Max Hollein – The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Appointed Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in April 2018 and Director and CEO in July 2023, Max Hollein is responsible for the leadership of the Museum, including its artistic vision and all of its programming, strategic, fiscal and institutional priorities, as well as local engagement and international relations. Since beginning at The Met, Hollein has overseen over 100 exhibitions, launched several historic capital projects, including the new Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art (to be opened in 2029), secured preeminent acquisitions and donations, and reenvisioned the Museum’s approach to public outreach through education and digital initiatives.

Prior to joining The Met, he was the Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where his tenure was characterized by visionary programming, pioneering acquisitions, and rigorous fiscal management. Previously he simultaneously led the Schirn Kunsthalle, the Städel Museum, and the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, Germany, as Director and CEO, all of which experienced significant growth and increased attendance during his tenure.

Born in Vienna, Hollein studied at the University of Vienna (Master of Art History) and the Vienna University of Economics (Master of Business Administration). He began his career at New York’s Guggenheim Museum as Chief of Staff to the Director and six years later assumed his leadership role in Frankfurt. Hollein has published and lectured widely and has organized a number of major exhibitions in modern and contemporary art. He is a member of supervisory and advisory boards of major cultural institutions worldwide, including the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Neue Galerie, New York; and Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art, Vienna. Named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture in 2009 and a recipient of the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and the Arts, he received the Goethe badge of honor from the Hessian Ministry of Culture in 2016, the Goethe badge of honor from the City of Frankfurt in 2019, and an Hommage award by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in 2020, among other international awards.

“The terrific range of project proposals we receive each year speaks to the mobile and porous disciplinary boundaries of contemporary art practice, and to the rich and inventive ways writers approach art today. They are alert to the urgent need to expand the conventions of art history and criticism with ideas from other discourses, such as black studies, transnational and diaspora studies, gender and women’s studies, and LGBT studies. The work of lesser known and overlooked artists and art communities continues to be mined, with writers articulating new ways to counter the striking imbalances of race, class and gender that continue to affect the arts and the culture industry.”

Pradeep Dalal, Program Director, The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant