Exhibition records

Documentation in this record group begins approximately in 1974 when the museum designated a department of "European Decorative Arts after 1700." Most of the records were created or compiled by Kathryn Hiesinger, who has headed the curatorial department since its inception. The bulk of material pertains to two exhibitions, "The Second Empire: Art in France under Napoleon III" (1978), and "Japanese Design: A Survey Since 1950" (1994). There are also files (1976-1993) documenting some of the gallery spaces on the museum's second floor that house its collection of European art of 1500-1850.

For earlier curatorial records, see Decorative Arts Department Records. This department oversaw all of the museum's European and American decorative art objects prior to the various curatorial divisions initiated in 1967 and in 1973.