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Erika Holmquist-Wall is a specialist in 19th and 20th-century Nordic art and design. In addition, she has established an international reputation as one of a handful of advanced specialists in the field of provenance research, with an emphasis on World War II-era spoliation issues.

Holmquist-Wall joined the Speed Art Museum as the Curator of European and American Paintings and Sculpture in 2014, and became Chief Curator in 2016. During her time at the Speed, she oversaw the reinstallation of the permanent collection galleries of paintings and sculpture, and curated a number of exhibitions, including Thoroughly Modern: Women in 20th Century Art and Design, Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism, and Picasso to Pollock: Modern Masterworks from the Eskenazi Museum of Art. She has also curated focus exhibitions on Thomas Chambers, Jan van Eyck, and Jean-Honore Fragonard. Currently, she is putting together exhibitions on the work of Louisville sculptor Enid Yandell, The Illustrated Guide to Hunter S. Thompson, and Tales from the Turf: The Kentucky Horse, 1825-1950, all set to open this year.

Erika came to the Speed from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where she was a curator in the Department of Paintings and Modern Sculpture for nearly 15 years. In addition, she served as the museum’s Provenance Specialist, where she oversaw all research related to the ownership and acquisition of the museum’s collections. During her tenure, Holmquist-Wall curated a number of exhibitions for the MIA, including exhibitions on 14th century Burgundian tomb sculpture, a survey of Nordic landscape painting, and a suite of exhibitions on Henri Matisse. She is a strong advocate for collections preservation, creating two popular exhibitions for Minneapolis centered around the public restoration of major paintings by Guercino in 2004 and Max Beckmann in 2013. She has also launched the highly successful Adopt-an-Artwork programs at both museums.

Erika lives in lovely Pewee Valley, Kentucky with her husband and daughter.