Pierre Terjanian

Boston MFA Director Pierre Terjanian to Speak at June 4 Tekeyan Program

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WATERTOWN — The Tekeyan Cultural Association Boston Chapter will present a conversation with the director and CEO of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Pierre Terjanian on Thursday, June 4, at 7 p.m., at the Baikar Building (755 Mount Auburn St.).

Terjanian started in this role at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston in July 2025. The museum is among the top 20 largest art museums in the world. A seasoned fundraiser, he was appointed Ann and Graham Gund Director and CEO after working at the museum as its chief of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation for about a year and a half. He is known as an important scholar on arms and armor, and previously worked curatorially at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He is also a Curator Emeritus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, having previously been appointed Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Curator in Charge of The Met’s Department of Arms and Armor.

Terjanian was born in Strasbourg, France. He has a graduate degree in history from the Université de Metz. Prior to his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which he joined in 2012), he held the dual role of J. J. Medveckis Associate Curator of Arms and Armor and acting head of the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture before 1700 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Terjanian is the author of The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I which accompanied and augmented the exhibition he curated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Princely Armor in the Age of Dürer: A Renaissance Masterpiece at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Terjanian succeeded Matthew Teitelbaum as director of the MFA Boston, assuming the position in July 2025.

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His primary duties are to lead the institution and plan for it, while working with its board and overseeing all museum operations. This includes setting programs up for audiences and responsibility for the collecting work, exhibitions, and educational initiatives. “Ultimately,” he said, “it’s the job of bringing together the talent, energy and interest of the staff, the board, volunteers and partners in the entire community.”

In his conversation with Tekeyan Cultural Association Executive Director Aram Arkun, Terjanian may speak about topics such as the changing roles of museums, questions of provenance, the effect of government policies on museums, his own career, and the MFA’s Armenian collection.

The talk at the Baikar Building will start at 7 p.m. sharp. A question-and-answer session will follow, as will a reception. The event is free and open to the public.

Topics: art, Museums
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