Denise Murrell was once known as a successful businesswoman who’d spent 25 years working for financial institutions such as Citicorp and Institutional Investor. But all that changed when she went back to school to get her PhD in art history at Columbia University. By this spring, Ashley James will have her PhD, too, but in English literature.
Another similarity these two share? They’re both groundbreakers, African American women who are earning acclaim in the predominantly lily-white world of fine art. In November, both James and Murrell took positions as curators at major New York art institutions. James is now the Guggenheim’s associate curator of contemporary art—the first full-time black curator to work for the museum. Murrell was named associate curator for 19th and 20th century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The position is brand-new.
James’ and Murrell’s appointments to these positions came on the heels of highly acclaimed exhibitions they’d each put on that have spotlighted the influence African Americans have had on art. Murrell’s was called “Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today,” while James’ was “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.”
Issues surrounding blackness in art history are central themes of both women’s work, which is what makes their appointments both individually and jointly so significant. They are helping to redefine the narratives of art in some of the world’s most powerful cultural institutions. It’s entirely possible that, in the end, the most important exhibitions they produce might be their own careers.
