Mar

Paris-born Caroline Baumann honored by French Embassy

The director of the Cooper Hewitt joins eminent colleagues recognized for their work furthering the arts.

Caroline Baumann, Director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, received the insignia of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, at a ceremony in New York on March 5.

Caroline Baumann, Director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, received the insignia of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, at a ceremony in New York on March 5. Baumann received this distinction in recognition of her significant contributions to the fields of art and design. Also honored at the ceremony were Brett Littman, incoming Director of the Noguchi Museum, and Andres Serrano, artist and photographer.

The Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) was established in 1957 to recognize eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. The Order of Arts and Letters is given out three times annually under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Culture and Communication.

Baumann spearheaded Cooper Hewitt’s most ambitious capital campaign to date, which raised nearly $91 million, and led the recent renovation and expansion of the museum’s home in the historic landmark Carnegie Mansion, transforming America’s design museum into a dynamic, global resource for the public understanding of design.

The reimagined Cooper Hewitt features exhibitions that travel the world; groundbreaking interactive museum technologies; a free national design education program for students K-12; a 36-year partnership with Parsons School of Design for a master’s program in the history of design and curatorial studies; and a permanent collection of 210,000 design objects that are digitized and available on the museum’s website.

Inspired by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Cooper Hewitt’s founders, Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt, established the museum in 1897 for the study of design and appreciation of the decorative arts. The Hewitt sisters endowed it with a collection largely acquired in Paris, international in scope, and primarily centered on historic French design. Cooper Hewitt’s holdings include more than 35,000 French design objects, from an extraordinary surtout de table by the great ormolu specialist and sculptor Pierre-Philippe Thomire to superb contemporary industrial and graphic design by Philippe Apeloig, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Patrick Jouin. Cooper Hewitt exhibitions have highlighted the designs of Van Cleef & Arpels, Sonia Delauney, Lalique, Paris Opera design and a forthcoming exhibition will focus on the work of Hector Guimard.

A Swiss-American born in Paris, Baumann is a member of the Applied Arts and Design Museum Network, the Royal College of Art USA Board, the NYCxDesign Steering Committee, the Dwell On Design New York Advisory Board and an honorary committee member for Salon Art + Design.

Baumann earned a master’s degree in medieval art from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and a bachelor’s degree in art history and French literature from Bates College. She also attended La Sorbonne and L’École du Louvre. Baumann resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her partner and son.