Hans Bjarne Thomsen

Hans Bjarne Thomsen was born in Kyoto and grew up in Japan and Denmark. He earned a doctorate in Japanese art history and archaeology from Princeton University. After teaching at the University of Chicago, he was appointed professor of East Asian art history at the University of Zurich in 2007. He initiated research projects at Swiss museums that led to exhibitions and publications, and published extensively on the early modern art history of East Asian cultures. In 2022, he co-curated the exhibitions “Surimono” in Geneva and “Lines from East Asia” at the Graphische Sammlung ETH Zurich. In recognition of his contribution to cultural relations between Switzerland and Japan, he received Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun in 2019.