Jay Levenson, longtime director of the International Program at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and a low-profile yet deeply influential figure in advancing global dialogue in contemporary art, died on February 12 during a trip to India. 

Levenson earned a PhD in art history from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts in 1978 and a JD from Yale Law School in 1981. He initially pursued a career in law before turning to the museum field in the late ’80s. Following positions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, he joined the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1995 as deputy director for program administration.

In November 1996, Levenson was appointed director of MoMA’s International Program, becoming the third person to lead the department since its establishment in 1952. Over the next three decades, he broadened its reach and deepened its global alliances, building sustained relationships with artists, curators, scholars, and cultural institutions worldwide. In 2002, he helped launch the Primary Documents anthology series, which translates and publishes key texts on modern and contemporary art from regions beyond the Euro-American canon. 

With the support of MoMA’s International Council, Levenson founded Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives (C-MAP) in 2009, a transnational network of curatorial study groups focusing on regions in Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Through seminars, research trips, and collaborations with hundreds of artists and scholars, the initiative strengthened international institutional exchange and directly informed MoMA’s acquisitions and programming. In 2013, C-MAP launched “post: notes on art in a global context,” an online platform archiving the team’s research and primary materials. 

Under Levenson’s leadership, MoMA’s International Program became a model for globally engaged curatorial practice, anchoring the museum’s commitment to cross-cultural research and collaboration. In a tribute, MoMA’s board of trustees stated: “Scholarly, compassionate, and deeply committed to our mission, [Levenson] was the consummate cultural diplomat, relationship-builder, and strategist. His graciousness and warmth will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Yuqian Fan is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.