While we’re all obsessed with the latest multimedia developments, one Fellowship is ensuring the ground-breaking works of the world’s classic print masters are not forgotten.
Applications are now open for the Ursula Hoff Fellowship 2017, which grants one early-stage researcher $30,000 for a four-month research project into the print collections at the National Gallery of Victoria and the University of Melbourne.
The Fellowship will allow the researcher to immerse themselves in the collections that Dr Hoff worked tirelessly to secure and curate.
Ian Potter Museum of Art director Kelly Gellatly said the Ursula Hoff Fellowship, administered by the Museum and the University of Melbourne, was an incredible opportunity for an early stage researcher to immerse themselves in two important print collections.
The NGV collection includes prints by Dürer, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Goya, Renoir and Blake, many of which were secured by Dr Hoff during her tenure as the Keeper of Prints in 1949, and later as Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1968 to 1973.
‘The collection at the NGV is one of the best in the world,’ Gellatly told ArtsHub.
‘It has very different holdings to the University which has a print collection that is more reflective of the University’s own history and the use of the medium in terms of teaching. However, it’s also quite extensive.
‘It’s about bringing a more in-depth and robust knowledge of the contributions of the print medium to art history.
‘You don’t necessarily have to come out of the Fellowship and expect or want to become a print curator. It’s about building an appreciation and awareness of print history so in whatever capacity the Fellow ends up working, s/he brings that awareness to what they do in a much more informed way.’
The Ursula Hoff Fellowship is modelled on the prestigious Harold Wright Fellowship.
‘The inception of the Hoff Fellowship was very much about creating a localised version along the lines of the Harold Wright Fellowship,’ Gellatly said.
‘It enables print scholars to travel to the British Museum to immerse themselves in the British Museum’s works on paper holdings. It’s an extraordinary scholarship and opportunity and so is the Ursula Hoff Fellowship, albeit on a more localised level.’
The Fellowship is also designed to support the professional and intellectual development of an early stage researcher regardless of whether they pursued a career as a curator or keeper of prints.
Applicants should submit a proposal outlining how they would use access to the NGV and University of Melbourne collections to carry out a research project, following in the footsteps of Dr Hoff, and other print art historians.
The successful Fellow will have access to print collections including works such as Fish by Margaret Preston (1949, colour stencil in gouache on pulpboard, 24.8 x 32.4cm (sight), The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Gift of Professor Brian B Lewis 1970; © Margaret Preston Estate/Viscopy)
‘They come to the Fellowship with a proposal – it’s about coming to an understanding of the holdings of both of those institutions, and proposing a project that allows for further research into them,’ Gellatly said.
She said there were very broad parameters around how the grant can be used.
‘There really aren’t a lot of expectations and requirements – it’s a Fellowship that embodies that old-fashioned sense that the financial component could support you to take leave from your existing role or employment to be able sustain yourself while you complete the research,’ she said.
‘It really allows for flexibility within the research too – the recipient might start at one place and end up at a very different place, so it’s not about coming to it with a closed expectation; research and exploration can open up a world of opportunities that may not have been immediately apparent.’
Applications are open to those who have completed a Master of Arts (MA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Art, Art History, Arts Management or Arts Curatorship at a recognised Australian university no more than three years prior to November 25, 2016, the closing date of applications.
Full guidelines and requirements can be found on the Ian Potter Museum of Art website.
