Dr Tom Nichols
- Reader in History of Art (History of Art)
telephone:
01413304139
email:
Tom.Nichols@glasgow.ac.uk
School of Culture and Creative, 8 University Gardens
Research interests
- Venetian Renaissance Art, especially Tintoretto, Titian, Giorgione and Jacopo Bassano
- Imagery of the outcast poor and sick in early modern Europe
- Imagery of peasants in European art 1300-1850
Biography: Tom studied English Literature and Art History at the University of York, before moving to the Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London) where he completed an MA. His PhD on the paintings of Jacopo Tintoretto at the University of East Anglia was awarded in 1992. He then taught history of art at the University of Aberdeen between 1993 and 2012, before moving to Glasgow in February 2013, where he served as the Head of Subject until 2016. Recent highlights in his career include a Paul Mellon Visiting Senior Research Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (2016), and an appearance in a Sky Arts film documentary on Tintoretto that was shortlisted for the Prix Italia (2019).
Current Research Projects: Tom is currently co-editing a volume of essays on Tintoretto to be published in 2021. This is a publication that grew out of a meeting of the Venetian Art History Group that he co-founded in 2018. He is also developing a major new research project focussed on the depiction of peasants in European art from feudal times to the Industrial Revolution. His recent books include Titian and the End of the Venetian Renaissance (2013), Renaissance Art in Venice: From Tradition to Individualism (2016) and Giorgione’s Ambiguity (2020).
Grants
- Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, 2012 (£2,200) towards illustrations for Titian and the end of the Venetian Renaissance
- British Academy Small Research Grant, 2011 (£7,500) towards illustrations for Titian and the end of the Venetian Renaissance
- Gladys Krieble Delmas Award, 2010 (£2,000) to fund research at the Fondazione Cini (Venice) in relation to Titian and the end of the Venetian Renaissance
- Arts and Humanities Research Board Research Leave Scheme 2002 (£9,963) to work on The art of poverty: Irony and ideal in sixteenth century beggar imagery
- British Academy Small Research Grant 2002 (£638). Berlin research visit to work on The art of poverty: Irony and ideal in sixteenth century beggar imagery
- Carnegie Trust for Scotland, 2002 (£420). Amsterdam research visit to work on The art of poverty: Irony and ideal in sixteenth century beggar imagery
- British Academy Conference Grant 2002 (£1,602). Picturing Poverty conference organisation
Supervision
Recently Completed PhD Supervisees
- Cynthia Williams, The Hamilton Vase: Entwined Histories (2020)
- Jennifer Vlcek Schurr, The Passional of Abbess Cunigund: Protagonists, Production and a Question of Identity (2020)
- Sophie C. Kromholz, The Artwork is Not Present: An Investigation into the Durational Engagement with Temporary Artworks (2016)
- Peter Black, An Explanatory Essay and Seven Articles (2016, PhD by publication)
Current PhD Supervisees
-
Katsikea, Eirini. A philosophical and art historical cross-examination of Arthur C. Danto’s ‘The End of Art’ thesis
-
Wilentz, James. Palma Giovane studies
Teaching
- Level 1: Lecture contributions to Art History and its Materials and Techniques
- Level 2: Lecture contributions to Patrons, Collectors, Museums and Markets and Imagination, Traditions and Invention
- Level 3: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael; Prints and Print Culture from Mantegna to Rembrandt; contributions to Methodology of Art History and Portfolio
- Level 4: Art, Tradition and Identity in Venice 1350-1797
- Level 5 (postgraduate): Masters of the Venetian Renaissance: Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese
Additional information
EXTERNAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- External Examiner in History of Art at the University of Warwick (2016-19), University College Dublin (2013-17), and the University of St Andrews (1997-2001)
- External Assessor for the new undergraduate degree in Art History to be offered at Trinity College, Dublin (2019)
- External Assessor for funding applications for post-doctoral research (art history) for the for the Research Centre for the Humanities, Athens, Greece (2016-)
- External referee for MIUR (Minestero dell'Istruzione dell'Universita e della Ricerca) evaluating research proposals in Italian Universities
- Member of Panel C of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities reviewing applications for PhD research funding (2014-18)
- External Assessor for Internal Teaching Review held at the School of Art History, University of St Andrews (2003 and 2009-10)
- External Examiner for PhD theses at the Universities of London (Birkbeck College) Warwick, Swansea, St Andrews, Essex and University College, Dublin (from 2002)
- External Examiner for MPhil theses in History of Art, Christie’s Education, London (University of Glasgow, 2004-9)
ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS/FELLOWSHIPS
- Founding member of the Venetian Art History Group (2019-)
- Paul Mellon Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA), National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. (2016)
- Member of the National Committee of the Society for Renaissance Studies (2014-16)
- ‘Senior Scholar’ at the Fondazione Cini, S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice (Nov-Dec, 2010)
- Invited participant, respondent, and contributor to ESRC-funded Intoxicants and Intoxication in Historical and Cultural Perspective group (2008-11)
- Member of the international scholarly group Cinquecento plurale (2007-present)
- Elected member of the National Executive Committee of the Association of Art Historians (2000-03)
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ORGANISATION / PANEL CONVENOR OR CHAIR
- Conference co-organiser: Tintoretto 500: A Symposium, Keble College, University of Oxford (Oct 2019)
- Conference panel chair: The Art of the Poor, at The Warburg Institute, University of London (May, 2018)
- Conference Organiser: Society for Renaissance Studies 7th Biennial National Conference at University of Glasgow (July 2016)
- Conference panel convenor: Family Values: Locating Relatives in the Italian Workshop (with Dr Louise Bourdua), 34th AAH Annual Conference, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, London (April, 2008)
- Conference Organiser: Picturing Poverty: Images of the Outcast and Marginal at University of Aberdeen (Apr 2003)
SELECTED INVITED LECTURES & CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS
- Research paper ‘Giorgione’s Ambiguity’ at the World Art Research Seminar, The Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia (Mar 2019)
- Invited lectures/book signing sessions at National Gallery, London, University College, Dublin and the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2016)
- Invited paper at The Abnormal Renaissance: Queers, Crips and Rogues in Early Modern Europe, Dahlem Humanties Centre, Freie Universität, Berlin (6-7th June 2016)
- Invited conference paper: Food in History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London: ‘Double vision: The ambivalent imagery of drunkenness in early modern Europe’ (11-12 July 2013)
- Invited conference paper: The Reception of Titian in Britain, c. 1769-1887: Artists, Collectors, Critics, 7-8 May 2011: ‘Hazlitt and Titian: Progress, gusto and the pleasure of painting’
- Invited lecture: University of Warwick, Palazzo Pesaro-Papafava, Venice, November 2010: ‘Titian and the end of the Venetian Renaissance’ Assessor for Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, Junior Research Fellowship competition
- Invited lectures: Venice, Warwick-Mellon-Newberry Summer School/Workshop Family Values: Locating the Family in the Early Modern Italian Workshop for doctoral and postdoctoral students and young scholars: July 2010 (funded by the Newberry Library, Chicago, and the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick)
- Invited conference paper: Intoxicants and Intoxication in Cultural and Historical Perspective, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, July: ‘Double vision: The ambivalent imagery of drunkenness in early modern Europe’, July 2010
- Invited conference paper: Iconografia della Solidarietà’, Convegno internazionale di studi, Fondazione del Monte, Bologna, May 2009: ‘L’immagine della carità pubblica a Venezia nel Rinascimento: Scuola e Stato’