Conversation: Dalí & the Impressionists – SOLD OUT

Dr. Hank Hine, Executive Director

As Executive Director of The Dalí Museum, Dr. Hank Hine has been instrumental in the Museum’s initiatives in exhibition, education and visitor experience. Having earned degrees from Stanford University and Brown University, Dr. Hine has also been active in research and publication on a variety of topics, including text and image relationships, contemporary art and the opportunities of new media. Previously, he was founder and director of Limestone Press and Hine Editions, as well as Director of the research and publishing institute GraphicStudio at the University of South Florida. 

Matthew Teitelbaum, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Matthew Teitelbaum has served as Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), since August 2015. Under his leadership, the Museum, which was founded in 1876, has introduced new initiatives, programs and partnerships to invite, welcome and engage diverse audiences while building a more inclusive community of visitors, staff, volunteers and supporters.
Notable exhibitions during Teitelbaum’s tenure include Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina (2023), Philip Guston Now (2022), Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories (2021), Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation (2020) and Gender Bending Fashion (2019), among others. These exhibitions have engaged with timely issues, presented new curatorial scholarship and incorporated the perspectives and expertise of outside voices.

Also under his leadership, the MFA has demonstrated a strengthened commitment to building and presenting the collection, creating new galleries for Dutch and Flemish art; ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine art; Italian Renaissance art; Egyptian art from the Middle Kingdom; the jewelry collection (opening in 2024); and the Judaica collection (opening in 2023). These major projects are rooted in a dedication to promoting extraordinary care for the MFA’s collection, realized most recently by the dedication of a new Conservation Center. The state-of-the-art Center features advanced technology, enhances opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and training and welcomes visitors to learn more about the care of the collection through close-up encounters with works of art.

Dr. Jennifer Cohen, Director of Curatorial Affairs

Dr. Jennifer Cohen earned her Doctorate in Art History from the University of Chicago, specializing in Modern Art and the Historical Avant-Garde. She also holds degrees in Comparative Literature and Apparel Design from Cornell University. Before joining The Dalí Museum in September 2023, Dr. Cohen was the Art Institute of Chicago’s inaugural Curator of Provenance and Research, exploring ownership histories with each of the Museum’s eleven curatorial departments.

Her exhibitions and publications have addressed Surrealism and its legacies, from artist-designed shop windows in World War II-era New York to Ray Johnson’s use of buttons as material and motif in the 1960s. A few of her favorite projects include the exhibitions Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938 (2014); Alfred Stieglitz and the 19th Century (2015-16); Ray Johnson c/o and the Satellite Presentation c/o Tender Buttons (2021-22); and Salvador Dalí: The Image Disappears (2023), all at the Art Institute; and the works on paper show Robert Motherwell and Multiplicity (2023) at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Dr. Cohen’s research has been supported by the Mellon-Council of European Studies, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Dedalus Foundation. Her writing has been published in the Brooklyn Rail, the Journal of Surrealism and the Americas and various exhibition catalogs, including the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí’s online publication, Transgressing Venus (2022).

Dr. William Jeffett, Curator of Special Exhibitions

Dr. William Jeffett received his Doctorate from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. He also holds degrees from Oxford University, Yale University and University of Texas. Before joining The Dalí Museum, Dr. Jeffett was Curator at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at University of East Anglia (UK). At The Dalí, he is responsible for the direction, curation, organization and co-ordination of exhibition programs; writing and editing of exhibition catalogs and other interpretative material, including the interpretation of works by Dali; and research on the permanent collection. 

Dr. Jeffett contributes to the expansion of the Museum’s collection through seeking and recommending acquisitions. He is an active researcher and writer for The Dalí and other museums, research institutes and universities. He has published numerous exhibition catalogs and articles devoted to Salvador Dalí, other related artists and contemporary art. Dr. Jeffett has curated many shows for the Museum and other influential institutions, including the Fundacio Joan Miro (Barcelona), Fundacio “La Caixa” (Madrid) and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid). He curated Dalí and Duchamp with Dawn Ades for The Dalí and Royal Academy (London).