Department of Art History

Alumnus Peter Selz (PhD ‘54), a leading curator at the Museum of Modern Art from 1958 to 1964 and later a founding director of the University Art Museum, Berkeley, died on June 21 in Albany, California. He was 100.

Over the course of his career, Selz wrote over fifty books and articles on art and art history, and befriended artists such as Mark Rothko and Sam Francis. He also formed friendships with several artists he met during his time as a graduate student in art history at the University of Chicago.

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Art History and the College Claudia Brittenham for receiving the 2019 Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award! Believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching, the Quantrell Award is issued by the University in recognition of a faculty member’s exceptional teaching and mentoring.

Senior Art History major Elizabeth Smith is the recipient of the 2019 Millard Pierce Binyon Memorial Prize for distinction in humanistic pursuits in the College community, awarded by the Humanities Collegiate Division. 

The Booth School of Business has a 13-year-old art collection that includes more than 500 artworks by 150 emerging and established contemporary artists such as Paul Chan, Tacita Dean, Cao Fei, Raymond Pettibon, and Wolfgang Tillmans. UChicago Arts recently posted a story about how Art History students have been engaging with the collection and using it as a resource for curatorial practice. Click he

Art History PhD candidate Savannah Esquivel was selected as one of two recipients for the 2019 Dean’s Award for Graduate Student Teaching Excellence. This award acknowledges Esquivel’s truly outstanding performance as a graduate student teacher and the impact she has made on undergraduate and masters students she has taught.