Dr Antonia Boström

As an art historian, museum professional, exhibition curator and consultant, Antonia is dedicated to providing valuable expertise and guidance to help you navigate the world of museums & galleries, exhibitions, the art market and academia. Antonia can advise about curatorial practice and structures, building and researching your collection, exploring the art market, developing exhibitions and research projects, leading art tours, providing broad insight into today’s art world.

Antonia’s career spans over 40 years in British and American art museums and art publishing. Early training was gained at the V&A Museum (National Art Library and Sculpture Department), and as collections curator at the Royal Academy of Art. She was a commissioning editor for the Grove Dictionary of Art and edited the 3-volume Encyclopedia of Sculpture. Having gained her PhD in 1996 she joined the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department at the Detroit Institute of Arts and was a co-author of the Catalogue of Italian Sculpture at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Moving to the J. Paul Getty Museum as Senior Curator and Head of the Sculpture & Decorative Arts Department she led the reinstallation of permanent collection galleries, the installation of the Fran and Ray Stark Collection of Outdoor Sculpture, and curated and collaborated on several exhibitions, including ‘Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution,’ and ‘Messerschmidt and Modernity’. In 2013 she joined The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as Director of Curatorial Affairs, before returning to the V&A as Keeper of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass, and subsequently appointed Director of Collections at the V&A, a role she held until late 2023.

Antonia holds BA (Hons) and PhD degrees from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her dissertation focused on 16th-century Florentine sculpture collections, and she publishes widely on 16th- to 21st-century sculpture. Her current focus is on the work of the 18th-century sculptor, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt.

She is trustee on several boards, including The Henry Moore Foundation, Compton Verney Collections Settlement, Royal College of Music, William Brice Foundation, and is an expert panellist for the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize. She is a Fellow of Goodenough College and Freeman of The Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars.