The Getty in conjunction with the Rothschild Foundation have announced the birth of a new fellowship to support innovative scholarship in the history of art, collecting, and conservation as well as its inaugural fellow, Dr. David Saunders.
The Getty-Rothschild Fellowship will draw from the collection and resources of both institutions and will offer art historians, conservators, and museum professionals the chance to to research at both the Getty in Los Angeles and Waddesdon Manor in England.
Fellowships will run for up to eight months with time split evenly between the Getty and Waddesdon, so the criteria for selection considers whether the applicant’s work would benefit from proximity to either of the two institutions.
Perks of the fellowship include a stipend as well as the opportunity to stay at the magnificent Flint House while at Waddesdon.
“The Getty and the Rothschild Foundation hold similar values regarding the understanding and conservation of visual art around the world, and it is only appropriate that we would work together to support individuals who demonstrate these values through their research,” Jim Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust commented in a press release.
The Getty, which is administering the fellowship, has also named the inaugural fellow Dr. Saunders, a leading conservation science specialist whose research focuses on museum and gallery lighting.
Formerly the principal scientist at The National Gallery and keeper of conservation, documentation, and research at the British Museum, Saunders is currently working on a book about museum and gallery lighting as an independent researcher, using Waddesdon Manor as a case study.
Lord Rothschild, chair of the Rothschild Foundation has said: “The Rothschild Foundation and Waddesdon Manor are delighted to be collaborating with the Getty on this Fellowship, which will nurture high-level scholarship on subjects which are close to the hearts of both institutions, whether in the fields of art and art history, collecting, conservation or the application of new technologies to the museum and heritage worlds.”
“I am particularly pleased that our first Fellow will be David Saunders, whose work is of the greatest possible relevance to Waddesdon, as a historic house seeking to present itself in innovative ways,” he added.
Saunders will be at the Getty from January to March 2017 and at Waddesdon Manor from April to June 2017.