Curatorial Holdings

Throughout its history under different trustees and directors, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has had various collecting focuses and curatorial alignments. Beginning in 1893 under Director Dalton Dorr, the first three curatorial departments were established: American Pottery; Numismatics; and Textiles, Lace and Embroidery. As the collections continued to grow in the late 19th and early 20th century, new departments were added and modified under the guidance of appointed Honorary Curators.

The arrival of Director Fiske Kimball in 1925 marked an organizational change that established staffed departments within two divisions of European and American Art, and Eastern Art. This structure remained until Director Evan Turner discarded the divisions and established independent departments in the 1960s.

Some departments that once existed no longer function due to changed collecting priorities or economic necessity, while other designations that once existed under a larger curatorial umbrella now operate as separate offices.