Martin Roth, Director of the V&A said: “Paul Williamson has made a magnificent contribution to the V&A during his impressive career here. His loyalty in serving the Museum is unparalleled and we thank him warmly for all that he has done. We look forward to welcoming another world-leading expert, Antonia Boström, who brings with her significant scholarship and a wealth of experience across world-class collections including the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas and the Detroit Institute of Arts back to the V&A where she began her career.”
 
Paul Williamson said: “I’ve been hugely privileged to work at the V&A for so long, to be responsible for a large part of its internationally-important collections and to be surrounded by brilliant and committed colleagues, both inside and outside the Museum; and it will be a great pleasure to continue this connection as Keeper Emeritus and Honorary Senior Research Fellow. I’m delighted to welcome Antonia Boström as my successor, and wish her every success in the years ahead.”

Antonia Boström said: “Having spent the last 19 years in the United States, I am extremely excited to be returning to the V&A, the museum where I first trained as a curator and whose collections are so meaningful to me. The V&A is at an important moment in its history; it is thrilling to witness its astonishing achievements over the last several years and to look forward to future projects. I look forward to contributing to those important initiatives and to leading a department of curators widely recognized as among the foremost experts in their fields.”
 
Paul Williamson – Biography
Paul Williamson has been Keeper of the Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass Department at the V&A since 2001 and was Director of Collections, 2004-7, and Acting Deputy Director in 2013. He joined the Museum in 1979 and was Chief Curator of Sculpture 1989-2001. He has published widely, principally on medieval art including the Pelican History of Art volume Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300 (Yale University Press, 1995) and, most recently, the V&A catalogues Medieval Ivory Carvings: Early Christian to Romanesque (2010) and Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (the latter with Glyn Davies). He has been involved in the organisation of numerous exhibitions, including English Romanesque Art 1066-1200 (Hayward Gallery, 1984), Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England 1200-1400 (Royal Academy of Arts, 1987-88), Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age (Detroit and Baltimore, 1997), Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547 (V&A, 2003-4), and Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria and Albert Museum, which toured to ten U.S. venues in 2010-14. He has served on many committees both inside and outside the V&A, has been Expert Adviser on Sculpture to the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art since 1989, was Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1999-2003, and is a Trustee and Director of The Burlington Magazine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
 
Antonia Boström – Biography
Antonia Boström has been Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA since 2013. She was Senior Curator & Department Head, Sculpture & Decorative Arts Department, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles from 2004-2013, Assistant Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Art and research scholar at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1996-2004 and previously held
curatorial posts at the Royal Academy, London from 1995-6, V&A from 1980-5 and National Portrait Gallery in 1980. She has been involved with many exhibitions including Messerschmidt and Modernity (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2012); Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution (J. Paul Getty Museum, Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009) and Magnificenza! The Medici, Michelangelo, and Art of Late Renaissance Florence (Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Chicago, AIC, and Detroit Institute of Arts, 2002-4) as well as gallery installations including the sculpture and decorative arts galleries (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006-10). She has written, edited and contributed to publications including Messerschmidt and Modernity (Getty Publications: Los Angeles, 2012), The Fran and Ray Stark collection of 20th-century sculpture at the J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty Publications: Los Angeles, 2008) and The Encyclopedia of Sculpture, 3 vols. (Fitzroy Dearborn/Routledge: New York, 2004). She is fluent in five languages.
 
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