Ann Temkin Steps Down as Head of MoMA's Painting and Sculpture

Ann Temkin, the chief curator of the Museum of Modern Art's department of painting and sculpture, is stepping down from the post after a career that reshaped one of the most influential departments in any museum worldwide.

Temkin will not be leaving the institution. She will transition to a new role created in connection with MoMA's 100th anniversary, a milestone the museum is preparing to mark.

The announcement places a full stop on a tenure that, according to the museum, defined how generations of visitors encountered modern painting and sculpture at MoMA. As head of the painting and sculpture department, Temkin held one of the most powerful positions in the art world, with authority over the collection, its installation, and the exhibition program of the New York museum.

No successor has been named in the announcement.

The timing ties the curatorial change directly to the institution's centenary preparations, positioning Temkin's next chapter within the museum rather than outside it. Her continued presence at MoMA through the anniversary suggests the museum intends to draw on her institutional knowledge as it frames its first hundred years for the public.

The department of painting and sculpture sits at the core of MoMA's identity, and the leadership of it has historically carried weight far beyond the museum's walls, shaping canonical narratives of modern art. Whoever follows Temkin will take up that mandate as the museum enters its second century.