Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw (born September 26, 1968) is an art historian, curator, and professor of American art at the University of Pennsylvania. She has curated major exhibitions and published several books on African American art.[1][2] In 2019, she became director of history, research and scholarship and senior historian at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw
Born (1968-09-26) September 26, 1968 (age 56)
MovementModernism
WebsiteGwendolyn DuBois Shaw

Career

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Shaw received her BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her PhD in American art at Stanford University. She was a fellow at both Romare Bearden Graduate Museum, which supported her work at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University.[3]

Shaw became an assistant professor of History of Art and Architecture and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, teaching there for five years.[4] Shaw is currently an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class in American art, particularly as they relate to conflict.[5] In 2019, she was appointed director of history, research and scholarship and senior historian at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.[6]

Writing

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Shaw has published three books on African American art: Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara Walker[7] (2004), Portraits of a People: Picturing African Americans in the Nineteenth Century[8] (2006), and most recently, Represent: 200 Years of African American Art in the Philadelphia Museum of Art[9] (2014). She was previously the visual arts editor of Transition Magazine.[1]

Curation

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Shaw curated the exhibition Portraits of a People: Picturing African Americans in the Nineteenth Century (2006) at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts.[10][11][12] She curated Samba Sessao: Afro-Brazilian Art and Film for the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.[13] She was a consulting curator of the exhibition Represent: 200 Years of African American Art (2015) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[14] She has co-created a number of exhibitions with her students, including Trouble in Paradise: The Art of Polynesian Warfare at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 2006.[15][16] As a teacher of the Spiegel-Wilks Seminar in Contemporary Art in 2016, she worked with students to curate the show Do/Tell at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia.[17] In 2020, as a senior historian at the National Portrait Gallery, she organized Every Eye is Upon Me, an exhibit which explores the lives of the first ladies of the United States.[18][19]

Shaw is active as a speaker and organizer of lectures and events at different institutions. In 2016, Shaw organized a symposium at the National Portrait Gallery on "Racial Masquerade in American Art and Culture".[20]

Awards

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In 2015, Shaw received the Dean's Award for Innovation in Teaching from the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, for "exceptional creativity and innovation in instruction".[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  2. ^ Johnson, Greg (April 16, 2015). "Q&A with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw". Penn Current. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  3. ^ "Fellow: Gwendolyn DuBoisShaw". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
  4. ^ "GWENDOLYN DuBOIS SHAW, PhD" (PDF). University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  5. ^ "The life and art of Horace Pippin". Radio Times. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  6. ^ "National Portrait Gallery Announces Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw as New Director of History, Research and Scholarship / Senior Historian" (Press release). National Portrait Gallery. May 23, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Shaw, Gwendolyn DuBois (2005). Seeing the Unspeakable : the art of Kara Walker (2. print. ed.). Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3396-8.
  8. ^ Shubert, contributions by Emily K. (2006). Portraits of a people : picturing African Americans in the nineteenth century (1. ed.). Andover, Mass.: Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy. ISBN 978-0-295-98571-8.
  9. ^ Represent: 200 Years of African American Art in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [S.l.]: Yale University Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0-300-20800-9.
  10. ^ Childs, Adrienne L. (2006). "Portraits of a People: Picturing African Americans in the Nineteenth Century". Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide. 5 (2). Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  11. ^ Gold, Susanna W. (2006). "Review: Recovering Identity: Nineteenth-Century African American Portraiture". American Quarterly. 58 (4): 1167–1189. doi:10.1353/aq.2007.0009. JSTOR 40068410. S2CID 144204229.
  12. ^ Sheehan, Tanya (6 September 2007). "Tanya Sheehan. Review of "Portraits of a People: Picturing African Americans in the Nineteenth Century" by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw". CAA Reviews. doi:10.3202/caa.reviews.2007.76. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  13. ^ Stewart, Sara; DiSanto, Jill (March 21, 2012). ""Samba Sessao: Afro-Brazilian Art and Film" at Penn's Arthur Ross Gallery". Penn News. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  14. ^ Nagle, Aubrey (January 8, 2015). "200 Years of African American Art". Philly Voice. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  15. ^ "Trouble in Paradise". Courier-Post, Camden, New Jersey. 103. April 23, 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Trouble in Paradise: The Art of Polynesian Warfare Student-Curators at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology". Arts @ Penn. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  17. ^ "Do/Tell: Erin Bernard, Heather Hart, Rachelle Mozman, and Akosua Adoma Owusu". Institute of Contemporary Art. April 22, 2015.
  18. ^ Ault, Alicia (November 19, 2020). "How History Records the Peculiar Role of America's First Ladies". Smithsonian. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  19. ^ Marriott, Hannah (December 21, 2020). "Perma-peeved: Melania Trump's White House photo (plus 11 other revealing first lady portraits)". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  20. ^ "Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Hosts a Symposium on "Racial Masquerade in American Art and Culture"". National Portrait Gallery. October 19, 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  21. ^ "School of Arts & Sciences Teaching Awards". University of Pennsylvania Almanac. 60 (31). April 22, 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
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External videos
  American Art Up Close Lecture Series, Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw, The Art Institute of Chicago