Philip Hu, curator of Asian art

Philip Hu, the curator of Asian art, curated “Shimmering Silks: Traditional Japanese Textiles, 18th–19th Centuries” (2024) and “Global Threads: The Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz” (2022). Since joining the Museum in 2006, Hu has also curated the exhibitions “Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty” (2009) and “Beyond Golden Clouds: Five Centuries of Japanese Screens: Masterpieces from the Saint Louis Art Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago” (2009), as well as numerous rotations of Asian art.

Hu received an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles; he subsequently received a graduate degree in Chinese art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where he also completed all the coursework for the doctorate program. He taught at New York University and at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Notable media appearances and mentions

• The Saint Louis Art Museum highlights Japanese textiles with “Shimmering Silks” (St. Louis Magazine, March 27, 2024)
• St. Louis Art Museum takes a look at Japanese art and war (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 15, 2016)
• Saint Louis Art Museum: Brushstrokes & Battles (Ladue News, Oct. 13, 2016)
• Japanese War Prints: Conflicts of Interest (Asian Art Newspaper, Oct. 3, 2016)
• St. Louis Museum Scores Slam Dunk with $50M Art Gift (Hyperallergic, Nov. 6, 2014)
• Saint Louis Art Museum gifted $50M art collection (KTVI-TV, Nov. 5, 2014)
• Couple donates 225 works worth at least $50 million to St. Louis Art Museum (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 4, 2014)