COLUMBUS, OH.- The Columbus Museum of Art today announced that Dominique H. Vasseur, Director of Curatorial Administration and Chief Curator, will retire on January 30. Vasseur joined CMA in 2005 as Curator of European Art. During his tenure with CMA, Vasseur co-organized the immensely popular In Monet’s Garden: The Lure of Giverny, which broke Museum attendance records.

He also organized Caravaggio: Behold the Man! The exhibition offered a rare opportunity to view the work of the Italian Baroque painter. Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), a stunning work painted by Caravaggio around 1605, was the centerpiece of the exhibition which was shown exclusively at CMA. The exhibition was part of the Columbus Bicentennial celebration and honored the sister city relationship between Columbus, Ohio and Genoa, Italy. Its artistic excellence was recognized with competitive grants from both the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.

“This is a bittersweet moment for the Museum,” said CMA Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes. “I can’t say enough wonderful things about Dominique and his many contributions to the Museum. Among his many accomplishments is the full review of the collection – the first in more than a generation. His keen eye, expertise and numerous acquisitions have left a memorable legacy to the collection and he will be greatly missed. “

Vasseur received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College and his Master of Arts from the University of Chicago. He held curatorial and senior management positions at the Dayton Art Institute from 1979 to 1999 where he was curator for Edgar Degas: The Many Dimensions of a Master French Impressionist and contributed to the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition. It was also during his time at Dayton that he organized exhibitions on and wrote the catalogues for The Soul Unbound: The Photographs of Jane Reece and The Lithographs of Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret .

Vasseur held curatorial and senior management positions at the Springfield Museum of Art, from 2000 to 2005, before joining the staff of the Columbus Museum of Art as Curator of European Art. In January 2011, in addition to his curatorial responsibilities he became Director of Curatorial Administration, and in 2014, he was also appointed the Museum’s Chief Curator. In addition to In Monet’s Garden: The Lure of Giverny and Caravaggio: Behold the Man!, Vasseur was the curator for the 2007 exhibition Edna Boies Hopkins Woodblock Prints as well as author of the Edna Boies Hopkins catalogue raisonné published by Ohio University Press. Over his career, Vasseur has curated exhibitions for the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery, including Shared Inspiration: Work by Artists in Education; New Narrative: Paintings by Ohio Artists; and Artful Teaching: Work by College and University Painting Faculty.