Robert Storr

Robert Storr
Name	Robert Storr
Birth date	1949
Birth place	United States
Occupation	Curator; critic; art historian; educator
Years active	1970s–present

Robert Storr is an American curator, critic, art historian, and educator known for influential exhibitions, writings, and leadership in major cultural institutions. He served in senior curatorial roles during pivotal moments at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum, and has shaped discourse through publications, teaching appointments, and international juries. Storr's work connects contemporary practitioners, museum administration, and critical theory across the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Early life and education

Storr was born in the United States and received formal training that combined studio experience and academic study, engaging with institutions such as the Yale University School of Art, the Harvard University art history milieu, and the University of California, Berkeley circles where debates around Abstract expressionism, Minimalism, and Conceptual art were prominent. Early mentors and contemporaries included figures associated with Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, and critics like Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg. His formative education immersed him in the networks of museums and galleries including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern.

Career in art curation and administration

Storr held curatorial and administrative posts at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum where he rose to senior leadership. He worked alongside directors from establishments like the New Museum, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art while interacting with trustees and patrons connected to the Guggenheim Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and major contemporary galleries such as Gagosian Gallery and David Zwirner. His administrative decisions engaged with cultural policy debates involving entities like the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Trust, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Curatorial projects and exhibitions

Storr organized high-profile exhibitions that featured artists including Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, Lucian Freud, Philip Guston, and Anselm Kiefer. Major projects included retrospectives and thematic shows referenced alongside venues such as the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Guggenheim Bilbao. He curated programs engaging with artists like Brice Marden, Edvard Munch, Marlene Dumas, Kara Walker, and Richard Serra, presenting work in contexts that intersected with exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, the documenta series, and the São Paulo Biennial. Collaborative projects connected his curatorial practice to collectors and institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Hammer Museum.

Writing, criticism, and publications

As a critic and writer, Storr has contributed essays and catalogue texts for monographs and exhibition catalogues on figures such as Edward Hopper, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Hans Haacke, and Vik Muniz. He has published in journals and periodicals associated with the New York Review of Books readership, the Artforum community, and the editorial traditions of Art in America and October (journal), engaging debates alongside critics like Rosalind Krauss, Hal Foster, Michael Fried, and Peter Schjeldahl. His writings address artists, institutions, and events tied to the Venice Biennale, the Whitney Biennial, and museum discourses involving the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery.

Teaching and academic appointments

Storr held academic posts and visiting professorships at universities and schools such as Yale University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Columbia University programs in art history, and the Graduate School of New York University. He lectured at institutions including the Courtauld Institute of Art, the University of Oxford, Princeton University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, engaging students alongside faculty networks connected to Michaela and Thomas Krens-era museum leadership and contemporaneous theorists from Princeton and Columbia.

Awards and recognitions

Storr's honors and appointments have included curatorial awards, fellowships, and jury roles connected to organizations such as the Guggenheim Fellowship program, the MacArthur Foundation sphere of grantmaking, and prizes aligned with the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). His recognition is often cited in relation to institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and juries for exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and the Kunsthalle}}.

Category:American curators Category:American art critics Category:Art historians