Paintings Curator [Museum of the City of New York]

Posted October 7, 2014

The Museum of the City ofNew York embraces the past, present, and future ofNew York City and celebrates the city’s heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation. It does so through a lively schedule of exhibitions, public and school programs, publications, and collections.

The City Museum’s painting collection consists of over 2,500 paintings, including more than 1,000 watercolors and nearly 200 miniatures. The earliest paintings date to the late 17^th century and the collection extends through graffiti-inspired art of the 1980s, though the collection is strongest in the 19^th century. Areas of strength include portraits, marine scenes, and landscapes by artists such as Rembrandt Peale, Samuel Lovett Waldo, Henry Inman, James Bard, Edward P. Moran, and others. The collection also contains a significant number of portraits of theatrical personalities and a group of more than 300 paintings by street artists such as Lady Pink, Lee Quinones, and Daze.

The City Museum is now seeking an American art curator. Responsibilities will include assessment of the paintings collection, providing intellectual and physical control over the collection, and proposing and curating exhibitions. The Paintings Curator will report to the Director of Collections. This is a good fit for a self-starter building a career as an American art curator and / or scholar. It will offer an opportunity for hands on work and a chance to shape a significant but largely unknown collection. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in art history with a specialization in an area related to this collection, and experience handling and working directly with collection objects. Position will begin in January 2015.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Propose and curate exhibitions.
• Improve physical storage of paintings collection.
• Inventory collection and update cataloging and object files as needed.
• Plan and conduct an assessment of the collection based on condition, quality, New York City relevance, and fit with the City Museum’s collecting policy.
• Create and apply retention guidelines.
• Make recommendations for conservation and oversee work of outside conservators.

Compensation/Benefits:

The Museum offers an attractive comprehensive benefits package including a defined benefit pension plan.

Please send a cover letter, resume, and salary requirement to collections@mcny.org. The Museum of the City ofNew Yorkis an equal opportunity employer.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ph.D. in art history, with a specialty in American art.

• Minimum three years’ experience working with art collections in a museum, gallery, or private collection.
• Experience creating object files and / or cataloging paintings.
• Demonstrated experience establishing work plans, and setting and meeting goals.
• Experience identifying conservation issues.
• Experience handling paintings.