The inaugural Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Curator and Chair of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Dr. Bailey has written and lectured widely, with a specialization in the art of Japan, focusing on the Meiji (1868–1912), Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1989) Periods, as well as the artistic relations between Japan and the West.

Dr. Bailey has curated exhibitions on Japanese American and contemporary art at the Mead Art Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery, and Recession Art in New York and the Ackland Art Museum. Most recently, he organized several major touring exhibitions including None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection (2023) and Meiji Modern: 50 Years of New Japan (2024).

He has enriched the MFAH’s Asian collections with hundreds of artworks, including major Japanese paintings and the complete Parpia Collection of Indian textiles.  He also led the groundbreaking reorganization and reinstallation of the Korea Gallery at the MFAH. 

Dr. Bailey earned his bachelor, master, Ph.M., and Ph.D. in art history, as well as his M.B.A., with emphasis on nonprofit management and museums, from Yale University. His publications include essays in the exhibition catalogue for Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan, along with essays on the work of Hokusai and on prints from the Sino-Japanese War of 1895.