TAMPA, FLA.- The Tampa Museum of Art announced the appointment of Branko van Oppen as the Curatorial Consultant for Ancient Art. With his expertise in Hellenistic queenship (from the time of Alexander to the reign of Cleopatra, ca. 336-30 BCE), van Oppen will bring new perspectives to the Tampa Museum of Art’s repertoire of Greek and Roman art—one of the largest and most significant collections in the southeastern United States. Van Oppen was offered the position in 2019, but until travel restrictions are lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, he will join the Museum remotely from the Netherlands, where he currently resides. As soon as travel restrictions are lifted, he will join the staff full-time in Tampa.

“Looking ahead at the new exhibition and education spaces that the Tampa Museum of Art will gain during the Centennial Renovation, we will also have to think about the public programming that will take place in the new spaces. With all the work ahead, Branko’s appointment couldn’t come at a better time,” said Michael Tomor, the Penny and Jeff Vinik Executive Director of the Tampa Museum of Art. “Branko is best known for his work as a research scholar and curator contributing analysis to Hellenistic clay seal impressions, animals in ancient material culture, and Romano-Egyptian mummy portraits, as well as ancient religion and art history. Through the programs he creates for the Museum, Tampa Bay residents and visitors will benefit from new perspectives and insights into the extensive collection of antiquities we have in our hometown.“

“The appointment is a dream come true, and I am eager to join my colleague Joanna Robotham and the rest of the team at the TMA. Working with the TMA staff and the Museum’s prestigious collection of ancient, modern, and contemporary art will be a delight,” van Oppen said. “I’m looking forward to serving and getting to know the diverse community of the Greater Tampa Bay Area by sharing my passion for antiquity and elucidating further the relevance of ancient art and history in our multicultural world today. Unfortunately, the current pandemic is preventing me from coming sooner to the Museum’s splendid location in the Arts District along the Hillsborough Riverwalk and participating in TMA’s exciting education programs in person.”

Van Oppen received his Ph.D. in History from The City University of New York, two Master’s degrees in History from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and Leiden University in the Netherlands, plus a Propaedeutic in Architecture from the Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands. His teaching experience spans over a decade at institutions in the United States and Europe, most recently including the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Additionally, van Oppen’s professional experience as a research scholar and curator includes work with the archaeological collection of the University of Amsterdam at the Allard Pierson Museum. Van Oppen has published several books and articles, such as Berenice II Euergetis: Essays in Early Hellenistic Queenship (2015). Most recently, he jointly edited Hellenistic Sealings and Archives: Proceedings of The Edfu Connection, an International Conference, 23 - 24 January 2018, Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam (forthcoming), together with Ronald Wallenfels (Yale University)

At the Tampa Museum of Art, van Oppen will collaborate directly with Modern and Contemporary Art Curator, Joanna Robotham, who joined the TMA team in 2016 from The Jewish Museum in New York City, as well as the collections management team and education staff to present new exhibitions and in-depth analysis for educational programs. Programming topics will speak to the artifacts from ancient Greece and Rome that have been an important area of collecting for the Museum ever since TMA first acquired an Attic black-figure column krater in 1981. In the years since, the Tampa Museum of Art collection has grown to include the renowned Attic and South Italian black- and red-figure pottery from the Joseph Veach Noble Collection and several significant acquisitions and gifts. All artifacts have been adopted into the collection with special considerations for archaeological material and ancient art while recognizing the importance of AAM and AAMD guidelines and the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

In addition to putting a new emphasis on the cultural legacy at the Tampa Museum of Art, van Oppen will lead the Museum’s initiatives to help Bay Area residents and visitors connect with and relate to humanistic topics found in art from antiquity to modernity. In this way, the Museum plans to continue its intentional choices to represent and honor our cultural tapestry’s richness and complexity. With these new opportunities for all community members, TMA invites visitors to learn and reflect on how our shared histories align with our present time’s critical issues.