(September 15, 2021)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Neil Cox, a distinguished professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Edinburgh, as the Head of the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art. Cox emerged as the unanimous choice from a pool of international applicants. A recognized authority on Cubism, with a particular emphasis on Pablo Picasso, he brings to this role a deep knowledge of the fields at the heart of the Research Center’s mission. An expert in several subjects, including Surrealism, he brings decades of experience in the public sphere, collaborating with museums, leading institutional research projects and educational initiatives, and mentoring graduate students. He will join the Museum in December 2021, and will report to the Director’s Office.
Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Neil Cox to The Met. In this role, he will expand the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art as a major research entity within the Museum and far beyond its walls as a premier site for the study of Modern art.” He continued, “Professor Cox joins the Museum as an extraordinary leader in his field and at a time in which we are striving for a greater integration between The Met’s curatorial and conservation departments, highlighting transnational and transhistorical connections and presenting nuanced scholarship with cultural sensitivity. Like Cubism itself, the Center connects the histories and traditions of art making from many different parts of the world. Neil will bring rigor and vision to the activities of the Center and build a global and intergenerational network with other art research institutions.”
Cox added, “It is a tremendous honor to be appointed the Head of the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art. Cubism has been one of the great passions of my life, so I look forward with excitement to leading the Research Center in this new phase of thinking, questioning and creative activity. Working with remarkable scholars in the field, as well as poets, architects, musicians and philosophers, the Center will create new opportunities for multidisciplinary interpretations of Modern art. The Center will play a dynamic role in the Museum, fostering experiment and research innovation in dialogue with its outstanding curatorial and conservation teams. A catalyst, it will champion and energize research in Modern art in partnership with leading national and international institutions.”
The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center was founded in 2013 as part of the transformative gifts made by Leonard Lauder to The Met, built around his collection of Cubist art. (Mr. Lauder is also renowned as a collector of posters and postcards.) Interdisciplinary in its scope, the Center supports research, curatorial and conservation projects focused on the years 1880–1960, as well as modernism’s transhistorical links. In addition, the Center supports four residential two-year Fellowships for pre and post-doctoral scholars, building bridges between academe and the museum. Every year one or more distinguished, senior scholars are also appointed to the Center. The Center’s website hosts public archives related to Cubism and collectors, as well as lectures and scholarship generated by the Fellows and the museum’s curators and conservators. It also supports a lecture series, publications and dossier exhibitions. Major achievements of past years include the online publication of the notebooks of Vincenc Kramář, (the pioneering Czech collector of Cubism); the acclaimed dossier exhibition, Birds of a Feather. Joseph Cornell’s Homage to Juan Gris (2018) and the inaugural Leonard A. Lauder Lecture Series in Modern Art, given by Jean-Louis Cohen in 2019.
Sheena Wagstaff, The Met’s Leonard A. Lauder Chair of Modern and Contemporary Art, commented, “At a time when telling the stories of modern art carries the responsibility to ensure deeper cultural specificity and inclusion, the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art is perfectly placed to amplify this commitment. It is a pioneering research initiative in which scholarship around the impact of modernity—from Cubism to the middle of the twentieth century, spanning many countries across the world—resonates powerfully. We look forward to Professor Cox’s arrival as we continue to devise innovative programs, online access to archives and the highest level of scholarship and launch new research and educational initiatives.”
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September 15, 2021
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