SAMA Collections: Curatorial Staff

John Johnston joined the San Antonio Museum of Art as the Coates-Cowden-Brown Curator of Asian Art in February 2009. His research interests include Buddhist art and East Asian ceramics. John has conducted art historical fieldwork in a variety of countries including China, Japan, India, Nepal, and Thailand. He particularly enjoys veering far off the beaten-path in his search and study of Asian art. For example, John worked in Bhutan for three years as Assistant Curator for the groundbreaking exhibition The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He traveled to over 200 temples and monasteries throughout Bhutan locating and researching Buddhist works of art for the project.

John is on the editorial board of the National Museum of Bhutan and is Co-Founder of Buddhist Art News, a web site on developments in Buddhist art. John has advised numerous public and private collections on Asian art and previously worked at Sotheby’s in the Chinese Works of Art department. He lectures widely at museums and universities and has taught college courses in America and Asia. John has published numerous articles and is Co-Editor of the scholarly catalogue accompanying The Dragon’s Gift exhibition.  The Dragon’s Gift catalogue was the only Asia-themed book selected as a finalist for the prestigious Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Award given by the College Art Association in 2008. The award is for “an especially distinguished catalogue on the history of art" by museum scholars. John’s work on Asian art has garnered both national and international attention.

Johnston received his MA with honors from the University of Hawaii in 1996. His thesis explored how Buddhism influenced the development of printing in 10th century China.