The National Gallery of Art is pleased to announce that the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust has generously provided funding for a biennial program on the connoisseurship of works on paper with an alternating focus on prints and drawings. Intended for individuals in the early stages of their curatorial careers, the 2018 Thaw Colloquium will consider the traditional skills of looking and evaluating, generally referred to as connoisseurship, with special reference to the building and shaping of print collections in museums. Not only does connoisseurship serve as the basis for determining
aesthetic quality and advancing art historical interpretation, but the close and comparative examination of technique, style, condition, and impression quality functions as a critical tool in assessing institutional holdings, evaluating potential acquisitions on the market and in private collections, developing and tailoring collection specific acquisition strategies, and organizing exhibitions.

This three-day seminar, limited to a select number of participants, will feature presentations by curatorial and conservation staff with reference to Old Master, nineteenth-century, and modern prints from the National Gallery’s collections. The National Gallery of Art will cover participants’ travel (national or international), accommodations, and daily expenses.

Requirements: Participants will have a demonstrated commitment to prints and drawings, including at least two years of curatorial experience in a department of works on paper and advanced academic study in art history concerning the graphic arts.

Applicants should send a letter of interest and CV by September 14, 2018 to:
Mollie Berger Salah
Curatorial Assistant
Division of Prints and Drawings
National Gallery of Art
m-salah@nga.gov

Applicants selected to participate will be notified of their acceptance to the 2018 Thaw Colloquium on Connoisseurship by October 5, 2018.