Frances Klapthor
Interim Department Head, Arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands and Associate Curator of Asian Art
Curatorial
Frances Klapthor (she/her) started at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1984 as a registration assistant. She advanced from there to being responsible for the exhibition, research, growth, and refinement of some 3,200 objects that include Indian metalwork, Chinese ceramics, and Asian textiles and export artworks. Following the 2015 expansion of the BMA’s Asian gallery, Art for China’s Homes, Temples and Tombs, subsequent rotations featured Islamic and East Asian ceramic art. The Asian gallery opened a new installation and presentation in autumn 2023, Art Connected Across Asia. Exhibitions she has curated include Time Frames: Contemporary Photography from East Asia, 2018-2019, The Art of Pattern: Henri Matisse and Japanese Woodcut Artists, 2024-2025, and The Way of Nature: Art from Japan, China andKorea, 2025-2026. She earned a BA in English from Washington College in 1978.