Dear Art History community,
The field of art history is always evolving, but at its core is a sense of wonder at images and objects that speak to us across time. Since our department’s founding in 1934, our work has been guided by a passionate belief in art history as a humanistic enterprise. Today we interpret this mission broadly, while remaining committed to our discipline’s core pursuits: close visual analysis, historical contextualization, and engagement with primary sources. We love art and we study it vigorously, from the widest range of perspectives.
In December, I appeared on CBC News to comment on the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral. The experience took me back to my time as a visiting scholar at Sorbonne University last spring through our University of Toronto–France Art History Partnership. This program, supported by a generous donation, enables 30 undergraduate students to study in France each summer and includes opportunities for graduate student and faculty exchange. Over the past year, we’ve hosted distinguished French scholars such as Barthélémy Jobert (Sorbonne Université) and Anne Lafont (École des hautes études en sciences sociales), strengthening our longstanding connections with European intellectual networks.
Another highlight this year was participating in the honorary degree ceremony for Jane Corkin, a Toronto gallerist who transformed the art world by championing photography as fine art. Inspired by her achievements, the Department of Art History held the symposium “Camera/Women: Rewriting the History of Photography.” Toronto is the ideal place for this kind of inquiry, with our city’s constellation of individuals and institutions that continue to shape the medium’s development.
Events like these help us connect students with living art history. Our undergraduate program, one of North America’s largest, provides comprehensive training in the artistic canon—the Western tradition and beyond—and rigorous historical methods. We are part of a tri-campus graduate program that prepares scholars for careers in academia, curating, heritage, and cultural journalism. The success of these programs is a team accomplishment. I offer my special thanks to our faculty, our administrative staff, and our academic leaders: Prof. Kajri Jain, Graduate Chair; Prof. Jennifer Purtle, Director of Undergraduate Studies; and Prof. Louis Kaplan, Director of Graduate Studies.
We’re delighted you are part of our intellectual community. Please stay connected through this newsletter, our social media channels, and our public programming. Let us know about news and achievements you’d like to share. Thanks for supporting our mission to prepare the next generation of art historians.
Warm regards,
Joseph L. Clarke
Chair, Department of Art History