The Dallas Museum of Art is profoundly saddened by the passing of DMA Curator Emerita Dr. Anne Bromberg, the former Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art and the longest serving staff member in Dallas Museum of Art history.
Remembered for her nearly 60 years of Museum work, and her renowned curatorial expertise in the field, Dr. Bromberg began her journey with the DMA in 1962 as a lecturer. In 1975 she was appointed head of the education department, and in 1989 she became a curator at the DMA, playing a key role in developing the Museum’s significant Asian art holdings. In 2004 Dr. Bromberg was named The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art, reflecting the dedication of the Greens, whose generosity added many objects to the DMA’s collection. In 2020 she was named Curator Emerita in honor of her nearly 60 years of work at the DMA.
“Anne Bromberg’s tremendous legacy and impact on the Dallas Museum of Art is immeasurable,” said The Eugene McDermott Director Dr. Agustín Arteaga. “A beloved colleague to many, Anne will be remembered for her brilliance, friendship and wicked humor.Our institution is so fortunate to have had the pleasure of 6 decades with Anne. We will remember our dear friend and colleague fondly.”
As the curator of approximately 40 DMA special exhibitions, she most notably served as the Dallas curator for four of the 10 highest attended paid special exhibitions in Museum history, two of which rank at #1 and #2: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (2008) and Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong (2004). The other two are Searching for Ancient Egypt: Art, Architecture, and Artifacts from the University of Pennsylvania Museum (1997) and Pompeii A.D. 79 (1979).
Other presentations organized during Dr. Bromberg’s tenure include Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt (2016), The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece: Masterworks from the British Museum (2013), Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting (2007), and The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India (2003). She has also curated numerous exhibitions based on the Museum’s collection, such as Face to Face: International Art at the DMA (2011) and All the World’s a Stage: Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts (2009).
In 2013 the Dallas Museum of Art published The Arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas at the Dallas Museum of Art, its first catalogue dedicated to exploring the Museum’s collection of over 450 works of South and Southeast Asian art. The richly illustrated 264-page book was written by Dr. Anne R. Bromberg, Ph.D. with contributions by scholars Catherine B. Asher, Frederick M. Asher, Robert Warren Clark, and Nancy Tingley. In 2019 Dr. Bromberg curated the exhibition The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, highlighting Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige’s suite of 55 prints from 1834. The complete series—once owned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and gifted to the Museum by Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus in 1984—was on view at the DMA for the first time in more than 30 years.
“Anne Bromberg was a legend at the DMA. Everyone who had the pleasure of working with her experienced her strong will, keen eye, raunchy sense of humor, and generous spirit. She will be remembered fondly as a friend and colleague and for her many significant contributions to the DMA.” said Tamara Wootton Forsyth, The Marcus-Rose Family Deputy Director.