Tara Kelly
PhD Student
Biography
Tara graduated from the University of Delaware in 1996 with a BA in Art History and a background in fine arts and graphic design. After several years of working in her field, she completed an MA in the History of the Decorative Arts from The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture in 2006. Her thesis focused on the historical and cultural development of the book shrine in Ireland from the medieval through to the modern period. She went on to receive an MPhil in Irish Art History from Trinity College Dublin in 2007, with a thesis on the production of Irish metalwork facsimiles between 1840 and 1910. Tara is currently finishing a PhD through the Irish Art Research Centre at Trinity. She is a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, the Irish Museums Association and Association of Art Historians (UK) and served as Secretary for the Trinity Arts Workshop, which provides art instruction to members of college and the public from 2010 to 2012.
Research
‘Products of the Celtic Revival: Facsimiles of Irish Metalwork and Jewellery, 1840-1940’
Tara’s doctoral research builds on her previous research into the production of facsimiles of Irish metalwork and jewellery by Dublin manufacturers and extends the period of enquiry from 1840 to 1940. This involves the documentation of the history of six Dublin manufacturing firms and an analysis of their methods of production, target audiences and marketing campaigns, participation in World’s Fairs and trade exhibitions and the acquisition of Irish facsimiles by major metropolitan museum collections in Europe and America. The findings will be examined in a broader European context by comparison with case studies of contemporary facsimile production in England, France, Italy, Germany and Russia. Key concepts such as seriality and mass-production, artistic revival and reinterpretation, authenticity, accuracy and intent, canon formation and the aesthetic, cultural and commercial valuations of facsimiles will be considered.
Conference Papers
- ‘The Commerce of Reproduction: Museum Collections and Retail’, April 2011, Association of Art Historians Conference, Coventry.
- ‘Treasures of Ireland: Metalwork, Jewellery and the Irish Canon’, November 2010, Writing Irish Art History Conference, Trinity College Dublin.
- ‘Made to Order: Elkington, Electrotypes and the Manufacture of a Museum Collection’, September 2010, What Matters? A Public Symposium on Cultural History, GradCAM/UCD, Dublin.
- ‘Metalwork Facsimiles and the Formation of a Canon of Irish Art’, April 2010, Association of Art Historians Conference, Glasgow
- ‘Marketing Irish Identity: The Metalwork Facsimiles of Edmond Johnson’, May 2008, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Dublin.