Art Historian Yve-Alain Bois Joins The Faculty Of The Institute For Advanced Study

Art historian Yve-Alain Bois has been appointed to a professorship in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study. Bois will join the Faculty of the Institute on July 1, 2005.

A specialist in 20th-century European and American art, Bois is recognized as an expert on a wide range of artists, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, El Lissitzky, Ellsworth Kelly, Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, Robert Ryman, Ed Ruscha, and Richard Serra. He is also a distinguished curator who has organized exhibitions to national and international acclaim; is the author of six books that have been widely translated; and has written more than 100 essays for exhibition catalogues, scholarly journals, and other publications.

"Yve-Alain Bois' distinguished scholarly record is notable for its range, for its consistent willingness to rethink fundamental issues, and for its conceptual and methodological innovativeness," commented Peter Goddard, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study. "The history of art has been represented at the Institute since 1935, and the appointment of Yve-Alain Bois reaffirms our long-standing leadership in and commitment to the discipline."

Bois has curated and co-curated several influential exhibitions in the past decade, including Piet Mondrian, A Retrospective (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, 1994-95); L'informe, mode d'emploi (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1996); and Matisse and Picasso: A Gentle Rivalry (Kimbell Art Museum, 1999).

The latter two exhibitions were each conceived in tandem with books: L'informe, mode d'emploi ("Formless: A User's Guide," with Rosalind Krauss, 1996); and Matisse and Picasso (1998). Formless (published in English in 1997) introduced concepts that transformed the understanding of avant-garde and modernist art practices, while Matisse and Picasso traced the relationships not only between the two artists, but also between their works, their words, and their views of art.

Other books include Francis Picabia (1975); Arthur Lehning en Mondrian - Hun Vriendschap en correspondentie ("Lehning and Mondrian - Their Friendship and Correspondence," 1984); Painting as Model (1990); and Martin Barr� (1993). With Benjamin Buchloh, Rosalind Krauss, and Hal Foster, he wrote Art since 1900, a major textbook on 20th-century art that will be published in December 2004. At the Institute, Bois will continue to work on and complete the first book devoted solely to Barnett Newman's paintings, which will feature an in-depth study of each of the American artist's 120 canvases.

Bois holds a Doctorat de IIIeme cycle (Ph.D.) from the �cole des Hautes �tudes en Sciences Sociales (1977). Currently co-editor of the journal October, Bois also co-founded the journal Macula, and remains an advisor to the publication's book series.

Bois began his career at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris in 1977. He was then on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University from 1983 to 1991, at which time he accepted the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Professorship of Modern Art in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. Bois was acting chair of the department in 1999-2000, and has been chair since 2002.

The Tradition of the History of Art at the Institute
The history of art has been represented at the Institute since 1935, when Erwin Panofsky (Professor, 1935-62, Emeritus, 1962-68) was appointed to the Faculty of what was then the School of Humanistic Studies. Formalized as the School of Historical Studies in 1949, the School has been home to some of the world's leading art historians, including Millard Meiss (Professor, 1958-1974, Emeritus, 1974-75), Irving Lavin (Professor, 1974-2001, Emeritus, 2001-present) and Kirk Varnedoe (Professor, 2002-2003). Publications by Faculty in the School of Historical Studies have become key references for generations of art historians, and each year the School hosts scholars from around the world, who come to pursue their studies in a range of areas within art history. These scholars work alongside fellow Members specializing in Greek and Roman civilization; the history of Europe (medieval, early modern, and modern); the Islamic world; East and Central Asia, India, and Africa; and modern international relations, among other areas. Such interaction promotes interdisciplinary research and cross-fertilization of ideas, thereby encouraging the creation of new historical enterprises.

75th Anniversary of the Institute
In 2005, the Institute for Advanced Study will mark the 75th anniversary of its founding. Throughout the year, the Institute will celebrate this milestone with a range of events that reflect on the vision of its founders, the powerful achievements of those who have worked there, and the unique and vital contribution that the Institute makes to the world of scholarship today.

In addition to the Institute's anniversary, in 2005, the Institute will also be celebrating the centenary of Albert Einstein's annus mirabilis of 1905, when he published his seminal papers on Special Relativity, Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect. Einstein was one of the Institute's first Faculty members, serving from 1933 to 1955, and played a significant part in its early development.

About the Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world. Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science. It provides for the mentoring of scholars by a permanent Faculty of approximately 30, and it ensures the freedom to undertake research that will make significant contributions in any of the broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities studied at the Institute.

The Institute, founded in 1930, is a private, independent academic institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Its more than 6,000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership throughout the academic world. Thirty-three Nobel Laureates and 40 out of 56 Fields Medalists, as well as many winners of the Wolf and MacArthur prizes, have been affiliated with the Institute.