News and Events
News
Read stories and articles for and about current and prospective students and faculty in the Art History program, or catch up on the latest program updates in our announcements below or by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
Get the latest Art History news
You can also browse an archive of books published by program faculty and scholars.
Events
The Art History program hosts numerous events for its students and faculty, as well as the wider Philosophy community.
View all upcoming Art History events
Rewald Seminar
Rewald Seminars take place every two weeks, and offer an opportunity for faculty and students to hear cutting-edge research in progress by scholars from inside and outside CUNY.
John Rewald (1912-1994) was a Distinguished Professor of Art History at the Graduate Center, beginning in 1971. Rewald was known for his important work in late 19th century art, especially The History of Impressionism, published in 1946. The Rewald endowment was established to support art history students and is used to fund our annual Rewald seminar series focusing on new research in progress from outside of and within CUNY. The Rewald endowment also funds two to three student-led conferences a year, among other scholarly activities.
Art History Announcements
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Stephanie Wiles (Ph.D. 2001) Re-appointed Director of Yale Art Gallery
Congratulations to Dr. Stephanie Wiles on her reappointment for a second term as Director of Yale University Art Gallery. Wiles finished her Ph.D. in Art History at The Graduate Center in 2001 and has gone on to have an outstanding career in museum and university collections. Prior to her time at Yale, she was Director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University. Read more about her innovative leadership at Yale here.
- Congratulations/Kudos
Professor Josh Cohen co-edits a special issue of ARTMargins
Professor Josh Cohen, along with Foad Torshizi and Vazira Zamindar, co-edited Art History, Postcolonialism, and the Global Turn — a special issue of ARTMargins . See it here.
- Congratulations/Kudos
Winning grant for Symposium of Latin American Art 2024
Congrats to students Suzie Oppenheimer and Laura Suárez Rodriquez who won a DSRG Surplus Initiative Grant to fund a symposium on Latin American Art in 2024! The DSRG received a large number of proposals across all fields at the Graduate Center, so this was a highly competitive grant. Well done Suzie and Laura!
- Congratulations/Kudos
Cynthia Hahn named Distinguished Professor
Congratulations to Professor Cynthia Hahn who has just been named Distinguished Professor of Art History. She has written 10 books and over 40 articles, making major contributions to the history of medieval art history. With particular interest in reliquaries - their place in devotion and the cult of saints, their materiality, how medievals interacted with them, among other approaches to understanding them - she has re-shaped the understanding of these objects and their place in medieval life. Among her many honors, she was recognized by the Medieval Academy of America who elected her as a fellow in 2018. She has held fellowships at CASVA and the Institute for Advanced Study, among many other prestigious institutions. We are so pleased that she has been given this well-deserved honor.
- Congratulations/Kudos
Recent Books
View all Art History books
Alexander at the end of the World
The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
A riveting biography of Alexander the Great’s final years, when the leader’s insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.
By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had reached the pinnacle of success. Or so it seemed. He had defeated the Persian ruler Darius III and seized the capital city of Persepolis. His exhausted and traumatized soldiers were ready to return home to Macedonia. Yet Alexander had other plans. He was determined to continue heading east to Afghanistan in search of his ultimate goal: to reach the end of the world.
In Alexander at the End of the World, renowned classicist and art history professor Rachel Kousser vividly brings to life Alexander’s labyrinthine, treacherous final years, weaving together a brilliant series of epic battles, stunning landscapes, and nearly insurmountable obstacles. Meticulously researched and grippingly written, Kousser’s narrative is an unforgettable tale of daring and adventure, an inspiring portrait of grit and ambition, and a powerful meditation on the ability to learn from failure.
Published July 2024
Mariner Books
Photography and Korea
Authored by GC alumna Jeehy Kim, Ph.D. '15, Art History.
From the late nineteenth century, when Korean travellers brought Western photographic technology home from China, to modern times, photography has been interwoven into Korea’s political and cultural history. In Photography and Korea, the first history of Korean photography for a Western readership, Jeehey Kim presents multiple visions of the country, including the divided peninsula, Korea as imagined through foreign eyes, key Korean artists, Korean diasporas and local professional and vernacular photographers. Kim explores studio and institutional practices during the Japanese colonial period, and the divergence of practices after the division of Korea.
Published May 2023
Reaktion Books
Monumental Controversies
Mount Rushmore, Four Presidents, and the Quest for National Unity
In recent years the United States has witnessed major controversies surrounding past American presidents, monuments, and sites. Consider Mount Rushmore, which features the heads of the nation’s most revered presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Is Rushmore a proud national achievement or a symbol of the U.S. theft and desecration of the Lakota Sioux’s sacred land? Is it fair to denigrate George Washington for having owned slaves and Thomas Jefferson for having had a relationship with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman, to the point of dismissing these men’s accomplishments? Should we retroactively hold Abraham Lincoln accountable for having signed off on the largest single-day mass execution in U.S. history, of thirty-eight Dakota men? How do we reckon with Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy? He was criticized for his imperialist policies but praised for his prolabor antitrust and conservation programs. These charged issues and many others have been plaguing our nation and prompting the removal of Confederate statues and flags amid racial unrest, a national pandemic, and political strife.
Noted art historian Harriet F. Senie tackles these pivotal subjects and more in Monumental Controversies. Senie places partisan politics aside as she investigates subjects that have not been adequately covered in classrooms or literature and require substantial reconciliation in order for Americans to come to terms with their history. She shines a spotlight on the complicated facts surrounding these figures, monuments, and sites, enabling us to revisit the flaws of our Founding Fathers and their checkered legacies while still recognizing their enormous importance and influence on the United States of America.
Published April 2023
Potomac Books
