#SFMOMA names Clément Chéroux as new curator of photo collection - SFGate
▻http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/SFMOMA-names-Clement-Cheroux-as-new-curator-of-7997106.php
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has announced the appointment of French curator #Clément_Chéroux as senior curator of photography. The position oversees the Department of Photography and its renowned collection of more than 17,000 photographs — half the works of art in the entire SFMOMA collection.
Chéroux takes over from the retiring Sandra Phillips. Over 29 years as head of the department, she built the collection to its position of prominence and set the stage for the establishment of the Pritzker Center for Photography, the largest such facility in any American museum. Phillips will become emeritus curator effective July 1.
The museum also announced a significant gift: 78 photographs by 25 top artists, including 14 works by André Kertész, as well as pictures by Vito Acconci, Lee Friedlander, William Wegman, Garry Winogrand and others. The donation comes from Lisa and John Pritzker, whose earlier cash contribution led to creation of the Pritzker Center as part of SFMOMA’s recent expansion.
Chéroux, 46, comes to the museum from the Musée National d’Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, where he is chief curator of the department of photography. He joined the Pompidou in 2007, having lectured on the history of photography at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Paris III and the University of Lausanne. He has published some 40 books and catalogs on photography and served as executive editor of the magazine Études Photographiques, published by the Société Française de Photographie.
“I’m very happy to move to San Francisco, where it seems that things are happening in photography,” Chéroux said by phone from France. On a trip to California last year, he said, “I was so impressed by the new building, by the quality of the private collections. ... I did not feel the same dynamism in L.A. when I was there.”
