DMA Director John R. Lane Retires
Dallas Museum of Art's Leader to Be Succeeded by Bonnie Pitman
After 35 years of distinguished service to American museums, John R. Lane, Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art for the last decade, will retire on May 30, 2008. He'll be succeeded by Bonnie Pitman, the DAM's Deputy Director since 2000.
Education
John Lane received his bachelor's degree from Williams College (1966), an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago (1971) and his master's degree and doctorate in fine arts from Harvard University (1973 and 1976).
A Remarkable Career
Lane was Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from 1987 to 1997, a period of increased growth and the construction of a 235,000-square-foot building. Designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, it was part of a $95 million capital campaign. Under Lane's diligent leadership, major exhibitions devoted to artists Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Sigmar Polke (b. 1941) and Jeff Koons (b. 1955) were mounted. Meanwhile, his curators doubled the size of SFMOMA's permanent collection by cleverly acquiring premiere pieces of 20th-century art.
Prior to the Dallas Museum of Art, Lane was Assistant Director of the Harvard Art Museum (1974 and 1975). After five years at the Brooklyn Museum, he became Director of the Carnegie Museum of Art (1980-1987), where he co-curated Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1929-1944.
Accomplishments at the DMA
Beginning in the Dallas Museum of Art's 2003-2004 centennial year, John Lane launched the $185 million capital Campaign for a New Century. Through his tireless efforts, $159 million has already been raised to support the museum's extensive exhibitions and arts education programs.
In the 10 years since Lane joined the museum, the institution's permanent collection has grown dramatically. He increased its holdings in modern and contemporary art through a joint gift by bequest of some 1200 works from three pairs of local collectors; a fourth of them were displayed in the Fast Forward... exhibition. The museum's collections of South Asian and Indonesian art, French 18th- and 19th-century painting and American 19th- and 20th-century silver and furniture grew considerably under Lane's aegis. Works by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954) now grace the museum's galleries.
During Lane's tenure, the Dallas Museum of Art's ambitious program of special exhibitions included:
- Henry Moore: Sculpting the 20th Century (2001);
- Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong (2004-2005);
- Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg (2005-2006);
- Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship (2006);
- Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages (2006)
- Van Gogh: Sheaves of Wheat (2006-2007);
- Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art (2006-2007);
- From the Ashes of Vesuvius, In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite (2007);
- J.M.W. Turner (2008); and
- Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (2008-2009).
John Lane's vision, determination and commitment to the international arts community have led to the Dallas Museum of Art's recognition as a leading encyclopedic collection of world art.
