Edouard Kopp, chief curator of the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, has been named the next director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell.

He will begin his role as the Richard J. Schwartz Director on Nov. 1. 

In his seven years at the Menil Drawing Institute, part of The Menil Collection, Kopp oversaw administration, exhibitions, educational outreach and a collection of artwork from the 16th century to the present day. Prior to 2017, he held curatorial roles at the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts and at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. 

“Edouard has a deep understanding of a university museum’s crucial role in teaching, research and public engagement,” Provost Kavita Bala said. “His commitment to expanding access to art, fostering interdisciplinary engagement and creating transformative experiences for audiences aligns closely with Cornell’s mission.” 

Kopp succeeds Jessica Levin Martinez, who joined the Corning Museum of Glass as president and executive director in February 2026. Ellen Avril, the Judith H. Stoikov Curator of Asian Art at the Johnson, has served as interim director.  

“During our conversations with Edouard, it was clear that he had experiences and had thought deeply about the things that Cornell values deeply, how the museum could continue to advance scholarship, interdisciplinary collaborations and community engagement,” said Avery August, Ph.D. ’94, Cornell’s deputy provost.  

At the Menil, Kopp secured $8 million in dedicated acquisition funds and managed major grants from the Getty, Luce and Warhol foundations. He also devised a collecting strategy that led to the acquisition of more than 600 drawings through gifts, bequests and purchases. 

Integrating university museums into academic life has been a throughline of Kopp’s experience. He shaped the Menil Drawing Institute as a teaching laboratory, including partnerships with Rice University and the University of Houston, and at the Harvard Art Museums he collaborated with faculty and students to embed items in the museums’ collections into curricula. 

 “Virtually everything the museum undertakes should begin with a question: How can we engage Cornell’s students, faculty and staff?” Kopp said. “I am deeply honored to join the Johnson Museum and the Cornell community. I look forward to working with colleagues across the university to activate the collection as a dynamic resource for teaching, research and creative practice; make the museum an even more welcoming destination for the campus and wider community; and steward its extraordinary I. M. Pei building for future generations.” 

Kopp originally studied business, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business in France, but his love of museums and their ability to inspire learning and conversations about art caused him to pivot. He then earned a master’s degree in art history in 2001 and a Ph.D. in 2013, both from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. 

He has published extensively on the history of drawing from the 18th to the 21st century and has organized major exhibitions in collaboration with institutions including the Albertina in Vienna, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Louvre, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and The Art Institute of Chicago. 

“Art is an incredibly rich lens through which one can look at the world – the outside world, but also worlds within people,” Kopp said. “It’s something I love to share.”