Karl Debreczeny is senior curator, collections and research, at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. Debreczeny holds masters’ degrees in art history and Tibetan studies from Indiana University and a doctorate in art history from the University of Chicago. He has taught at Columbia University and convened several international conferences. His research focuses on exchanges between Tibetan and Chinese artistic traditions, and he is currently leading a comprehensive assessment of the Rubin Museum collection. His exhibitions at the Rubin since 2006 include Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism (2019) and Masterworks: A Journey through Himalayan Art (2016–2022), and he co-curated The All Knowing Buddha: A Secret Guide (2014), Lama, Patron, and Artist: The Great Situ Panchen (Freer Sackler Gallery, 2010), Remember That You Will Die (2010), Patron and Painter: Situ Panchen and the Revival of the Encampment Style (2009), and Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain (2007).
Karl Debreczeny
