FIRST LOOK

Portrait Medals Study Day

The Frick Collection

March 24, 2017

10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Frick Collection invites applications for “First Look: Portrait Medals Study Day,” a program for graduate students organized in anticipation of the special exhibition The Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals[frick.org] (opening May 9, 2017). The Scher Collection—the largest and most significant collection of portrait medals in private hands—has been given in part to the Frick; the exhibition celebrates this gift and explores the art of the medal from its invention in the Renaissance through the 19th century, and its histories in Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, England, Russia and Scandinavia, Mexico, and the United States. Long considered a specialist field of study, portrait medals have been the focus of increasing scholarly attention. Recent studies have explored, for example, their function as a medium of commemoration, their role in social and cultural exchange, and their efficacy as reproducible vehicles of representation and identity.

Applications are welcome from students in all disciplines; participants need not have prior experience in the field of medallic art. The study day centers on the essential experience of handling a wide range of superlative examples from the Scher Collection in advance of their installation in the exhibition galleries. Session leaders, who will engage the art of the medal from various perspectives, include Aimee Ng (Associate Curator, The Frick Collection), Marisa Bass (Assistant Professor of the History of Art, Yale University), and Stephen Scher (collector and art historian). Admission is limited due to the hands-on nature of the program.

Application Instructions
Please submit a brief statement of interest (max. 250 words) and CV to edevents@frick.org by Tuesday, February 7, 2017. Accepted applicants will be notified by Tuesday, February 21, 2017.