Enfilade

Press release (25 June 2013) from The Speed Art Museum in Louisville:

The Board of Trustees of The Speed Art Museum announced today that Ghislain d’Humières has been appointed as the new Director of the Museum. d’Humières, who is currently serving as the Director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, succeeds Charles Venable, who served as Director from 2007 to 2012. d’Humières will assume his role at the Speed on September 3, 2013.

A native of France, Ghislain d’Humieres studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he received his DEA in History and License of Art History. He became a specialist in 18th-century furniture for Sotheby’s London, and later transferred to Sotheby’s in New York. To further his education, he studied at the Gemological Institute of America, and became the Director of the jewelry department at Christie’s of Los Angeles, overseeing the West Coast and South America. During his employment, he gained extensive business knowledge, expanded his expertise, and traveled extensively around the World. In 2001, he transferred to Christie’s in Geneva and was in charge of international clients from Europe and South America.

A compassionate leader, d’Humières took an eighteen-month sabbatical in Guatemala, during which time he worked with street children involved in drugs and prostitution. After his sabbatical, he founded the Alix Donation Fund (ADF) for underprivileged children in Guatemala.

Shortly thereafter, he was hired by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco as Assistant Director in charge of the opening of the new de Young Museum, located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

In 2007, Ghislain joined the University of Oklahoma as the Bill and Wylodean Saxon Director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. During his six-year tenure at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, d’Humières has doubled attendance, led a successful $15 million capital campaign, and spearheaded the development and management of the Museum’s new 20,000 square-foot Stuart wing, which doubled the Museum’s exhibition space.

D’Humièresalso created a privately funded program to implement new educational and outreach initiatives which included underprivileged visitors. He supervised more than 40 exhibitions and oversaw the production of numerous exhibition catalogs and museum publications while also expanding the Museum’s educational programs and collaborations with other museums, communities and national and international organizations.