Nadine Orenstein

Nadine M. Orenstein
Born	1961 (age 64–65)
Alma mater	Barnard College
Occupations	curator, art historian

Nadine Orenstein (born 1961) is an American art historian and curator who serves as the Drue Heinz Curator in Charge of the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ^[1]

Biography

Her father is French, a professor of physics at Queens College in New York City, and she often traveled in Europe during her childhood, often visiting museums as a child. Her mother Gloria Orenstein was a professor at University of Southern California and was wrote about Leonora Carrington and the women of surrealism, among other subjects.

She earned her BA from Barnard College in 1983 and her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, in 1992, where her dissertation examined Hendrick Hondius and the business of prints in seventeenth-century Holland. ^[2]

She conducted graduate research in the Netherlands while a graduate student, as part of writing her dissertation on the Dutch printmaker and publisher Hendrick Hondius. ^[3]

Curatorial Career

Orenstein has been with The Metropolitan Museum for much of her career, beginning her tenure in 1992, and became the Curator in Charge of the department in 2015, succeeding George Goldner.

Her expertise and contributions have greatly strengthened The Met's collection and exhibitions, making her contributions to the field of prints and curation influential in the wider museum and art historical fields. ^[4] .

Orenstein is on the editorial board of Print Quarterly and the Rijksmuseum Bulletin. ^[5] In 2025, she became Knight of the House of Orange-Nassau, for her contributions to Dutch art and culture. ^[6]

Exhibitions

Orenstein has organized and curated numerous significant exhibitions, including:

• "Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints" (2001)
• "Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch Master (1558-1617): Prints, Drawings, and Paintings" (2003)
• "The Mysterious Landscapes of Hercules Segers" (2017) ^{[7] [8]}
• "The Renaissance of Etching" (2019–2020) ^[9]

References

1. "Nadine Orenstein." CODART. Retrieved from .
2. Kenney, Nancy. "How a Method of Armour Decorating in 16th-Century Germany Spawned a New Printmaking Technique." The Art Newspaper, October 21, 2019. Retrieved from .
3. "Nadine Orenstein." CODART. August, 2023. Retrieved from .
4. Roberta Smith (March 9, 2017). "A Dutch Master's Surreal Visions". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
5. "Women in the Art World" . Retrieved August 29, 2024.
6. "Nadine Orenstein awarded knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau." CODART, 18 December 2025. https://www.codart.nl/personal/nadine-orenstein-awarded-knighthood-in-the-order-of-orange-nassau/
7. Marcus, J.S. (September 23, 2016). "An Old Master's New Paintings: A grand re-evaluation of Segers expands his catalog to include major new works". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
8. Scherer, Barrymore Laurence (February 8, 2017). "'The Mysterious Landscapes of Hercules Segers' Review: Etchings With a Painterly Touch". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
9. Nancy Kenney (October 21, 2019). "How a Method of Armour Decorating in 16th-Century Germany Spawned a New Printmaking Technique". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved August 11, 2024.