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Michael Zakian has been the director of the Frederick R. Weisman
Museum of Art since 1995. An art historian, curator and critic, he
has written and lectured extensively on modern and American art. A
native of New York City, he studied art history at Columbia
University and received a B.A. in 1979. He pursued graduate studies
at Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey and was awarded an
M.A. in 1984 and a Ph.D. in 1994. Specializing in American Abstract
Expressionism, he wrote his master's thesis on Barnett Newman and his
doctoral dissertation on Willem de Kooning.
After moving to California in 1985, Zakian worked as a curator at
the Palm Springs Desert Museum from 1986 to 1995. His exhibitions
there focused on historic and contemporary California art. He is the
author of numerous books on art history including Agnes Pelton: Poet
of Nature, Sam Francis: Elements & Archetypes, Wayne Thiebaud: Works
1955 to 2003 and Russell Forester: Unauthorized Autobiography. He has
taught at Rutgers University, the University of Redlands and
California State University, San Bernardino. He has delivered
research papers at numerous College Art Association annual
conferences. Zakian is a member of the College Art Association and
the American Association of Museums. He has served as president of
the Art Historians of Southern California, chair of the Palm Desert
Art in Public Places Commission, and was a juror for the 1999 Los
Angeles Cultural Affairs Department COLA Grants. He is currently
writing a book on Barnett Newman, commissioned for the new "Art &
Idea" series published by Phaidon Press.
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