The Gulbenkian is one of Portugal’s premier art institutions and Curtis has become the first non-Portuguese to hold the prestigious position.
Curtis, 53, is to take over at the Gulbenkian in the autumn and she succeeds João Castelo
Branco Pereira, 68, who has run the museum since 1998 and has stepped down to retire.
The new appointee specialises in art between the two world wars, architecture and contemporary art, and has published various books and essays on the subjects.
Before taking over Tate Britain in 2010, she was curator at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, from 1999 onwards. Before that, she had been the first curator of exhibitions at the Tate Liverpool after its opening in 1988.