Faculty of Arts School of Culture & Communication

Assoc Prof Alison Inglis

Course co-ordinator MA Art Curatorship
Head of Program, Art History, School of Culture and Communication

Qualifications

BA Hons (UniMelb), PhD (UniMelb)

Biography

Alison Inglis is a graduate of the Art History Department of the University of Melbourne. Alison teaches subjects on British Art 1848-1914; Materials and Techniques of Art; and museum studies (in particular issues in art museum management and art conservation). Alison co-ordinates the MA Art Curatorship programme in the School and also jointly co-ordinates the Postgraduate Certificate in Art Conservation Studies.

Her PhD thesis examined the work of the nineteenth-century artist, Sir Edward Poynter, focusing on his decorative work including public schemes in the South Kensington Museum, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral and domestic commissions. She has been co-curator of three exhibitions: Archaeology in 19th century art and design; the early collections of the State Library and National Gallery of Victoria; and works of William Morris in Victorian collections.

She has been and is now a member of several museum boards, including the Management Committee of the Duldig Studio and the Donald Thomson Collection Committee of the Melbourne Museum.

Alison's current research projects include: Edward Poynter's painted furniture; mosaic decoration in Australia; Scottish art in Australia; art and philanthropy in Victoria; animal subject matter in nineteenth-century art; the cult of beauty in late nineteenth-century Britain. She is co-Chair of a session at the 32nd International Conference of Art History Crossing Cultures: conflict, migration and convergence (University of Melbourne 2008).

Current Projects

Cultural Development, Cultural Literacy: a programme for engagement between East Timor and the University of Melbourne.

Funded as a Vice Chancellor's Steering Committee. Project Leader: Robyn Sloggett, Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne, 2006

Knowledge transfer

Membership of cultural, educational and public boards

Curatorial work

1998 Queens & Sirens, Archaeology in 19th Century Art and Design, with J. Long, Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong.

This exhibition examined paintings, furniture, jewelry and ceramics made by artists fascinated with the great archaeological discoveries of the nineteenth century... Never before had the ancient world seemed so close, so alive, so knowable as in the nineteenth century.

1996 William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary 1834-1896, with A. Galbally, University of Melbourne Museum of Art, Melbourne.

Marking the centenary of his death, this exhibition of original Morris textiles, wallpapers, books and furniture has been brought together as a tribute to one whose vision remains a beacon for us in the late 20th century...[and] whose work continues to delight and inspire us..

1992 The First Collections: the Public Library and the National Gallery of Victoria in the 1850s and 1860s, with A. Galbally, University of Melbourne Gallery, Melbourne.

Funded by an Australian Research Council Grant, the collection of essays that accompanied the exhibition includes a chapter entitled 'A Mania for Copies': Replicas, Reproductions and Copies in Colonial Victoria written by Alison Inglis, as well as her catalogue essays on prints, coins, medals, seals, and art books.

Grants and awards

Recent presentations

Publications

Book chapters (from 2002)

Journal articles (from 2002)

Other publications (from 2002)

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