Smithsonian Names Rijksmuseum's Ching-Ling Wang as Curator of Chinese Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington DC has appointed Ching-Ling Wang as its inaugural Nancy Chang Lee Curator of Chinese Art. Wang will join the museum in November, after a decade as curator of Chinese art at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Wang’s research spans Chinese literati painting and Buddhist imagery, with a particular focus on exchanges between China, East Asia and Europe. At the Rijksmuseum, where he has worked since 2016, he has developed exhibitions in collaboration with institutions across Asia and helped to expand the museum’s presentation of East Asian art. His recent projects include Asian Bronze: 4,000 Years of Beauty (2024) at Rijksmuseum, and Goddess of Infinite Faces: Special Exhibition on Taiwan’s Mazu Faith Culture (2026) at the National Taiwan History Museum.

“I hope to not only uphold one of the finest collections of Chinese art in the world, but to expand access to and understanding of such a collection by paving collaborative pathways across disciplines, institutions and countries,” Wang said. His work at the Smithsonian will include connecting conservation science with contemporary artistic practice as part of a broader effort to reconsider Chinese art’s place within global art history.

“The breadth of Ching-Ling’s scholarly background, international perspectives and collaborative spirit will be invaluable as we continue to enrich our curatorial practices with innovation,” said Chase F Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art.

Founded in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art was the country’s first national art museum and its first devoted to Asian art. It now holds nearly 13,000 works of Chinese art dating from the Neolithic period to the present.

The curatorship was established in 2022 through a gift from Nancy Chang Lee, a Hong Kong-based patron who chairs the Friends of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and has served on the National Museum of Asian Art’s board since 2017. The gift fully funds the position and its research, while also supporting related exhibitions, publications, public programmes and digital initiatives.

The appointment comes amid political pressure on the Smithsonian. An executive order issued last year accused the institution of promoting a “divisive, race-centered ideology” and sought greater federal influence over how American history is presented. Earlier this month, historian Lonnie G Bunch III, the first Black person to lead the institution, stepped down as secretary under sustained pressure from the Trump administration over its exhibitions and programmes.