George
- From: Wisconsin, USA
- Studying: PhD in History of Art (full-time)
- Funding: Self-funded
- Supervision: Prof. Liz Prettejohn
What are your research interests / what are you working on?
"My research interests focus on the tradition of academic painting in the second half of the nineteenth century, in England, Europe and the United States. I am especially interested in the art of Frederic Leighton, the influence of Capri on the composition and subjects of his works, and the subsequent influence of his innovations on the Aesthetic Movement in England and the United States."
What has been the most fascinating part of your research so far, and why?
"The most fascinating and rewarding aspects of my research have been the time and space that the parameters of a PhD allow for, to investigate particular topics, artists, and specific works of art in depth. I had for a long time mistaken Frederic Leighton as a primarily English artist, but the opportunities I have had to consult his biographies, his paintings and drawings, and the body of scholarship surrounding his life and works, have been incredibly helpful to understanding how equally important German and Italian artistic and literary sources surely were to shaping his creative genius. I’ve found this a fascinating and crucial prism to understanding the internationality and cosmopolitan nature of academic painting during the nineteenth century at large."
How do you find the research facilities at York
"Open 24 hours a day, the campus library is an extremely convenient and peaceful place to work and the nearby City Art Gallery in Leeds is especially rich both in nineteenth century works of art and secondary source material. While it is unfortunate that the York City Art Gallery and its rich collections have been closed and largely inaccessibly despite their proximity, following the museum’s eventual re-opening* and renovation however, this tremendous place should prove once more an invaluable and inspiring place for students of art history in York." [*York Art Gallery is due to reopen in 1st August 2015]
What background do you come to your PhD from and what made you choose your research area?
"Before starting my PhD at York, I worked for five years in the Fine Art auction marketplace in the United States. Before I began my career there, I completed a BA in German and Italian and an MSt in Italian Studies at Oxford, both with a focus in medieval literature and manuscript culture. I chose my research area of academic painting because it is the vein of painting that has always appealed to me the most, on account of its reliance on systems of symbolic logic, traditions borrowed from classical antiquity, and trained discipline of line."
Why York rather than somewhere else?
"If one is interested in the history and architecture of England, there is probably nowhere more beautiful and quiet to spend several years of study than York. York has excellent transport links to London, but can also serve as an ideal base to explore and become acquainted with the rich and important cultural centers of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds. The proliferation of important country houses throughout the north of England, along with their own unique importance to architecture, landscape architecture, sculpture and history of collectorship, are in their own right a luxury and an advantage that is special to York and would be more difficult to access from other places."
How has your experience at York broadened your horizons as an art historian?
"The department’s particular strengths in my area of research interests, namely academic painting and the Aesthetic Movement, has allowed me to learn first-hand from the leading scholars in my field. An enormously pleasant surprise has equally been the department’s strength’s in Anglo-Saxon art history, an area that was previously almost completely unknown to me, but the exposure to which the department has allowed me has broadened my understanding the richness and diversity of influences of art in Britain."
Have you undertaken any interesting research trips?
"Castle Howard near York, on account of its collection of paintings by Giovanni Costa, George Howard and Frederic Leighton, Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, on account of its encyclopedic collection of nineteenth century paintings, and Leighton House in Holland Park, London, are the places I have frequented the most. They are all within easy reach of York and should be of great interest to any student of nineteenth century academic painting."
What do you feel is the most important thing you will take away from your experience at York?
"Having lived and studied elsewhere in England before, the opportunity that studying in York has allowed me to know the North of England has been greatly informative to my knowledge and understanding of the United Kingdom at large. Most international students from the United States are far more likely to be familiar with the cities and universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London, which, in my opinion, offer only a limited and very specific snapshot of English academic and political cultures. Besides the strategic geographic location of York, which allows for an convenient exploration of a far vaster and very worthwhile knowledge of the United Kingdom, I am extremely grateful for the opportunities York has allowed me to know a completely different set of attitudes, outlooks and traditions entirely native to the north of the country."
Do you have an idea of how you’ll use your PhD/plans for the future?
"I decided to take up study for a PhD above all for the enjoyment and self-satisfaction that the pursuit of knowledge rewards. It’s also fairly self evident that in today’s job market, be it the area of museum work, heritage preservation, fundraising, or the art marketplace, that it’s become far more essential than it had been in previous generations. I look forward to applying the research skills I have advanced and the information I have had the chance to investigate, to contribute to the collective understanding of academic painting in the nineteenth century, in particular the importance of Capri as an important and formative nexus for it."
What would your dream job be?
"I enjoy the nuts and bolts of curatorial research, collection management, exhibition planning and the thrill of the chase. I feel very lucky to have had experience in the commercial, academic and curatorial areas that engage scholarship of art history. I can’t quite say to which camp I am more inclined than the other; in any case, I always enjoy hard work that produces new insight and new information."
