and sharing a common staff. Committed to preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting exemplary works of art, the museum houses exceptional collections of Asian art, with more than 42,000 objects dating from the Neolithic period to today. Renowned and iconic objects originate from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the ancient Near East, and the Islamic world. The Freer Gallery also holds a significant group of American works of art largely dating to the late nineteenth century. It boasts the world’s largest collection of diverse works by James McNeill Whistler, including the famed Peacock Room.

The incumbent performs duties related to the identification, acquisition, preservation, cataloguing, exhibition, and interpretation of Japanese objects. Experience in developing original exhibitions and research projects of significant scope is necessary, and the ability to generate, present, and publish on important topics for the scholarly audience as well as the general public is essential. 

The position requires a doctoral degree in Japanese art history, fluency in English as well as fluency in spoken and written Japanese appropriate to scholarly research and administrative duties, reading ability in another Asian and/or European language.

To apply, send a cover letter and a CV to FSG-AsiaHR@si.edu. The application deadline has been extended to October 30, 2020.