National Gallery of Art Center for Advanced Study Names 2026–2027 Fellows, Over 30 Scholars
The Facts
On July 13, 2026, the National Gallery of Art's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (the Center) announced over 30 fellows for the 2026–2027 academic year. Their research spans continents and centuries, including topics such as visualizing the apocalypse in medieval Europe, the material culture of death in premodern India, and painted soundscapes in Korean Buddhist art. Liza S. Kirwin, deputy director emerita of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, will serve as Kress-Beinecke Professor, researching 19th-century Hudson River School painter Jervis McEntee. Kathleen Christian, this year's Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professor, will contribute to the gallery's forthcoming exhibition "Broken: The Power of the Fragment in Sculpture." Erica Moiah James, professor and curator, begins a two-year appointment as Andrew W. Mellon Professor. Thirteen predoctoral fellows will conduct field research, and additional visiting senior fellows will be announced.
The Signal
The Center's 47th fellowship year underscores the National Gallery's investment in scholarship that shapes curatorial practice and public programming. For collectors and curators, the focus on understudied regions and periods—from premodern India to Korean Buddhist art—signals potential shifts in exhibition and acquisition priorities. The appointment of Kathleen Christian, tied to a fragment-focused sculpture exhibition, indicates a thematic thread that may influence the market for fragmented or incomplete works. This cohort reflects a broader institutional push toward global, interdisciplinary art history, deepening the context behind the objects on view.
- Artists: Jervis McEntee
- People: Liza S. Kirwin, Kathleen Christian, Erica Moiah James, C. D. Dickerson III
- Museums: National Gallery of Art
- Locations: Washington, DC
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