New Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History and new Head of the Sculpture Collection of the National Museums in Berlin
Press release from 12/18/2007
At its meeting today, the Board of Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation appointed Prof Dr Matthias Wemhoff as the new Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History and Dr Julien Chapuis as Director of the Sculpture Collection. Both decisions were unanimous. The two collections are part of the National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Prof. Dr Matthias Wemhoff will take up the post on 1 May 2008 and thus directly succeed his predecessor, Prof. Dr Wilfried Menghin, who is retiring. The 43-year-old current director of the Westphalian State Museum for Monastery Culture and honorary professor at the University of Paderborn has many years of experience as a museum director. Immediately after completing his studies in medieval and modern archaeology, medieval history and church history with a dissertation on the Damenstift Herford, he took over the management of the museum in the Kaiserpfalz Paderborn in 1992. Since 2003, he has been director of the Westphalian State Museum of Monastic Culture, for which he developed the concept. He is also in close contact with museums in Germany and abroad through his exhibition work ("799 - Art and Culture of the Carolingian Period" and "Canossa - Shaking the World"). In addition to his extensive experience in conceptual and organisational museum and exhibition work, his international excavation work distinguishes him just as much as his academic work. He intends to further strengthen the links between research and exhibitions.
Wemhoff will also hold the office of State Archaeologist of Berlin. He also offers excellent qualifications for this position: He has built up the archaeology department of the city of Paderborn and headed it for several years.
From 7 January 2008, Dr Julien Chapuis will take up his new post as head of the sculpture collection, which has been on display in the reopened Bode Museum since October 2006. He will also deputise for the Director of the Picture Gallery, Prof. Dr Bernd Lindemann, who has also been Director of the Sculpture Collection and the Museum of Byzantine Art since September 2007 following the departure of Prof. Dr Effenberger.
Dr Julien Chapuis, born in Lausanne in 1968, studied art history at the State University of Groningen (NL) and at Indiana University (USA), specialising in medieval art history. Painting and sculpture were at the centre of his studies. He received his doctorate in 1996 with a dissertation on Stefan Lochner. Since 1997, he has held various positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York, first as Assistant Curator, later as Associate Curator and finally as Curator. In this role, he has headed The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum's department for medieval art and architecture, with a colleague since July 2006. He has had a decisive influence on the design of the permanent exhibition there, particularly with regard to an increasingly cross-collection presentation. In recent years, he was also largely responsible for the overall refurbishment of the historic building complex.
Furthermore, as an internationally recognised expert, particularly in 15th century art, Julien Chapuis played a key role in the conception and supervision of international exhibitions. Together with the Berlin Sculpture Collection, he organised the successful exhibition of Tilmann Riemenschneider's works, which was shown at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in 1999 and at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, in 2000. Together with the Riemenschneider catalogue and the colloquium volume, it demonstrates his extensive knowledge in the field of late Gothic and early Renaissance sculpture. In addition to his work at The Cloisters, Chapuis gained experience in the field of the High Middle Ages through his involvement in the exhibition of the Basel Cathedral Treasure.