PhD Position (100%)
As part of a research project on Artists’ Collections in the Early Modern Netherlands (c. 1600-c. 1700) the University of Ghent and FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders) is looking for an excellent PhD candidate (full time / 2 x 2 year appointment).
Project
Up to now, the ever-growing literature on Early Modern collections has considered collecting primarily in terms of prestige, social status and the aesthetics of display. Rarely have historians considered the use of objects in collections or the activities inside the walls of collections, admittedly because source material that illuminates such aspects is often missing. Important exceptions are the collections of artists that, because of their owners’ artistic production, offer more sources to tackle such questions. This project thus focuses on the study of artists’ collections, although it will have an impact on the overall image of collecting in the Early Modern Netherlands. This project maintains that Early Modern artists’ material possessions, from naturalia to fine arts, were vital to artistic inventio. It aims at describing and defining how artists’ collections shaped artists’ concepts of art theory and ultimately art itself. It does this bearing in mind that all collections were formed in a specific economic and intellectual context.
The central question of the project is how artists used their material possessions for the creation of works of art. To answer this the project investigates the composition of collections, the display of objects in the collections, the collection as a site for sociability of artists’ knowledge, and artists’ use of the objects for the creation of works of art. The project is divided into three subprojects guided by the following questions: (1) How and where (through which networks) did artists acquire objects for their collections? (2) Why did artists acquire objects and how did their material acquisitions represent epistemic interests? (3) If and how did artists use objects in their collections for the creation of new works of art? The project investigates each of these aspects in the Northern and Southern Netherlands.
The successful candidate is expected to conduct the research, publish the findings in peer-reviewed journals and to write a PhD dissertation at the University of Ghent. The research will be conducted under the supervision of Koenraad Jonckheere (University of Ghent) and Sven Dupré (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science / Institute for Art History, Freie Üniversität Berlin). The successful candidate will also be expected to do research for a period of 6 months to 1 year as a pre-doctoral fellow in the Max Planck Research Group “Art and Knowledge in Pre-Modern Europe” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Research proposals that will clearly benefit from good use of Berlin’s resources will be preferred.
Salary
c. € 40.000 gross (i.e. c. € 1700, net/month; social security included). A mobility allowance towards the costs directly related to the research stay in Berlin.
Job requirements
A master’s degree in one of the following disciplines:
- Early Modern Art History
- Early Modern History (with a demonstrable interest in Art History and the History of Science or Collecting)
- Early Modern History of Science (with a demonstrable interest in Art History and the History of Collecting)
Information
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Koenraad Jonckheere (koenraad.jonckheere@ugent.be or +32 (0)475 223 803)
or Prof. Dr. Sven Dupré (officedupre@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de)
For more information on the Department of Art History at Ghent University, see http://www.kunstwetenschappen.ugent.be/
For more information on the Max Planck Research Group “Art and Knowledge in Pre-Modern Europe”, see http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/en/research/projects/MRGdupre
Application Procedure
Candidates are required to send a letter of application, a short research proposal (max. 750 words) which indicates how the candidate’s research will contribute to the project as well as how the candidate’s research will benefit from the resources of the Max Planck Research Group in Berlin, a Curriculum Vitae and a writing sample (published article, chapter of master’s thesis, or similar) to:
Prof. dr. Koenraad Jonckheere (koenraad.jonckheere@ugent.be) Sint-Hubertusstraat 2
B-9000 Gent
Belgium
The closing date for applications is January 5, 2012.
Anticipated interview date: January 16, 2012
Ideally, the successful candidate will start on 1 March 2012 (postponement is negotiable)