Hans Bjarne Thomsen was born in Kyoto and was raised in Japan and Denmark. He received his Ph.D. in Japanese art history and archaeology from Princeton University in 2006. After teaching at the University of Chicago, he took over the chair for East Asian art history at the University of Zurich in 2007, a position he held until 2023. He is presently a professor of the university while working with various other institutions.
Over the years, Professor Thomsen has initiated over fifty survey projects in Swiss museums that have culminated in exhibitions and publications. He is currently co-curating several exhibitions in Switzerland, Germany, and Japan. These currently deal with topics such as woodblock prints, calligraphy, reverse-glass paintings, Kabuki theater, salon culture, early photography, and the creation of copies.
He has published extensively on the early modern art histories of East Asian cultures in both book and article formats. In 2019 he received the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government for his work on furthering the cultural bonds between Switzerland and Japan, and in 2023 he became the President of the European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology.
In his free time, he goes on long walks with his wife and any of their five children and constantly reads books. He is a dinosaur in technology and does not own a cell phone. When pressure from work builds, then he makes jams. Presently he is refining his banana-grapefruit jam. He is always on the lookout for new fruits and combinations: any suggestions welcome!
Another fun fact: Professor Thomsen graduated with a BA from CC in 1981. It was a double major: in English Literature and Chemistry.
