Xavier Salomon named next director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
The current Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator of The Frick Collection in New York has been chosen as Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.
Xavier Salomon, the current Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Frick Collection in New York, has been appointed as the next Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon.
He will take up the role in early 2026, succeeding António Filipe Pimentel, who will retire after leading the museum since 2022.
The announcement was made Tuesday by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Board of Trustees, following an international recruitment process.
Pimentel welcomed the news, calling Salomon “a great art historian and an excellent museum administrator, essential qualities for an institution like this.”
Born in Rome in 1979, Salomon was raised between Italy and the United Kingdom.
He studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, earning a bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in art history.
His career has included roles at the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He also worked on projects with contemporary artists such as Doron Langberg, Salman Toor, Jenna Gribbon, Nicolas Party, and Flora Yukhnovich. In 2022, he curated the exhibitions James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). Chefs d’oeuvre de la Frick Collection, New York at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and The Polish Rider. The King’s Rembrandt at the Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw and Wawel Royal Castle, Kraków.
Salomon is a specialist in 17th- and 18th-century art and patronage in Rome and Venice, with a focus on artists such as Paolo Veronese and Rosalba Carriera.
Creative Vision and Institutional Experience
António Filipe Pimentel praised Salomon’s creativity and leadership, particularly highlighting his role in managing the Frick Collection’s temporary move to Frick Madison during its 2021 renovation, a process successfully completed with the museum’s return to its historic home in April 2025.
He also cited Salomon’s innovative digital engagement projects, notably Cocktails with a Curator, a video and podcast series created during the pandemic to explore works in the Frick Collection.
“That kind of creative energy is important,” said Pimentel.
A Museum in Transition
Salomon will arrive as the Gulbenkian Museum completes a major renovation, set to finish in 2026.
“The museum he joins will be structurally renewed, more central within the Foundation, and backed by a revitalized team, younger, more cohesive, and very capable,” Pimentel noted.
He emphasized that the museum’s scientific research and curatorial departments remain its core, and that Salomon’s key challenge will be to continue strengthening the Gulbenkian’s international presence.
“His ideas and his extensive global network will be invaluable in this next phase,” Pimentel added.
Salomon’s appointment marks a new chapter for one of Portugal’s most prestigious cultural institutions as it prepares to reopen with a modernized vision and expanded ambitions on the global stage.