Michael Brand
Dr Michael Brand
- Post Nominals: FAHA
- Fellow Type: Honorary Fellow
- Elected to the Academy: 2024
- Section(s): Arts
Biography
Dr Michael Brand is a cultural leader and art scholar whose significant contribution to Australian and international art, architecture and landscape spans art museums and academia as well as government, philanthropy and community sectors.
Since 2012, Dr Brand has led the Art Gallery of New South Wales, including the most notable transformation of in its history. The Sydney Modern Project, which was completed in December 2022, created an art museum campus overlooking Sydney Harbour with a new building designed by Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architects SANAA as its centrepiece.
Prior to his appointment at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Dr Brand was director of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto from 2010 to 2012 Toronto, the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles from 2005 to 2010, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond from 2000 to 2005.
He is a scholar of Indian and Islamic art, architecture and landscape design and a regular contributor to global conversations about the future of art museums, Dr Brand has been a member of the Bizot Group of International Art Museum Directors since 2005 and the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors since 2012, and serves on the board of the Australian Institute of Art History.
Image credit: Motel Pictures