Research Associate, Modern & Contemporary Gallery

Our client, a gallery specialising in twentieth and twenty-first century art, is seeking an experienced Research Associate. The ideal candidate will possess writing skills of the highest academic quality and have a strong background in historical fine art research. This individual should have a profound understanding of twentieth century American art history and culture. It is essential that this individual be forward-thinking, highly organized and detail oriented.

Responsibilities:

• Conducts research for artwork in gallery inventory, especially to confirm provenance, exhibitions and publication history; inputs details into database records and artwork fact sheets
• Produces intellectual property for gallery, including but not limited to essays about individual artworks, artist chronologies and biographies, press releases, art fair application texts, website content, social media and client correspondence
• Maintains CVs, public collection lists, and chronologies for gallery artists; supports and conducts artist research for exhibitions and publications
• Edits and maintains artwork records in response to incoming press, publications, and archival resources, tracking updates to provenance information, publication and exhibition history, comparable works in museum collections, installation and archival photographs
• Corresponds with artists and estates about new acquisitions, gallery inventory, archival materials and research inquiries
• Consults and corresponds with Catalogue Raisonné projects to update artwork records
• Responds to research inquiries from external curators and scholars
• Copy edits essays, chronologies, and other texts for historical and grammatical accuracy, and incorporates gallery house style and industry standards
• Understands and utilizes gallery library; reviews new publications and exhibition catalogues and works with librarian to enter incoming books into library system
• Collaborates with Communications Associate, Registrar and Archivist to maintain artist files and artwork records

Requirements:

• M.A. degree or higher in art history, with a focus on twentieth century American art history
• Prior experience in a gallery, museum, or at a publication with a focus in fine art
• Well-rounded knowledge of the arts and ability to connect and incorporate relevant information into writing
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; knowledge of industry standards
• Familiarity with museums, libraries and archives with experience in archival research
• Extremely detail-oriented, organized and capable of prioritizing and executing multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Experience using Microsoft Office programs, Windows PC, and an artwork/collections database
• Familiarity and ability to work with file-sharing services such as Dropbox and Google Drive