DETROIT, MI.- The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has named Dr. 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 of 2023.

Dr. Jackall currently serves as the Head of the Curatorial Department and Curator of French Paintings at the Wallace Collection, 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), one of the artist’s most famous and provocative works. A lecture series, a robust web feature, and a film addressed the painting and its conservation. She also curated the highly acclaimed 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—paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and arms and armor—stands as one of the world’s best. Taking these collections as a point of departure, she will also develop exhibitions of European paintings that introduce new scholarship that demonstrates the immediacy and relevance of centuries-old artworks for today’s audiences in Detroit and beyond.

“We welcome Dr. Jackall to the museum and to Detroit,” said 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.”

Salvador Salort-Pons, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts stated, “Dr. Jackall is a distinguished art historian who has made significant contributions to the field of French art combining this with her novel curatorial approach, I am sure she will be a tremendous asset to our institution.”

Prior to her role at the Wallace Collection, Dr. 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," said Dr. 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.”

Dr. Jackall received degrees from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (BA); the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (MA); the École du Louvre, Paris (MA); and the Université Lumière Lyon 2 (PhD).