Barry Harwood, the long-term curator of decorative arts at the Brooklyn Museum, died June 4, 2018, at the age of 71.
Harwood graduated from Brandeis University in 1968, and earned an MFA in 1971 and a Ph.D. degree in 1979 in art from Princeton. He joined the Brooklyn Museum in 1988 and spent the following 30 years developing the museum’s decorative-art holdings.
At the Brooklyn Museum, Harwood elevated the collection to international status. Under his guidance and curating, such exhibitions as “Tiffany Glass and Lamps,” and many more came to life. In addition, he served as an adjunct professor at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum/Parsons School of Design’s master’s program in the history of decorative arts.
At the time of his death, Harwood was working on a planned book on the work of Kimbel & Cabus to accompany the first museum exhibition on this important but little-known New York decorating and furniture-making firm.
Anne Pasternak, the director of the Brooklyn Museum, wrote, “His ready wit and distinctive personal style, his aesthetic creativity and curatorial intelligence, will be greatly missed.”
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.