George Richards

As the Curatorial Assistant, I am involved in all collections-based activities in the museum. A large part of this role is devoted to making our wonderful collection of prints and drawings accessible to students, and I am responsible for devising and facilitating all object-based learning in the museum space. To this end, we have extended the interdisciplinary use of our artworks by presenting them in unusual and innovative contexts, and now over a third of all teaching in the museum is done with courses outside of the Humanities. In addition to teaching, I conduct research into our permanent collection, and am the first point of contact for all general and specialist enquiries into the museum’s holdings. I assist in the planning and development of internal exhibitions and displays, and am responsible for enabling hangs of our artworks in public spaces. I also oversee all registrarial duties, and ensure that our works can be seen all over the world in an active external loans programme.

Background

I studied History of Art at both BA and MA. As an undergraduate in Oxford, I worked in the commercial sector, and spent over four years cataloguing the late Christopher Lennox-Boyd’s extensive collection of British mezzotints. I then left for the Netherlands in 2012 in order to study a Master’s degree at the University of Leiden. On completion of this degree, I was hired by the University’s Special Collections department, and worked with their collection of Dutch Golden Age drawings. I now occupy a similar role at University College London, where I'm committed to broadening the use and study of their superb collection of graphic art.

Interests

I am interested in the study of prints and drawings, and have devoted my career to this pursuit. My research spans a number of centuries, but is mostly focused upon Northern European art and its protagonists. I have written on artists such as John Boydell, Albrecht Altdorfer, and Humbert de Superville, and am currently working on a project on the so-called Kleinmeisters of Nuremberg.