Timothy Potts


Dr. Timothy Potts is an Australian art historian, archaeologist, and museum director. He became the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum on 1 September 2012.

Biography

Timothy Potts was educated at the University of Sydney and holds a DPhil in Near Eastern art and archaeology from the University of Oxford, where he was a research lecturer and British Academy Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology and Art at Christ Church, Oxford. His research interests are Ancient Near Eastern art history, archaeology and history; museology; the classical tradition in western art.
Dr. Potts acted as co-director of the University of Sydney excavations at Pella, Jordan from 1982 to 1989. He worked at Lehman Brothers in New York from 1990 to 1994 following which became director of the National Gallery of Victoria. In conjunction with his directorship at the National Gallery of Victoria, Timothy was Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University, and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He was the Director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas from 1998 to 2007 and the Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England from 2007 to 2012.

Writing

Dr. Potts is a specialist in the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean on which he has written widely. His works in the field include:

Past Directorships

In 2007, Duncan Robinson retired, Potts took over as the Fitzwilliam Museum's 12th Director. During his time at the Fitzwilliam, Potts served as Chairman of the Art Committee, with Mr Donald Hearn as Bursar, at Clare College, Cambridge Dr. Potts also directed studies in the History of Art for Clare College.
Between his academic and museum positions, Potts had a corporate career with Lehman Brothers where he was Senior Vice President of the Media and Communications Group, Investment Banking Department, from 1990 to 1994.
During Dr. Potts' tenure as director of the Kimbell Art Museum he added many pieces of art to the Kimbell's permanent collection: in sculpture, St John the Baptist by Michelozzo, Virgin and Child by Donatello, Relief Head of Christ attributed to Tullio Lombardo, Isabella d’Este by Gian Cristoforo Romano, Late Gothic Silver-Gilt Virgin and Child, and Modello for the Fountain of the Moor by Bernini; in paintings, The Judgment of Paris by Lucas Cranach the Elder, and A Dentist by Candlelight by Gerrit Dou; in antiquities, Head of an Athlete after Lysippos, and The Death of Pentheus by Douris; in Precolumbian art, 5th-century Maya Jade Belt Ornament, and Codex-Style Cup showing Scribal Training by the "Princeton Painter"; and in Asian art, Bamboo and Rocks by Tan Zhirui.
Exhibitions at The Kimbell Art Museum under Dr. Potts’s directorship included: