CHICAGO, IL.- The Art Institute announces the new appointment of Gloria Groom as the Chair of European Painting and Sculpture and David and Mary Winton Green Curator. The Department of European Painting and Sculpture is one of the most visible of the Art Institute’s 11 curatorial departments, and oversees a celebrated collection of European art that spans seven centuries, including works from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, early 19th century, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist periods.
As the new Chair of the Department, Groom will continue to champion this internationally respected collection and work closely with the Old Masters Society of the Art Institute of Chicago—one of the museum’s strongest affiliate groups that brings together more than 500 members who share a passion for European art from the 13th to the 19th century.
“It gives me enormous pleasure to name Gloria Groom as the Art Institute's Chair of European Painting and Sculpture and David and Mary Winton Green Curator,” said Douglas Druick, President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the museum. “In our many years of working together, I have seen first-hand Gloria’s dedication, vitality, and leadership in advancing the global reputation of this exceptional collection. I have been continually impressed by her groundbreaking research, innovative exhibitions, and her ability to engender excitement and enthusiasm among our collaborators and new generations of museum audiences.”
“I am honored and thrilled to be taking the helm of this exceptional collection that I love so much, and with colleagues for whom I have the utmost respect,” said Groom. She added, “The department will continue offering a diverse range of exhibitions to engage visitors and advance art historical research: from intensely beautiful, well-conceived small and focused exhibitions to major loan shows created in partnership with international peer museums. I am particularly excited that we now have so many platforms to tell the rich stories of art: in the galleries, of course, but also in our publications, both print and online, and with new digital initiatives. I will lead our department to continue to inspire our loyal visitors and also find new ways to build a compelling, inclusive visitor experience for members of the public who may be less familiar with European art and culture.”
An expert in French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, especially the work of artists Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, Groom has published her research extensively in exhibition catalogues and scholarly journals and presented her ideas in many internationally recognized exhibitions, including Caillebotte: Urban Impressionist (1995) and Beyond the Easel: Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890–1930 (2001). Her most recent exhibition, Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity (2013), garnered global acclaim when it was shown in Paris, New York, and Chicago, showing the significance of fashion from the Impressionists era as both subject and vehicle for a new approach to painting.
Since 2009, she has spearheaded the museum’s major digital research initiative, which represents comprehensive collection information for the Art Institute’s permanent holdings. She has co-authored and co-edited volumes on Monet and Renoir (released in 2012) and Pissarro, Manet, and Caillebotte (released 2015); an upcoming volume on Gauguin will be published by the end of 2015. For these volumes, she collaborated extensively with an international team of scholars, conservators, and scientists, and these volumes represent the definitive state of art historical research and technical investigations on the works of these artists in the museum’s collection. Her pioneering vision for this project has truly paved the way for online museum catalogs.
Her future exhibitions include Van Gogh’s Bedrooms (2016), which brings together the artist’s three versions of his famous Bedroom at Arles since they were in his possession, and Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist, in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay, which will look at the artist’s life-long interest in three dimensional objects in a variety of media (ceramic, wood, stained glass) in the context of his better known paintings.
In June 2013, she was named Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her significant contributions to French art and culture. In 2015, she was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by the President of the French Republic — the highest decoration bestowed by the Government of France.
She received her B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Groom received a diploma from the École du Louvre and was a 2009 Fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership.
