Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Art Historian

🎯 Role Definition

An Art Historian researches, documents, interprets, and communicates the history, context, and significance of artworks and visual culture. This role combines rigorous primary and secondary research, curatorial and exhibition development, cataloguing and collections care, public engagement and teaching, and contribution to scholarship through publications and conferences. The Art Historian collaborates with conservators, curators, registrars, educators, funders, and community partners to ensure collections are accessible, ethically managed, and interpreted for diverse audiences.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Assistant Curator / Curatorial Assistant focused on research and collections
PhD candidate or recent PhD graduate with dissertation research in a relevant field
Museum Educator or Collections Research Assistant with strong subject-matter expertise

Advancement To:

Curator / Senior Curator (specialist in a period, region, or medium)
Head of Collections or Chief Curator
Director of Research or Museum Director for institutions where scholarship is central

Lateral Moves:

Academic lecturer or tenured faculty in Art History
Cultural heritage consultant or provenance researcher for auction houses and law firms
Digital humanities specialist or metadata manager for cultural institutions

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead original, primary-source archival and object-based research to construct rigorous, well-documented narratives about artworks, artists, movements, and material culture, synthesizing findings into scholarly publications, exhibition texts, and grant applications.
Develop, plan, and curate temporary and permanent exhibitions from concept to installation—writing interpretive texts, commissioning loans, preparing object histories, coordinating mount and display requirements, and ensuring curatorial vision aligns with institutional strategy.
Conduct thorough provenance research and due diligence on acquisitions, donations, and loans; prepare provenance reports, identify restitution or repatriation issues, and advise the institution on ethical and legal considerations related to acquisition and deaccession.
Prepare detailed object records, condition reports, and catalogue entries for collections management systems; update metadata, research histories, bibliographies, and exhibition and publication citations to maintain accurate, searchable catalogues.
Author, edit, and contribute to peer-reviewed journal articles, exhibition catalogues, interpretive labels, collection guides, and digital content that advance scholarship and increase public understanding of collections.
Formulate and write competitive grant proposals, fellowships, and sponsors’ briefs to secure funding for research, conservation, publications, and public programs, managing budgets and reporting on deliverables to funders.
Initiate and manage scholarly collaborations and partnerships with universities, other museums, archives, and international research networks—organizing symposia, fellowships, and joint research projects.
Supervise interns, research assistants, graduate students, and visiting scholars—providing mentorship, assigning research tasks, reviewing deliverables, and managing timelines for publication and exhibition milestones.
Advise on conservation priorities and treatment strategies by collaborating with conservators to interpret material evidence, balancing preservation concerns with research and display goals.
Lead public-facing talks, gallery tours, lectures, and community outreach programs that interpret collections for diverse audiences and foster increased visitation, membership, and donor interest.
Oversee object handling, packing, shipping, and loan coordination for inbound and outbound loans—liaising with registrars, lenders, shippers, and insurance providers to ensure secure, compliant loan agreements and transport.
Manage acquisition proposals and donor relations by preparing research-based acquisition justifications, recommending purchases or gifts, and liaising with development staff to cultivate collectors and patrons.
Contribute to digital initiatives and digitization projects—prioritize objects for imaging, provide research-based metadata and narratives for online collections, and collaborate with digital teams to enhance discoverability through SEO and structured data.
Evaluate and implement cataloguing standards (e.g., Getty Vocabularies, CIDOC CRM, Dublin Core) to ensure interoperable metadata and compliance with institutional and international best practices.
Produce interpretive educational materials and curricular resources for K–12 and higher education audiences; collaborate with education teams to align scholarly content with learning objectives.
Lead market and archival research to assess valuations, attributions, and artist oeuvres for gifts, acquisitions, and potential deaccession, providing evidence-based recommendations to collections committees.
Represent the institution at professional conferences, academic panels, and peer-review processes to present new research, network with scholars, and reinforce the institution’s scholarly profile.
Coordinate with marketing and communications teams to develop promotional content, exhibition copy, and press materials that communicate core narratives and attract target audiences.
Maintain and expand subject-area bibliographies and bibliographic databases; curate and manage research libraries or special collections related to the provenance and study of holdings.
Engage in ethical review and policy development for cultural property, decolonization initiatives, and community consultation—working with stakeholders to update acquisition, loan, and display policies.
Design and execute object-based teaching sessions and workshops for undergraduate and graduate classes, facilitating hands-on learning that ties material analysis to historical context and critical theory.
Integrate interdisciplinary methods—such as technical art history, scientific imaging, digital humanities tools, and social history—to strengthen object interpretation and scholarship.
Monitor and report on exhibition and research-related budgets, deadlines, and staffing needs, using project management best practices to deliver projects on time and on budget.
Perform regular condition surveys and advise on preventive care and storage improvements to optimize long-term collection stewardship and meet institutional insurance and risk-management requirements.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc research requests from curators, educators, conservators, and registrars by delivering concise, well-sourced object histories and bibliographies.
Contribute to the institution’s strategic research agenda and digital humanities roadmap by identifying priorities for digitization, web interpretation, and open-access scholarship.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate scholarly content into accessible exhibition copy, mobile guides, podcasts, and multimedia experiences.
Participate in project planning and institutional committees, providing art-historical expertise during budget planning, exhibition scheduling, and collection development meetings.
Assist in coordinating volunteer docents, gallery educators, and community partners for programs directly related to curated exhibitions or collection highlights.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced art historical research and historiography: primary-source archival research, documentary analysis, connoisseurship, and citation management.
Proven experience with collections management systems and databases (e.g., TMS, CollectionSpace, EMu, PastPerfect) including metadata entry, controlled vocabularies, and batch updates.
Proven ability in provenance research, legal/ethical due diligence, and familiarity with international cultural property law frameworks and repatriation best practices.
Proven track record of curating exhibitions: object selection, interpretive planning, label writing, loan negotiation, and installation oversight.
Scholarly publishing and editorial skills: writing for peer-reviewed journals, exhibition catalogues, and grant narratives; copy-editing and peer review experience.
Familiarity with conservation terminology, condition reporting, and collaboration workflows with conservation labs and conservators.
Grant writing and project budgeting: developing funded research proposals, managing budgets, and reporting to grantors.
Technical literacy in digitization workflows, digital asset management, and best practices for online collections and SEO-friendly metadata.
Competence in using research tools and databases (JSTOR, ARTstor, WorldCat, archives catalogs) and proficiency with reference management software (Zotero, EndNote).
Foreign language reading proficiency relevant to the field (commonly French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin), with the ability to work with primary-language archival material.
Experience with exhibition design software and digital storytelling tools (e.g., Omeka, Scalar, content management systems, and basic XML/HTML awareness).

Soft Skills

Strong written and verbal communication: craft clear, engaging interpretive texts and present research to academic, donor, and public audiences.
Critical thinking and analytical reasoning: synthesize disparate sources into coherent, defensible attributions and narratives.
Project management and organizational skills: manage multiple long-term research projects, exhibition timelines, and publication schedules.
Collaboration and stakeholder engagement: work effectively with cross-disciplinary teams, external lenders, donors, and community partners.
Mentoring and supervisory ability: support interns, graduate students, and research assistants with feedback and professional development.
Cultural sensitivity and ethical judgment: navigate repatriation, provenance disputes, and culturally sensitive displays with diplomacy and integrity.
Adaptability and problem-solving: respond to unexpected curatorial or conservation challenges during exhibition preparation or research.
Public-facing facilitation and teaching skills: lead tours, seminars, and public programs that translate scholarship for diverse audiences.
Attention to detail and accuracy: ensure records, labels, and publication citations meet scholarly and institutional standards.
Time management and deadline orientation: deliver high-quality outputs under time and budget constraints.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

MA or MSc in Art History, Visual Studies, Museum Studies, or a closely related discipline; demonstrable research experience in relevant area.

Preferred Education:

PhD (or ABD) in Art History, Visual Culture, or related field with a substantive portfolio of published research and curated exhibitions.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Art History
Museum Studies / Curatorial Studies
Visual Culture / Cultural Heritage
Conservation Science (as a complement)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–8 years for mid-level roles (curatorial assistant → curator); 8+ years for senior or head-curator positions; early-career research fellows often hold 0–3 years post-degree with strong research output.

Preferred:

Demonstrated record of published scholarship, successful exhibition curation, provenance research, grant funding, and experience with collections databases and institutional collaboration. Experience in museum or academic settings with supervised project leadership strongly preferred.