CHRISTOPHER P. HEUER NAMED ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE CLARK’S RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC PROGRAM

For Immediate Release
May 21, 2015

Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute has appointed Christopher P. Heuer to serve as the associate director of its Research and Academic Program (RAP). Heuer will join the Clark’s staff on July 1.

Heuer, a noted European and baroque art scholar, was an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University from 2007–2014 and is currently the Samuel H. Kress Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. He is a widely recognized specialist in early modern European art and architecture, with an emphasis on painting, architecture, and print culture in northern Europe. The author of The City Rehearsed: Object, Architecture, and Print in the Worlds of Hans Vredeman de Vries, Heuer is currently working on books examining Albrecht Dürer and kinesis, and on Renaissance encounters with the Arctic.

“Christopher’s impressive scholarship and broad experience make him an exceptional choice to join our Research and Academic Program,” said Michael Conforti, Felda and Dena Hardymon Director of the Clark. “Christopher was a Fellow in the Clark’s program in 2009 and 2013, and, having long admired his ferocious mind and the rigor he brings to all aspects of his work, we know that the Clark is very fortunate to have him join in leading our scholarly programs.”

Heuer’s work at the Clark will focus on organizing many of Research and Academic Program’s intellectual events and collaborations, as well as daily engagement with the residential scholars in the Clark’s Fellows program. The Clark’s Research and Academic Program is internationally recognized as one of the leading centers for research in the visual arts and has established collaborations with partner institutions including the Getty Research Institute; the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (France); Institute of Art History of the Estonian Academy of Arts; Power Institute at the University of Sydney; University of the Philippines Diliman; Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong); Asian Civilizations Museum (Singapore); and the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa), among others. The Clark is one of the few institutions in the world with a dual mission as both an art museum and an independent center for research and higher education in the visual arts.

“Christopher is a unique figure in his generation within the field of the history of early modern art and culture,” said Conforti. “He is dedicated to the critical importance of research; he possesses a nuanced facility with both theory and historiography; and he brings to his work an attentiveness to both objects and archives. We are delighted to have him join our staff and are confident that he will make invaluable contributions to the program.”

During his time at Princeton, Heuer served as the Class of 1931 Bicentennial Preceptor from 2010–2013 and as a member of the Executive Board of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities from 2011–2014. Previously, he was a member of the faculties of Columbia University (2005–07) and the University of Washington, Seattle (2004–05).

In addition to his two terms as a Fellow at the Clark, Heuer has served as a Fellow at Humboldt Universität, Berlin (2009) and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal (2006). His research has been supported by the Deutsch Akademische Austausch Dienst and the Mellon, Fulbright, and Kress Foundations. Heuer’s work has been widely published, including articles in Res, Art History, Artforum, The Burlington Magazine, Oxford Art Journal, Kunstschrift, and Word and Image. He served as the Northern European book review editor for caa.reviews (College Art Association) between 2010 and 2015.

Heuer holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in the history of art and architecture (2003) and completed a predoctoral fellowship at the Kunsthistorisch Instituut of the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden (2000–2002). He earned his MA from the University of Southern California in the history of art and architecture (1997) and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree cum laude, double majoring in art history and philosophy.

In 2005, he was one of the founding members of Our Literal Speed, an art and performance collective based in Selma, Alabama. He remains active in that enterprise.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, open to the public with more than 240,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

Press contact:
[email protected]