Margaret Holben Ellis appointed Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation

NYU's Institute of Fine Arts Announces
$2 Million Grant From Eugene and Clare Thaw
For an Endowed Chair in Paper Conservation

Margaret Holben Ellis is Named the Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper
Conservation

The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) at New York University has
announced that it has received a $2-million grant from the Eugene V.
and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust to support an endowed
professorship in paper conservation at the IFA's Conservation
Center.  Margaret Holben Ellis, professor of conservation at the IFA
and director of the Thaw Conservation Center at the Morgan Library
and Museum, will serve as the first Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper
Conservation.

Mariet Westermann, Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director of the
Institute of Fine Arts, said, "Eugene Thaw, a distinguished
philanthropist, art collector, dealer, and scholar, has a long-held
interest and love of works on paper.  His collection of European
master drawings dating from the 15th to the 20th century is one of
the finest in private hands.  We are pleased therefore to be the
recipient of this important gift to endow a chair at the
Conservation Center in his name.  His generosity will help in the
Center's mission of the study of the technology and conservation of
works of art and historic artifacts."

A distinguished scholar in the conservation of prints and drawings
and 20th-century materials and techniques, Ellis has taught at the
Institute of Fine Arts since 1987 and served as Sherman Fairchild
Chairman at the Conservation Center from 1987-2002.  She also serves
as conservation consultant to NYU's Villa La Pietra, in addition to
her part-time post as director of the Thaw Conservation Center at
the Morgan Library and Museum.

A prominent researcher who has published widely on technical
connoisseurship and conservation, Ellis has authored most recently
an essay on the artist Jackson Pollock's materials and techniques,
No Limits Just Edges: Paintings on Paper by Jackson Pollock, a
catalog accompanying a 2006 exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum. Her other publications include Daylight Florescent Colors as
Artistic Media (2002) and The Care of Prints and Drawings (1997).

Michele D. Marincola, Sherman Fairchild Chairman at the Conservation
Center, remarked, "Peggy's extraordinary commitment to conservation
practice and education is an inspiration.  She is a brilliant
teacher and mentor.  In her term as Chairman of the Conservation
Center, she put our program on the map.  I cannot think of a more
appropriate incumbent of the Eugene Thaw Professorship."

Ellis received her MA in art history and diploma in conservation
(1979) from the Institute of Fine Arts and her BA in art history
(1975) from Barnard College, Columbia University.  Among her many
accolades, Ellis was the first Fellow in Conservation/Historic
Preservation at the American Academy in Rome (1994) and received the
Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award from the American Institute for
Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works in recognition of her
excellence in teaching (2003). Founded in 1960, the Conservation
Center of the Institute of Fine Arts is dedicated to the study of
the technology and conservation of works of art and historic
artifacts. It prepares students for careers in conservation through
a four-year program that combines practical experience in
conservation with historical, archaeological, curatorial, and
scientific studies of the materials and construction of works of
art.  Students complete a Master's degree in art history at the
Institute of Fine Arts and receive an Advanced Certificate in
conservation.

The Institute of Fine Arts celebrates its 75th Anniversary in
2007-08 as one of the world's leading graduate schools and research
centers in art history, archaeology, and conservation. The Institute
has a permanent faculty unrivalled in the breadth and depth of its
expertise and unparalleled in the range of its adjunct lecturers
from top museums, research institutes, and conservation studios.
Since the Institute awarded its first PhD in 1933, more than 1600
degrees have been conferred.  Its alumni hold leadership roles as
professors, curators, museum directors, archaeologists,
conservators, critics, and institutional administrators throughout
the U.S. and internationally.

Richard Pierce
Deputy Director for Public Relations
New York University
Office of Public Affairs
25 West Fourth Street, 5th floor
New York, NY 10012
212-998-6796
Fax: 212-995-4021


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:55
                 Distributed: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-55-001
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