Paul Schimmel (born 1954) is an American curator of contemporary art based in Los Angeles. Schimmel served as the chief curator of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), from 1990 until 2012, where he organized numerous exhibitions. From 2013 through 2017, he was a vice president and partner with the art gallery Hauser & Wirth and co-founder of Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles. In late February 2017, Schimmel departed from the Hauser & Wirth enterprise, including Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles, with no public comment on his behalf. Early life and education Schimmel was born in 1954 in New York City. His father, Stuart Schimmel, collected rare books, focusing on forgeries and publications from the Ashendene Press; he was also a member of the Grolier Club. His uncle, Herbert Schimmel, collected art and antiquities, focusing on Art Nouveau furniture, as well as works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Schimmel attended Syracuse University from 1972 until 1975, graduating with a BFA from the selective studies program in studio art, art history, and museum studies. During this time, he also interned at the Whitney Museum of American Art and René Block Gallery in New York. Schimmel attended the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University from 1977 until 1981. In 2013, San Francisco Art Institute granted him an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts. Early career In 1974, Schimmel was appointed to the position of assistant curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (CAMH). There he worked closely with the museum's director, James Harithas, with whom he had studied while at Syracuse University. Mentored by Harithas, Schimmel was eventually promoted to senior curator, organizing several exhibitions for CAMH along the way, including American Narrative/Story Art: 1967–1977; Terry Allen: Juárez Series; and James Surls: Recent Drawings (co-organized with Harithas). In 1981, Schimmel was named chief curator/curator of exhibitions and collections at the Newport Harbor Art Museum (now Orange County Museum of Art). At age 27, he was the youngest chief curator in the museum's history. During his eight-year tenure, he sharpened the museum's focus on contemporary California art, bringing works by John Altoon, John Baldessari, Chris Burden, Vija Celmins, Robert Irwin, Edward Kienholz, David Park, Charles Ray, Allen Ruppersberg, and James Turrell into the permanent collection. He also established The Newport Biennial and New California Artist Series, which brought attention to emerging artists in the region and exhibited