Summer Curatorial Research Intern: Olivia White ’20 (UMass MA ’25)
As a master’s student in the History of Art & Architecture Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I sought a summer research internship that would offer flexible hours and help develop my skills as an aspiring art historian specializing in the long nineteenth century. The SCMA fully met these goals, with the added benefit of attentive and caring mentorship from Danielle Carrabino, Curator of Painting and Sculpture.
My main project focused on a pair of Clodion (Claude Michel, 1738–1814) terracotta sculptures, Nymph with Two Children (Fig. 1) and Satyr with Two Children (Fig. 2), that have been in SCMA’s collection since the early 1970s. Nymph and Satyr were sculpted en ronde-bosse, or “in the round,” and depict mythological subjects with a sensual air typical of the French Rococo style. With Danielle’s guidance, I wrote a new label based on my research on Clodion’s oeuvre and techniques, suggested a date range for the objects (ca. 1770–1800), and added an annotated bibliography of related texts to the object file.
Figure 1: Clodion (Claude Michel), Nymph with Two Children, ca. 1770–1800. Terracotta on marble base. Purchased with the bequest of Frances Ryder Walker, class of 1930. SC 1973.7.1.
Figure 2: Clodion (Claude Michel), Satyr with Two Children, ca. 1770–1800. Terracotta on marble base. Purchased with the bequest of Frances Ryder Walker, class of 1930. SC 1973.7.2.
I also had the opportunity to conduct provenance research on the oil painting Portrait of a Lady, attributed to Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (Fig. 3), a prominent eighteenth-century portraitist and political activist. I researched some French Orientalist paintings in the collection as well, including Henri Regnault’s Group of Horsemen (Fig. 4) and Eugène Delacroix’s Variant on a Detail from Massacre de Scio (ca. 1834–1838) (Fig. 5) and Study for Women of Algiers (ca. 1834) (Fig. 6). Finally, I attended meetings on the rotation and installation of works on the second floor and met conservator Cynthia Schwarz of Yale University Art Gallery as she prepared a condition report for the John Singer Sargent mural Heaven (ca. 1909–1914) (Fig. 7) in anticipation for its display in an upcoming exhibition at Yale: “The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917,” on view September 6, 2024 – January 5, 2025.
I am grateful for the research, training, and networking opportunities I had this summer at SCMA, where I always feel welcome and valued. Thank you to Danielle Carrabino in particular for her genuine interest in making my experience memorable, rewarding, and enjoyable.
Figure 3: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Portrait of a Lady, no date. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Mary Locke Petermann, class of 1929. SC 1976.10.
Figure 4: Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault, Group of Horsemen, no date. Oil on paper mounted on board. Gift of Mrs. John Wintersteen (Bernice M. McIlhenny, class of 1925). SC 1951.302.
Figure 5: Eugène Delacroix, Variant on a Detail from Massacre de Scio, ca. 1834–1838. Oil on canvas. Gift of Colonel Walter Scott. SC 1921.10.1.
Figure 6: Eugène Delacroix, Study for Women of Algiers, ca. 1834. Oil on canvas. Gift of Colonel Walter Scott. SC 1921.11.1.
Figure 7: John Singer Sargent, Heaven, ca. 1909–1914. Oil on canvas with applied cloth and gilding. Gift of Mrs. Dwight W. Morrow (Elizabeth Cutter, class of 1896). SC 1932.14.2.