A specialist in twentieth-century European and American art, Yve-Alain Bois is recognized as an expert on a wide range of artists, from Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso to Piet Mondrian, Barnett Newman, and Ellsworth Kelly. He has curated and co-curated a number of influential exhibitions, including Piet Mondrian, A Retrospective (1994); L’informe, mode d’emploi (1996); Matisse and Picasso: A Gentle Rivalry (1999); and Picasso Harlequin 1917–1937 (2008). His books include Painting as Model (1990); Formless: A User’s Guide (with Rosalind Krauss, 1997); Matisse and Picasso (1998); and Art Since 1900 (with Benjamin Buchloh, Hal Foster, and Rosalind Krauss, 2004). Bois is currently working on several long-term projects, including a study of Barnett Newman’s paintings, the catalogue raisonné of Ellsworth Kelly’s paintings and sculptures, and the modern history of axonometric projection.

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, Doctorat de III cycle (Ph.D.) 1977; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Attaché de recherche 1977–81, Chargé de recherche 1981–83; Johns Hopkins University, Visiting Associate Professor 1983–84, Associate Professor 1984–89, Professor 1989–91; Harvard University, Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Professor of Modern Art 1991–2005, Chair, Department of History of Art and Architecture, 2002–2005; Institute for Advanced Study, Professor 2005–; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member; Macula, Cofounder 1976; October, Editor 1991–; Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Award 2001; Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres 2002