The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) named Yuriko Jackall as the museum’s new department head of European art and the Elizabeth and Allan Shelden curator of European paintings.
Jackall will begin her position in the fall. She currently serves as the head of the curatorial department and curator of French paintings at the Wallace Collection in London. During her tenure there, she oversaw important collections of European paintings, decorative arts, sculpture, and arms and armor.
This included the major conservation and research project devoted to the museum’s eight paintings by the eighteenth-century artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Her work on Fragonard included an in-depth project on The Swing (1767–1768. A lecture series, a web feature, and a film addressed the painting and its conservation. She also curated the exhibitions on Louis-Léopold Boilly and Manolo Blahnik.
At the DIA, Jackall will collaborate closely with the curators in the European art department to manage the DIA’s European collection, including acquisitions, conservation, documentation, and research.
The DIA’s holdings of European art include paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, arms, and armor. She will develop exhibitions of European paintings with a view toward demonstrating the relevance of centuries-old artworks for today’s audiences in Detroit and beyond.
“We welcome Dr. Jackall to the museum and to Detroit,” says Judith F. Dolkart, deputy director for art, education, and programs at the DIA. “Her expertise in French art and her drive for innovative approaches in the field promise to make her a valuable addition to a very talented team.”
Prior to her role at the Wallace Collection, Jackall was the Assistant Curator of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where she curated Hubert Robert, 1733–1808 (2016), America Collects Eighteenth-Century French Painting (2017), and Fragonard: The Fantasy Figures (2017).
Dr. Jackall has lectured at numerous institutions, including the National Gallery, London; the Frick Collection, New York; St. Andrews, Scotland; and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. She has published extensively in prestigious journals such as Apollo, The Burlington Magazine, and Les Cahiers de l’histoire de l’art. Her recent book on the painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was awarded the annual publication prize by the Institut national d’histoire de l’art in Paris.
“I am honored to be joining the Detroit Institute of Arts and look forward to working with the talented team there,” says Jackall. “I am excited about the opportunity to bring my passion for history and culture to Detroit and to engage with the local community through the museum’s collections and exhibitions.”
Jackall received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College, her Master of Arts degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and her PhD from the École du Louvre in Paris.
