The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, generally considered the top art museum in that city, named its new director and CEO on Thursday, the museum announced in a press statement.
Pierre Terjanian, 56, the museum’s current chief of curatorial affairs and conservation, will take up the role starting in July. Terjanian was picked after a seven-month search and succeeds Matthew Teitelbaum, who has been the director since 2015.
“The predominant feeling is the excitement,” Terjanian told the New York Times. “This is a great institution, and it has a big part to play in Boston, in New England and beyond.”
Terjanian joined the museum in 2024 in a role overseeing the conservation of the museum’s vast collection of over 500,000 objects. He also has directed the development of the MFA’s exhibition program, according to the museum, both in Boston and globally.
Previously, he worked for ten years as the Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Curator in Charge of Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Terjanian co-chaired the Met’s reoening task force, and, during his tenure at the museum, he secured $100 million in fundraising, including a major gift from ARTnews Top 200 Collector Ronald S. Lauder.
Before that, he served as J. J. Medveckis Associate Curator of Arms and Armor and acting head of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts before 1700 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
“Pierre’s brilliant curatorial vision, deep understanding of the MFA and our renowned collections, and inspirational leadership style have led the Board of Trustees to unanimously choose him to lead the Museum confidently and boldly into the future,” Marc S. Plonskier, chair of the MFA’s board of trustees, said in a statement.
One of the largest ongoing projects at the MFA Boston, announced in October, is a $25 million gift from the Wyss Foundation to reinvent the presentation of its 20th century art collection.
The funds are slated to support a renovation project that will create four new gallery spaces, with 5,665 square feet of additional exhibition space, as well as updates to lighting, windows, and climate control. They are set to open next fall, with three of the spaces dedicated to modern art and the fourth gallery to modern sculpture.
