Trinity College Appoints Curator of the College Art Collections

Posted on: 12 February 2009

Trinity College Dublin has appointed its first Curator of the Trinity College art collections, Catherine Giltrap. This new post now enables the centralised and full-time professional management of the College’s art collections, encompassing all campus pictures and sculptures on display in private and public locations. The collections were formerly cared for in an honorary capacity by distinguished members of the academic and administrative staff. The Curator forms part of the Office of the Secretary, and operates in consultation with the College Art Collections Advisory Group, reporting to the Provost.

Among the Curator’s duties are to create a central art collections management database to be made available online for research in 2010 and featuring digital reproductions of the collections. Catherine is also the point of contact in creating and assisting new displays or changes to artworks in all College offices and general areas. This includes the acquisition or donation of new portraits or any artwork after approval by the Art Collections Advisory Group.  Colleagues can now also avail of the Curator’s assistance to arrange temporary secure storage for artworks during the redecoration or redesign of their offices.  The Curator’s remit also covers copyright issues relating to the use of images of the College Art Collections, both historic and modern. 

Catherine is keen to advise and encourage staff and students alike to utilise the collections first and foremost as a resource for teaching and research, but equally as a visual support for publications, events and websites. It is the Curator’s hope to integrate the use of the collections into already existing College education and outreach programmes, while simultaneously initiating new ventures employing the collections as a “valuable communicative interface between the campus audience and the wider community”.

The College’s rich teaching and research resource comprises more than one thousand works by artists of national and international importance such as Pieter Lastman (Rembrandt’s mentor), James Barry, Simon Vierpyl, Sir William Orpen, John Butler Yeats, Jack Butler Yeats, Mainie Jellett, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Eileen Gray, Roy Lichtenstein, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Louis Le Brocquy, Patrick Scott, Karel Appel, Cecil King, William Scott, Brian O’Doherty (formerly Patrick Ireland), Kathy Prendergast, Robert Ballagh, and Clare Langan.

Recent curatorial projects for Trinity College include the restoration of Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Sphere within Sphere on the Berkeley Library Plaza and Edward Delaney’s The Gymnast for the centenary of Trinity Hall. 2008 was also the year when the student and staff College Gallery Art Hire Scheme was re-launched with assistance from the dedicated volunteer student committee. Catherine’s ambition is to continue to create a stimulating environment for those who work, study, and visit Trinity College . Future plans include celebrations for the 50^th Anniversary of the Modern Art Collections during 2010, including an exhibition with a special tribute to Professor George Dawson, and an art collections education and outreach programme to involve the campus and the general public.

“I would encourage the College community to keep me updated about artistic ventures and cross-disciplinary projects. Colleagues and students can also talk to me about projects to enhance their existing or planned working environments by employing the art collections or commissioning new artworks or furniture by Irish and international artists, crafts people and designers”, explained Catherine. “I am very grateful for the continued enthusiasm and support of staff and students in the collective effort to care for the College art collections. By enthusiastic campus-wide collaboration we can preserve, develop, and promote the significance and value of the artistic heritage of Trinity College .”

Previously engaged in curatorial and consultancy roles at the Chester Beatty Library & Galleries, Farmleigh, Fingal Arts Office and the State Art Collections, prior to coming to Trinity, Catherine organised the returning exhibition of Ireland and Northern Ireland ‘s Venice Biennale artists’ works.  She is a graduate of the Departments of the History of Art and Architecture and French at Trinity College and is currently completing a Masters dissertation in museum studies on ‘The Role of University Art Collections’.