Understanding British Portraits Research Network
The Understanding British Portraits Research Network is an active network with free membership for professionals working with British portraits including curators, museum learning professionals, researchers, academics, and conservators. Having come across the network via its exciting 2012 bursary announcement, I was really impressed with the project’s promotion of, and research into, the British portrait. The maximum funding of £500 is intended to cover five days of research, along with accommodations and travel expenses. With news, an annual seminar, and several bursaries, the network is a resource many will find useful. –FG
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The Understanding British Portraits Network Bursary for 2012
Applications due by 8 September 2011
The Understanding British Portraits network is led by the National Portrait Gallery, the National Trust, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Renaissance North East and Renaissance South West. It aims to enhance the knowledge and understanding of portraits in all media in British collections, and to facilitate future dialogue and debate around research methodologies, interpretation, display and learning programmes. The network has a particular interest in promoting the research and interpretation of regional collections. More information can be found on the UBP website: www.portraits.specialistnetwork.org.uk.
This bursary will give the successful candidate the opportunity to devote five working days, over a period of almost six months, to a portrait-focused project of their choosing. Projects can involve a particular portrait, artist, collection, pattern of collecting, method of display, interpretation, or learning programme. The UBP network will provide a maximum budget of £500 to offset expenses such as travel and accommodation. The successful candidate is free to determine the best means of using their budget in order to complete their project; this might include a visit to the National Portrait Gallery’s Heinz Archive and Library to conduct research and meet with relevant members of staff. Applications should take the form of a concise outline (max. 500 words) of the proposed project. The proposal should include:
- a description of the project and clear objectives
- proposed activities involved in your project
- specific partners expected to be involved in your research (e.g. local libraries, private collections, auction houses, museums, etc.)
- desired outcomes and target audience
- CPD benefits
- timescale of research (all projects must be completed by 23 March 2012)
- estimated use of funds
- how the outcomes of the bursary will be disseminated among professional colleagues within the successful candidate’s organisation and region.
Applications must be accompanied by a brief nomination from line managers.
Advice for applicants:
- Please begin your application by stating that you are applying for the UBP network bursary, followed by your name, job title, and details of your nominee.
- Past applicants to the UBP bursary and placement schemes are welcome to apply again.
- The project should be realistically achievable in the limited budget and timescale.
- The bursary cannot be spent on conference fees or training courses.
The deadline for applications and nominations is 12 noon on Friday 9 September 2011; please email both applications and nominations to ssnportraiture@npg.org.uk. Applications received after this time will not be considered. In the meantime, any queries should be sent to the same address. Applications will be assessed by the Understanding British Portraits Steering Group, and all applicants contacted before the end of September.
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P R E V I O U S R E C I P I E N T S
Paul Holden, House and Collections Manager, Lanhydrock
Studio of Godfrey Kneller, "John Robartes, later 1st Earl of Radnor, Dressed in his Lord Privy Seal Robes," ca. 1680 (Lanhydrock, Cornwall)
My aim was to assess the connoisseurship and collecting habits of the first four Earls of Radnor and perhaps in the process recognise the provenance of our collections at Lanhydrock. Looking predominantly at portraiture my two trips to London took me to the NPG Heinz archive, the V&A art library to look at auction records and the British Library to look through remnants of Radnor correspondence. My aim is to write this research up for future publication and incorporate some of the findings as house presentation in our ‘Bringing Properties to Life’ project. I will also use the information in a lecture entitled ”The Earls of Radnor as Connoisseurs (1679-1758)’ to be held at Lanhydrock on 25 November 2011 (for further details or booking call 01208 265950). Furthermore, in putting these details together our Collections Management database will benefit from more detailed entries. I have wanted to do this research for some time now and the bursary has, at last, made it possible. The bursary programme worked extremely well and facilitated research which may not have been possible through the daily work pattern. I
fully applaud the scheme and am grateful for the opportunity to participate. Thank you
for giving me the opportunity to pursue this line of research. It was an experience that I
found very enriching both personally, academically and culturally.
Jo Cairns, Museum Assistant, Mount Edgcumbe House
Girl in a green dress, English School, early 17th century
The project set out to enhance our understanding of several seventeenth-century portraits in the Mount Edgcumbe collection, hopefully shedding new light on the story of the Edgcumbe family and therefore improving our ability to interpret these portraits for the public.
The four portraits chosen for the project were of unidentified sitters and were by unidentified artists. They had all been ‘cleaned’ and ‘retouched’ at various intervals in the past making them all the more difficult to decipher. Research was undertaken into the inscriptions, symbols and heraldry shown in some of the portraits, the costume worn by the sitters and the Edgcumbe family history. This all helped to date the portraits more accurately and narrow down the possible identities of the sitters. In one instance it enabled me to positively identify one of the portraits as Sir Richard Edgcumbe (1565-1639).
This project has benefitted me personally in a number of ways. It significantly increased my confidence in researching and working with the portrait collection at Mount Edgcumbe, and has also increased my understanding of many subjects I had not foreseen, for example costume, heraldry and painting conservation techniques. I believe the project has also been extremely beneficial to Mount Edgcumbe, allowing me to dedicate time on research which would otherwise not have been done.
Fellowship in Urban Cultural History
RCUCH Flaherty Visiting Fellowship in Urban Cultural History
University of Massachusetts Boston, Spring 2012
Applications due by 1 September 2011
The Research Center for Urban Cultural History at the University of Massachusetts Boston is offering a 3-4 week short-term visiting fellowship for Spring 2012. The RCUCH Flaherty Visiting Fellow will pursue a research project pertaining to urban cultural history; the project must be interdisciplinary, and be focused on the cultural history of cities, urban life, urban networks, urban materials or urban experience. We define urban cultural history broadly; projects treating pre-urban sites as well as contemporary situations fall within the fellowship’s parameters. The sole condition of the fellowship is that during the fellowship period the Fellow offer a seminar talk for the RCUCH Faculty Seminar group on work-in-progress related to the research project. The RCUCH invites applications, giving preference to scholars at associate professor rank or above. (more…)
Research at the Boston Athenaeum
Short-Term Fellowships at the Boston Athenæum
Applications due by 15 April 2011
The Boston Athenæum, offers short-term fellowships to support the use of Athenæum collections for research, publication, curriculum and program development, or other creative projects. Each fellowship pays a stipend for a residency of twenty business days and includes a year’s membership to the Boston Athenæum. Scholars, graduate students, independent scholars, teaching faculty, and professionals in the humanities as well as teachers and librarians in secondary public, private, and parochial schools are eligible.
The Boston Athenæum, a membership library, first opened its doors in 1807, and its rich history as a library and cultural institution has been well documented in the annals of Boston’s cultural life. Today, it remains a vibrant and active institution that serves a wide variety of members and scholars. Members take advantage of its large and distinguished circulating collection, a newspaper and magazine reading room, the exquisite fifth floor reading room, quiet spaces and rooms for reading and researching, a children’s library, and wireless internet access throughout its building. The Special Collections resources are world-renowned, and include maps, manuscripts, rare books, and archival materials.
Additional information is available here»
Art History Post-Doc in Hong Kong
From The University of Hong Kong:
Two-Year Research Post-Doc at The University of Hong Kong
Applications due by 18 April 2011
Founded in 1911, The University of Hong Kong is committed to the highest international standards of excellence in teaching and research, and has been at the international forefront of academic scholarship for many years. Ranked 21st among the top 200 universities in the world by the UK’s Times Higher Education, the University has a comprehensive range of study programmes and research disciplines spread across 10 faculties and about 100 sub-divisions of studies and learning. There are over 23,400 undergraduate and postgraduate students coming from 50 countries, and more than 1,200 members of academic and academic-related staff, many of whom are internationally renowned.
The Society of Scholars in the Humanities at the University of Hong Kong is a society of young scholars involved in cutting-edge research. It is designed to encourage critical and creative thought both within and between the disciplines in the Arts and Humanities. There are two research Scholarships for 2011: one in Art History and one in History.
Each Scholarship is for two years and is non-renewable. Applicants are invited from all educational institutions across the world. The Scholarships are intended for researchers early in their careers to carry out innovative research. Candidates are expected to be either graduate students in the final stages of their Ph.D. studies, or researchers who have been awarded their Ph.D. degree for not more than two years from the date of application. Details about the Society and FAQs are available at: http://www.soh.hku.hk/scholars/2011/index.html.
Scholars will be provided with free accommodation, office space, airfares for overseas candidates, a research grant of up to HK$14,000 a year, and a stipend of HK$22,000 per month. (Scholars who have not yet been awarded a Ph.D. degree will receive a salary of HK$18,000 per month.) Successful candidates will be appointed as Research Scholar. (more…)
Visiting Scholar Program, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The John ‘Bud’ Velde Visiting Scholar Program
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Applications due by 1 April 2011
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is the University’s principal repository of early printing, rare editions, and manuscripts. Since 2006, the Velde Visiting Scholar program has provided financial support to researchers unaffiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who wish to further compelling projects utilizing these renowned collections. A gift of the estate of John E. “Bud” Velde, Jr. (1917-2002), a longtime friend of the Library and its rare book collections, funds the award. Among Velde’s many contributions to the Library are the Library’s seven-millionth volume, the 1486 edition of Breydenbach’s Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam (Journey to the Holy Land) in 1986, and the eight-millionth volume, Frank Lloyd Wright’s The House Beautiful (1896/97). He also made a considerable contribution to the Audubon Folio Restoration Project in 1987 and established a generous endowment fund in 1999.
The research strengths of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library are manifold. Comprehensive collections support studies in printing and printing history, Renaissance studies, Elizabethan and Stuart life and letters, John Milton and his age, emblem studies, economic history, and works on early science and natural history. The library also houses the papers of the modern literary figures Carl Sandburg, H.G. Wells, William Maxwell, and W.S. Merwin.
Two John “Bud” Velde awards are given annually to facilitate a period of extended individual study (usually one month or more) in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The program is open to all scholars, from graduate students to retired professors and independent researchers, regardless of nationality. The awards are primarily intended to help defray the costs of travel and living expenses for scholars from outside the region. Each award consists of a stipend of $3,000. Recipients are responsible for making their own travel and housing arrangements, though information about campus housing will be provided. (more…)
Curatorial Fellowship at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Allen Whitehill Clowes Curatorial Fellowship
Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2011-12
Applications due by 31 March 2011
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is pleased to announce a nine-month curatorial fellowship. The fellowship supports scholarly research related to the Clowes Collection at the IMA and provides curatorial training in the field of European painting and sculpture. The Clowes Fellow is fully integrated into the curatorial division of the Museum and has duties comparable to those of an assistant curator, ranging from collection research and management to exhibition development and the preparation of interpretive materials and programs.
To be eligible for the fellowship, the applicant must be enrolled in a graduate course of study leading to an advanced degree in the history of art or a related discipline, or be a recent degree recipient (within the last two years). Applicants must demonstrate scholarly excellence and promise, as well as a strong interest in the museum profession. U.S. citizenship is not required. The Clowes Fellow will receive a stipend of $18,000 and an educational travel allowance of $2,000. Housing is provided in a scholar’s residence on the grounds of the museum. The nine-month fellowship period will begin September 5, 2011. The appointment is renewable. (more…)
Research Grant Program for Using Princeton’s Library
Friends of the Princeton University Library Research Grant Program
Applications due by 15 January 2011
Each year, the Friends of the Princeton University Library offer short-term Library Research Grants to promote scholarly use of the library’s research collections. Up to $3,500 is available per award and last year the Friends made 22 awards totaling over $50,000. Applications will be considered for scholarly use of archives, manuscripts, rare books, and other rare and unique holdings of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, including Mudd Library; as well as rare books in Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and in the East Asian Library (Gest Collection). Special grants are awarded in several areas:
- the Program in Hellenic Studies supports a limited number of library fellowships in Hellenic studies
- the Cotsen Children’s Library supports research in its collection on aspects of children’s books
- the Maxwell Fund supports research on materials dealing with Portuguese-speaking cultures
- the Sid Lapidus ’59 Research Fund for Studies of the Age of Revolution and the Enlightenment in the Atlantic World covers work using materials pertinent to this topic.
For more information, or to apply, please visit the library’s website: www.princeton.edu/rbsc/fellowships/f_ships.html. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2011.
Fellowships at The Walpole Library
The Lewis Walpole Library Fellowships and Travel Grants for 2011-2012
The Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington, CT
Applications due by 18 January 2010
The Lewis Walpole Library, a department of Yale University Library, invites applications to its 2011-2012 fellowship and travel grant program. Located in Farmington, Connecticut, the Library offers short-term residential fellowships and travel grants to support research in the Library’s rich collections of eighteenth century—mainly British—materials, including important holdings of prints, drawings, manuscripts, rare books, and paintings, as well as a growing collection of sources for the study of New England Native Americans.
Scholars undertaking postdoctoral or equivalent research, and doctoral candidates at work on a dissertation, are encouraged to apply. Recipients are expected to be in residence at the Library, to be free of other significant professional obligations during their stay, and to focus their research on the Lewis Walpole Library’s collections. Fellows also have access to additional resources at Yale, including those in the Sterling Memorial Library, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Yale Center for British Art. (more…)
Curatorial Fellowship at The Frick
Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Curatorial Fellowship 2011–2013
Applications due by 20 January 2011
The Frick Collection is pleased to announce the availability of a two-year predoctoral fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an outstanding doctoral candidate who wishes to pursue a curatorial career in an art museum. The fellowship will offer invaluable curatorial training and will provide the scholarly and financial resources required for completing the doctoral dissertation. Internationally renowned for its exceptional collection of Western European art from the early Renaissance through the end of the nineteenth century, The Frick Collection, complemented by the equally significant resources of the Frick Art Reference Library, offers a unique opportunity for object-based research. The Mellon fellowship is best suited to a student working on a dissertation that pertains to one of the major strengths of the Collection and Library. (more…)
Ransom Center Fellowships
Ransom Center Fellowships for 2011-12
The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
Applications due by 1 February 2011
The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin annually awards over 50 fellowships to support research projects that require substantial on-site use of its collections. The fellowships support research in all areas of the humanities, including literature, photography, film, art, the performing arts, music, and cultural history.
The fellowships range from one to three months, with stipends of $3,000 per month. Also available are $1,200 to $1,700 travel stipends and dissertation fellowships with a $1,500 stipend. Complete applications for the 2011-2012 Research Fellowships in the Humanities must be received by February 1, 2011. More information about the fellowships and the Ransom Center’s collections is available online. Please contact Bridget Gayle at brigayle@mail.utexas.edu or 512-232-3214 with any questions or concerns.
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