Bridget Riley Art Foundation Fellow
This role will be based on the University campus, with scope for it to be undertaken in a hybrid manner. We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements.
Are you interested in twentieth-century British art, histories of art education, the development of socially-engaged artistic practices or the activities of artist-led groups? Do you have a background in archival research? Do you have experience in both academic publishing and public engagement?
The Bridget Riley Art Foundation Fellowship is designed for a researcher to make use of the extensive Maurice de Sausmarez Archive [https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/682314] in Special Collections at the University of Leeds.
Maurice de Sausmarez (1915-69) was an artist, writer and art educator. He played an important role in the establishment of the Department of Fine Art at the University of Leeds and developed a distinctive pedagogical model which integrated studio practice with histories and theories of art. His influential book Basic Design: The Dynamics of Visual Form (1964) reached a wide international audience and remains in print today. He was an influential figure for many artists in the second half of the twentieth century and his circle included the art critic and philosopher Sir Herbert Read, the art historian and sociologist Arnold Hauser, pioneering art educators Harry Thubron and Victor Pasmore and the visual artists Bridget Riley, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Naum Gabo, Margaret Benyon and many others.
The Archive was acquired by Special Collections in 2019 and has recently been fully catalogued with the support of the Bridget Riley Art Foundation. The Fellowship is an exciting opportunity to undertake research on this newly available collection, and to develop your research portfolio in a supportive and well-established research environment. Researchers working in and across any discipline(s) in the arts and humanities are eligible to apply. This collection is particularly relevant to those with research interests in pedagogical shifts in postwar art and design in Britain, twentieth-century artistic groups and networks, exhibition histories in an educational context, the relationship between regional and metropolitan cultural agencies and institutions, theories of the social role of art and student experiences of art school from the early 1930s to the late 1960s.
Please note that this post may be suitable for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route but first-time applicants might need to qualify for salary concessions. For more information please visit: www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa
For research and academic posts, we will consider eligibility under the Global Talent visa. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent
What we offer in return
- 26 days holiday plus 16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – that’s 42 days a year!
- Generous pension scheme plus life assurance.
- Health and Wellbeing: Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art Campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.
- Personal Development: Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team, and self-development courses including languages, Creative Writing, Wellbeing Therapies and much more.
- Access to on-site childcare, shopping discounts and travel schemes are also available.
And much more!
To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:
Sarah Prescott, Literary Archivist
Email: s.l.prescott@leeds.ac.uk
Further details:
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