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The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts National Gallery of Art reflections on the first twelve years 7 Director’s Foreword earl a. powell iii 9 The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts: Reflections on the First Twelve Years elizabeth cropper 12 Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professors 2003 – 2014 56 Biographies, Programs, and Participants Director’s Foreword the trustees of the national gallery of art join me in saluting 7 Edmond J. Safra (1932 – 1999) with the publication of this account of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Gallery’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts. This distinguished professorship was created to recognize his generous patronage of the arts and his extraordinary contributions to our nation’s cultural and intellectual life. As chairman of Republic National Bank, he forged partnerships with the Gallery in presenting several memorable exhibitions, such as Berthe Morisot, Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration, and Georges de La Tour. In 1999 the Board of Trustees awarded Edmond and Lily Safra the Medal for Distinguished Service to Education in Art, which recognizes those who have dem­ onstrated leadership in raising public appreciation of art and culture throughout the nation. In 2002 the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation established the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship to bring to the Gallery an internationally renowned scholar to engage in the study and interpretation of works of art in the collection or of related works. Since the program’s inception, some dozen men and women have served in this prestig ious position, and their accomplishments are truly impressive. I extend our deep gratitude to Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation for their generosity in creating this professorship in honor of Edmond J. Safra, whose philanthropy reflected the standard of excellence that defines the National Gallery of Art. This book is dedicated to his memory. Earl A. Powell iii National Gallery of Art national gallery of art The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Reflections on the First Twelve Years the national gallery of art was created Trustees that “the Center will serve as a meeting 9 for the people of the United States of America in ground for teachers and scholars from all over 1937 by a joint resolution of the United States the world.” It was further understood by Congress Congress accepting the gift of Andrew W. Mellon that “the stipends of Members of the Center and (1855 – 1937), financier and public servant. Mellon, of the participants in its fellowship program will be who was secretary of the treasury from 1921 to met from private funds administered by the Trustees.” 1932, had come to see that the United States should The desirability and feasibility of a research have a national art museum comparable to those institute at the Gallery had been under discussion of other nations. In 1936 he wrote to President from the early 1950s. Interest grew in parallel Franklin D. Roosevelt offering to give his collection with the increase in graduate training in art history and to construct a building for this purpose. What in the United States, the expansion of public is now the West Building, designed by John Rus­ interest in the arts (and in museums especially), sell Pope, was begun shortly before Mellon’s death. and the need in the United States to increase Dedicated by President Roosevelt on March 17, 1941, scholarly contact with the art historical community it opened with the Mellon collection as the nucleus worldwide. The Center was formally established by of the new National Gallery’s holdings. Federal a resolution of the Board of Trustees on September funding was to cover upkeep, administrative expenses, 29, 1977, and its creation was deeply implicated and costs of operation. Over the years Mellon’s in the design for the East Building, in which the broad vision for the preservation, collecting, exhib­ National Gallery of Art Library and other resources iting, and interpretation of works of art for the are immediately accessible. nation has been sustained through an essential When the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual combination of this federal funding with remarkable Arts (casva) opened in 1979, its stated mission private gifts to the Gallery. was to promote study of the history, theory, and The East Building of the National Gallery was criticism of art, architecture, and urbanism through the greatest of those private gifts. Andrew Mellon’s the formation of a community of scholars. That children, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, mission, together with casva’s four programs provided the funds for I. M. Pei’s landmark building, of fellowships, meetings, research, and publication, which opened in 1978. In authorizing the new has remained steady over the decades, even as construction, Congress recognized that it would the theory and practice of the history of art have “house a Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts” evolved and changed. Its original goal, to foster and cited the hopes of the Gallery’s Board of study of the production, use, and cultural meaning national gallery of art 10 of art and artifacts from prehistoric times to the Foundation since 1965, and the Andrew W. Mellon present, including the historiography and criticism Professorship, created in 1994 through the generous of all the visual arts, has proven prescient as the endowment of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation global and the local have come to claim equal attention. on the occasion of the Gallery’s fiftieth anniversary. casva’s place within the National Gallery of The former is intended for a senior scholar who Art is unique among international research institutes carries special responsibility to advise and support of its kind, and over the years many special opportu­ the predoctoral fellows at casva. The latter is a nities and responsibilities have presented themselves. two­year appointment for a scholar in mid­career The daily exchange among scholars of several gen­ embarking on ambitious research projects. erations makes possible a kind of creative discourse The creation of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting unavailable in more conventional academic settings. Professorship in 2002 allows casva to do some­ Similarly, the potential combination of the knowledge thing quite new: to bring to the Gallery and casva and skills of the permanent curatorial, conservation, for a period of months a colleague of international scientific, and library staff of the Gallery with those reputation whose presence inspires collaboration in of visiting scholars and teachers challenges casva research efforts across the Gallery, forging new to enhance the experience of both groups, while find ­ relationships. At the same time each of these distin­ ing new ways to influence and widen understanding guished visitors contributes to the passing on of of art. Research done at casva may have worldwide knowledge and experience to an emerging generation implications, yet every individual scholar takes away of scholars, curators, and conservation scientists the immediate experience of residency at the Gallery, through meetings both formal and informal, designed with incalculable results. by the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professor and casva for that purpose. Every year an outstanding the edmond j. safra visiting junior scholar in the position of research associate professorship provides support for the Edmond J. Safra Visiting It was to take greater advantage of the possibilities Professor’s activities at the National Gallery. for the sharing of knowledge offered at the This intense per sonal experience of learning from National Gallery that casva sought support from leaders in the field is invaluable for the formation the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation in of the leaders of the future. The program has made 2002. Two distinguished professorial appointments a lasting difference to the intellectual and profes­ already existed at casva: the Samuel H. Kress sional development of the curators, educators, and Professorship, supported by the Samuel H. Kress researchers who have participated. the edmond j. safra visiting professorship The profiles that follow attempt to give a succinct to a new generation a broader knowledge of the 11 account to date of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting understanding of works of art that the Edmond J. Professors and their work at the National Gallery Safra Philanthropic Foundation has offered. of Art over more than a decade. The record is one not only of distinguished appointments but also Elizabeth Cropper of extraordinary intellectual opportunities. Extra Dean support for activities has often come from other Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts sources, and we are especially grateful to Robert H. Smith and the Smith Family Foundation and to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their gener­ osity. Brief biographies of the professors are to be found at the end of this volume, together with the names of those who participated in the meeting associated with each professor’s residency at casva and the institutions to which they belonged at the time. Many of these emerging curators and scholars have gone on to further accomplishments in the field. A simple listing of names cannot possibly do justice to the support given to the Edmond J. Safra program by members of the curatorial, conservation, and scientific staff of the National Gallery of Art. casva staff have organized and executed programs associated with the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professor, but the success of these relies on the leadership, cooperation, and energy of colleagues throughout the Gallery and of its director, Earl A.

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