Thank You, Dr. Claudia Einecke!
Before she retires, we had to recognize the High’s European art curator for all her amazing work. Read more and join us in sending her congratulations!
By Brittany Mizell, Senior Coordinator, Public Relations
You know her, you love her — we’re sending our congratulations to Dr. Claudia Einecke for a fantastic career in European art and as the High Museum of Art’s Frances B. Bunzl Family Curator of European Art since 2018! She has curated several memorable exhibitions throughout her career, including Renoir in the 20th Century, an international loan exhibition in partnership with Musée d’Orsay and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2009); Final Moments: Peyron, David, and “The Death of Socrates” (Joslyn Art Museum, 2001); and On View to the World: Painting at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition (Joslyn Art Museum, 1998). During her time with us, Dr. Einecke has overseen the reinstallation of the High’s European collection galleries, presented the exhibition European Masterworks: The Phillips Collection (2019), and installed the Doris and Shouky Shaheen Gallery (2019). She curated The Plot Thickens: Storytelling in European Print Series (2020) and In the City of Light: Paris, 1850–1920 (2023), and she presented the highly popular Calder-Picasso exhibition in 2021 and Dutch Art in a Global Age: Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2024, to name a few. She’s also welcomed some noteworthy guests, including King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States.
Totally casual.
To wrap up her time as a curator, I asked Claudia a few questions about her experiences, her favorites, and her advice for the next generation of curators.
Question: What made you want to become a curator, and do you remember the moment you knew this was what you wanted to do?
Answer: Actually, I never intended to become a curator. As a student, museum work was not at all on my radar, and I always expected I would stay in academia and teach art history at the university level. What happened instead was that, just as I was completing my dissertation, a friend practically bullied me into applying for a curator’s position at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, and when that resulted in an offer, a light went on in my head — I accepted and never looked back. As a curator, I still got to teach and share my knowledge and love of art with a larger, more diverse, and therefore more interesting audience than I would have reached as a professor.
Q: What were you most looking forward to when you became the Frances B. Bunzl Family Curator of European Art at the High?
A: Since moving to the United States from Germany, I had lived in the Midwest and on the West Coast but never in the South. I was very curious about and eager to experience a “new” world that has its own distinctive culture. And I wasn’t disappointed — Atlanta is as fascinating, culturally rich, and warmly hospitable as I hoped.
Q: I have to ask: what’s your favorite work from the High’s European collection and why? And what about your favorite exhibition to curate?
A: The idea of a favorite artist or work continually changes, often with my mood. That being said, at the moment, I’m over the moon about a painting I was able to acquire last year: Alfred Ekstam’s Summer Evening after a Storm. I fell in love with this painting at an art fair in 2019 — its colors, composition, mood, the artist’s story . . . everything. And from there, I got interested in Scandinavian and Nordic art, which in turn gave me a whole new perspective on the story of late-nineteenth-century/early twentieth-century European art. Traditionally, that story revolves very much around developments in Paris, but fascinating, powerful things were also happening in other countries. The upshot for me was that I began looking for opportunities to add paintings by non-French artists to the High’s collection. Summer Evening after a Storm is one of those.
My favorite exhibition to curate was also my most recent one: In the City of Light: Paris, 1850–1920, which we showed at the High last year. I love Paris, and studying and researching the sixty-plus historical views of the city and its people was like going there — a real treat.
Q: What is one moment that you’ll always remember from your time at the High?
A: It sounds silly, but probably meeting the king and queen of the Netherlands and walking them through Dutch Art in a Global Age: Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Q: You’ve contributed to a number of exhibition and collection catalogues — which did you find the most entertaining to write and why?
A: I enjoy writing for collection catalogues, which usually demands digging deep into the history and meaning of individual works. I prefer the variety in researching shorter, contained texts over maintaining focus on one longer narrative.
Q: What advice would you give to young professionals looking to become a curator?
A: Don’t let anyone tell you what type of art you should like — find the style, period, or medium that thrills YOU, for whatever reason. Also, when you specialize in one area, don’t forget to engage with art from all media, countries, artists, etc. Try to understand and appreciate as many other areas as you can.
Q: Which do you prefer: paintings or sculptures?
A: Neither. Or both. As a student I was exposed more to paintings than sculptures, but I’ve since learned a lot about sculpture and come to really, really like it. I like to see both in a gallery because 3D sculptures give life to a room full of paintings, and paintings on the walls give sculptures an animated frame.
Q: In your opinion, what is one must-read book for European art lovers?
A: For everyone who is interested in French culture and art, I recommend Romantic Paris: Histories of a Cultural Landscape, 1800–1850. A great read and chock-full of fascinating facts and figures in art and beyond.
Q: What is one lesson you’ve learned from your time in the art world that you’ll bring with you into this next chapter of your life?
A: I learned the value of actively listening to and engaging with perspectives and experiences that differ from my own. It broadens your horizons, professionally and as a human being.
Claudia, we can’t thank you enough for your dedication to the High over the years, and we’re so grateful to have had you bolster our European art collection, curate fantastic exhibitions, and be a great friend to many. We wish you the best on your next chapter!
