Curatorial Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Notre Dame, Modern and Contemporary Art

With funding provided by a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame invites applications for four postdoctoral research fellowships in its main curatorial areas:
European and American Art before 1900, Indigenous Americas and Africa, International Modern and Contemporary Art, and Photographs.

Fellows will be appointed for two years with the possibility of a one-year extension. Each fellow will work with a collection curator who will direct their research activity. Fellows are expected to be in residence at the University for the duration of the appointment, anticipated to run from September 28, 2026 through September 2028, in order to contribute to the community of scholars on campus.

The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opened its new building in December 2023. With a collection of over 32,000 objects, it serves a campus with about 10,000 students and 1,500 faculty, in addition to diverse communities in northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. Its holdings are increasingly recognized nationally and internationally for their breadth and quality.

The Lilly Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow for Modern and Contemporary Art will be responsible for cataloguing, researching, and interpreting the Museum's important and growing permanent collection. Global in scope, this portfolio is comprised of painting, sculpture, prints, and limited decorative arts. These objects represent the full spectrum of period, movement, methods, and style. Significant acquisitions over the last eight years have strengthened the collection, making them among the most frequently requested works by University faculty for classroom study.

The Fellow will participate in all the daily activities of an active curatorial department, with the collection at its center. This person will work with the curator and Director to research the permanent collection and devise appropriate strategies for disseminating that research. Affirms physical details of work, exhibition history, and bibliography will be important. This refined information will be registered as digital records within the institution, and for the University database.

This information will also be used in ongoing exhibition labels, and publications like a new collection catalogue. In addition to the aforementioned, aside from rectifying the curatorial record an overriding goal of this project specific to prints and drawings is to organize storage of the collection that allows for better use and future expansion of the collection in anticipation of new Works on Paper center at the Museum detailed below.

• Examine works and describe media, and subject matter; update attributions; measure.
• Compile bibliographies, exhibition histories, and provenance.
• Update records in the museum’s collections management database.
• Conduct in-depth research on selected works in the portfolio.
• Contribute as directed to the forthcoming selected works catalog.
• Upon request, meet with faculty and students to connect them with the collection.
• Be available for public programming (lectures, presentations, gallery talks, tours, panel discussions, etc.)

The University ofNotre

Dameseeks to attract, develop, and retain the highest quality faculty, staff and administration. The University is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or age in employment. Moreover,Notre Dame prohibits discrimination against veterans or disabled qualified individuals, and complies with 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-300.5(a).Westronglyencourageapplicationsfrom

candidates attracted to a university with a Catholic identity.

• PhD in art history (received within the last five years) from an accredited institution in the U.S. or Europe.
• Reading knowledge of at least two languages is suggested.
• Command of the art historical canon, especially from the late 19th century to the present.
• Familiarity with archival research.
• Interest in connoisseurship.
• Ability to communicate equally with multi-disciplinary academic and diverse general audiences with clarity and precision.
• Ability to work independently while coordinating efforts with staff in other departments.
• Experience working in museums with collections is desirable but not essential.
• Understanding of collections management databases a plus.
• Interest in and enthusiasm for museum work, with preference given to applicants intending to pursue a curatorial career.