Curriculum vitae (not kept up to date since 2010)
Born 12 June 1940, Brooklyn, New York
Married since 1968 to Loekie Schwartz, father of Ditke (1969) and Baruch (1970)
Languages: English, Dutch (A), German, Hebrew, French (B), Yiddish, Italian (C)
Nationality: Netherlands
Founding director and webmaster of CODART, an international council for museum curators of Dutch and Flemish art
website: http://www.codart.nl
Education
1961-65
Johns Hopkins University Graduate School, Baltimore, department of art history
1959-61
Washington Square College, with major in fine arts, minor in English literature
1958-59
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, on program of American Friends of the Hebrew University, but with participation in regular undergraduate courses and one graduate seminar, mainly in Jewish studies
1956-58
Washington Square College of Arts and Sciences, New York University (Liberal Arts)
1956 (summer)
Division of General Education, New York University (condition for early admission to NYU without high-school diploma; the course in English composition by Frances Keene was one of the most important learning experiences of my life)
1953-56
Secondary schools in Manhattan (Teachers Institute of Yeshiva University High School) and Queens (Hebrew Institute of Long Island)
1946-53
Primary schools in Brooklyn (Yeshiva Toras Chaim, P.S. 76) and Queens (Yeshiva of Central Queens, Hebrew Institute of Long Island)
Degrees
1965
Completion of course work, written and oral examinations for Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (an unfinished status later dignified with the appellation A.B.D., All But Dissertation)
1961
B.A., Washington Square College, NYU
1957
As I recall, a High School Equivalency Diploma after taking New York State Regents exams in English and American History, not having attended my senior year in high school in 1956-57
Fellowships
2009-10
Fellow of Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, Wassenaar (Theme group on Dutch art in Asia)
1993-95
Post-doc: Prioriteitenprogramma Nederlandse Kunst in Europese Context, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
1986-87
Getty Scholar of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, Santa Monica, California (Thematic emphasis on Dutch art and on the art market)
1965-66
Samuel H. Kress Fellowship, spent in Utrecht, The Netherlands, as a guest of the Art History Institute, Utrecht University
1964-65
Graduate assistant teaching fellowship, Johns Hopkins University
1961-64
National Defense Fellowship, spent at Johns Hopkins University (Why this post-Sputnik panic emolument should have been offered for art history is a mystery, but it gave me my start in professional life)
Academic appointments
1995-96
Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University, as Sam and Ayala Zacks Visiting Fellow in the History of Art
Employment
2005-08
Webmaster, www.codart.nl, for Stichting CODART, Amsterdam
1999-05
Director of CODART (Curators of Dutch and Flemish Art), Amsterdam and Maarssen
1998
Project director (Projectleider), Curators of Dutch Art (CODART), Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituut Collectie Nederland), Amsterdam
1988-92
Publisher of Gary Schwartz | SDU, an imprint of the former Dutch Government Publishing Office
1971-88
Self-employed as publisher, mainly of books on art history, under the imprint Uitgeverij Gary Schwartz
1971-75
Partner of Junius Press, New York
1970-72
Outside editor, Collectors Editions, New York
1968-70
Staff member, Netherlands Institute for Art History (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorisch Documentatie), The Hague
1967-70
Editor, for Meulenhoff International, Amsterdam, of Horst Gerson, Rembrandt paintings, and J.-B. de la Faille, The works of Vincent van Gogh
1966-2017
Freelance editor of art-historical writings in English by non-native speakers and translator from Dutch and incidentally German into English, primarily of art-historical literature
1966-67
Assistant to Prof. J.G. van Gelder, Center for Advanced Study in Art History (Centrum voor Voortgezet Kunsthistorisch Onderzoek), Utrecht
1965 (summer)
Researcher, Bollingen Series, New York
1964, 1962 (summers)
Copy editor, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Art, New York and Rome
1963, 1961 (summers)
Trenchmaster, New York University Archaeological Expedition to Aphrodisias, Turkey
1960-61
Part-time administrative and editorial assistant, Readex Microprint Corporation, New York
1959 (summer)
Mail clerk, Time-Life Inc. (weird, must tell about it sometime)
1956-58, 1959-60
Evening receptionist/administrative assistant, Adult Education School, Division of General Education, New York University
Editorships
2006-12
Editorial board member of Perspective, Paris
1988-95
Founder and editorial board member of Annals of Scholarship, New York
1988-90
Editorial board member of Dutch Heights, Amsterdam
1974-82
Editorial board member of Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, Amsterdam
1971-83
Editorial board member of Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Utrecht
1970-71
English-language editor of Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Utrecht
Memberships Publishing Associations
1978-88
Koninklijke Nederlandse Uitgeversbond, Groep Wetenschappelijke Uitgevers
1977-88
Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels
Memberships in scholarly associations
1998-
ICOM (International Council of Museums)
1989-92
Provinciaal Utrechts Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen
1977-82
Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap
1966-
Vereniging van Nederlandse Kunsthistorici
1961-64, 1987-
College Art Association
Board memberships
2007-08
Hope Box (art projects involving contact between artists in developed and underdeveloped countries, coming forth from the work of Rienke Enghardt), Amsterdam (chairman)
1999-2002
Board of Provinciale Atlas Noord-Holland, Haarlem
1996-2010
Stichting dr. Th.J. Steenbergen Fonds (supporting Amsterdam University Library with purchases of books and maps published in Amsterdam in the 17th century). Foundation transferred in 2010 to the University of Amsterdam Fund
1994-2004
The John Adams Institute, Amsterdam (furthering American culture in the Netherlands)
1989-
Board of advisors, Stichting Postuniversitair Kunsthistorisch Onderzoek, Utrecht (furthering interests of art historians)
1989-91
Jong Holland
1980-
Gerson Lectures Foundation, Groningen
Consultancies and advisory committees
Consulted in matters pertaining to grants, appointments, tenure, curricula, peer review, acquisitions and policy by:
the Netherlands delegation to the European Parliament, Comité International d’Histoire d’Art, National Endowment for the Humanities, J. Paul Getty Trust, The Getty Information Institute, The Getty Research Institute, The Getty Conservation Institute, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Society of Architectural Historians, Raad voor Cultuur (Netherlands Council for Culture), Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS), Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Internationale Vereniging voor Neerlandistiek, Onderzoekschool Kunstgeschiedenis, Artibus et Historiae, The Art Bulletin, Wilhelmina Emilia Jansen Fonds, Czech Science Foundation, Slovak Academy of Sciences. township of Leiden
Universities of California, Chicago and Kansas, Columbia and Harvard Universities, University of Southern California, University of Sydney, College of William and Mary, Case Western Reserve University, Tel Aviv University, Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam Law School, Utrecht University, Erasmus University, Amsterdam Maastricht Summer University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Montana
Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Israel Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Denver Museum of Fine Arts, Museo del Prado
2018-
Advisory committee, Stichting Cultuurinventarisatie, Amsterdam
2007-
Comité van Aanbeveling, Stichting Vrienden Heilig Hart Kerk, Maarssen
2007-
Advisory committee, The Low Countries, Rekkem
2006-
Comité van Aanbeveling, Oude Kerk, Amsterdam
2005-09
Comité van Aanbeveling, Amsterdam Wereld Boekstad
2005-13
Editorial committee for the Modern Age for the journal Perspective, Institut National pour l’Histoire de l’Art, Paris
2003-
Comité van Aanbeveling, Huygensmuseum Hofwijck
2002-04
Co-chairman, Art Historians on the Web
2000-
Board of advisors, The Caucasus Foundation, Amsterdam and Tblisi
2000-
Board of advisors, H-ArtHist, discussion list for art historians within H-Net, Michigan State University
1999-2002
College Art Association Committee on Intellectual Property Rights
1998
PTT Filatelie (Netherlands Post, Philately Service), postage stamp series for 1999 on Dutch painting
1997-
International Advisory Board of the Felix Meritis Foundation, European Centre for Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam
1997
Brill Publishers, Leiden, advice on acquisitions in art-history publishing
Ducat Segal Productions, New York, television series on Holland
1996-97
IKON television, program on Kabbalah
1995-96
Scientific committee, 1996 CIHA meeting (limited to work on poster section)
1995-
Executive Advisory Board, Image Directory, Academic Press, San Diego, CA
1995-98
College Art Association International Committee
1990
Art and Architectural Thesaurus Review Board, Getty Art History Information Program
1989-90
Steering committee member Dutch Universities and Publishing in the Humanities, for advisory note to Minister of Education
1988-91
Cultural program board, Amsterdamse Raad voor Informatie en Telecommunicatie (ARIT)
1986
Provenance Index Review Group, Getty Art History Information Program
1985-86
Menil Foundation, Houston, for The Image of the Black in Western Art (Houston and Paris)
1985-91
Adviescommissie Presentatie Nederlandse Kunst, Buitenland (Advisory organ of the Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, for the presentation of Dutch art abroad)
1979-84
Adviescommissie Beeldende Kunst, Utrecht (committee for the purchase and commissioning of art in public places)
1973, 1975-77
Franklin Mint
Articles and columns [in the process of being added to the website]
Papers delivered at scholarly conferences
2002
Untitled contribution in session chaired by Marilyn Lavin, “I’m not an art historians, but…” (College Art Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, 23-26 February 2002)
2001
“The structure of patronage networks in Rome, The Hague and Amsterdam in the 17th century” (Economia e arte; Prato, Istituto Internazionale de Storia Economica “F. Datini, Prato, Italy, 30 April-4 May 2001)
1998
“City fathers as civic warriors” (1648: L ‘art, la guerre et la paix en Europe; Musée du Louvre, Paris, 20-21 November 1998; first half cover same ground as “Virtually soldiers”)
“Virtually soldiers: civilians as warriors in Dutch art” (Art and Culture in an Age of Iconoclasm: The Netherlandish Revolt, 1566-1648; Seventh Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 21 March 1998; as last-minute substitute also at the symposium on the exhibition “Beelden van een strijd,” Afdeling Kunst- en Cultuurwetenschappen, University of Amsterdam, held in Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft, on 22 April 1998)
“No fair: long-term prospects for regaining unencumbered use” (College Art Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, 25-28 February 1998)
1997
“Rembrandt in 1650: the master and his clones” (Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria: Rembrandt symposium, 4-5 October 1997)
“The representation of landscape painting in art history” (Utrecht, Museum Het Catharijneconvent: The Representation of Landscape in the 17th Century : Sixth Symposium: Italy and the Low Countries: Artistic Relations, 12 May 1997)
1996
“On being a professional non-professor and liking it” (Satellite Conference of the XXIXth CIHA Conference, Amsterdam, organized by the SPKO and Vlakam, 7 September 1996)
“The Barberini and Orange inventories: a comparison of the collections and their publication” and “Are we re-inventing the inventory?” (The Use of Archival Inventories in Art History, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, 5-7 June 1996). Discussant at the same conference
1995
“SPQA: Rome in seventeenth-century Amsterdam” (Colloquium in honor of seventieth birthday of Klaus Schwager, Universität Tübingen, 21 October 1995)
“The canon’s finest hour” (College Art Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, January 1995)
1994
Respondent at IX Renaissance Colloquium Utrecht: “Kunstenaars en opdrachtgevers” (26 November 1994)
“Dutch painting in European context” (The International Image Business: taste and commerce in early modern Europe, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 14-15 October 1994)
“Figures and figuration: quantitative research on Dutch painting of the seventeenth century” (Eighth International Congress on Cultural Economics, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany, 24-27 August 1994)
“Apelles, Apollo en The Third Man” (on relation between poetry, painting and patronage in mid-17th century) (Werkgroep XVIIe Eeuw Annual Meeting, Utrecht, 25 August 1994)
1992
“De Nederlandse Volksaard in de Kunst” (Forum Nationale Identiteit en Historisch Besef, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, 4 June 1992)
“A critique of the Rembrandt Research Project” (Rembrandt symposium, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Research, Wassenaar, 25 February 1992)
1991
“De toepassing van wetenschappelijk onderzoek bij de toeschrijvingen van Rembrandtschilderijen” (Kunsthistorische Dag, 20 December, Leiden 1991)
“The Rembrandt Research Project midway – from where to where?” (6. Österreichischer Kunsthistorikertag, 29 September 1991, Linz)
1989
“The formation of collections of Dutch art in the Netherlands” (ICOM Congress, 1 September 1989, The Hague)
1987
“Connoisseurship: the penalty of ahistoricism” (College Art Association Annual Meeting, Boston)
“Art in History” (Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, symposium on Dutch art)
1986
“Reading Rembrandt: form and emotional content in the Moscow Esther’s feast” (College Art Association Annual Meeting, New York)
Respondent at “The Eve of the Golden Age: the Lowlands in Transition,” (The Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 11-12 April 1986, Arizona State University, Tempe)
Conferences and sessions chaired
2000
College Art Association Annual Meeting, New York: “Outsiders looking in: art historiography by non-historians”
1999
CODART TWEE, held in Amsterdam, 15-16 March 1999
1998
Gulliver, Vienna, 9-10 October 1998: “Cultural rights in changing multinational environment”
Tekengenootschap Pictura, Dordrecht, 5 April 1998: “Vergankelijkheid”
CODART (Curators of Dutch Art, Amsterdam), held in The Hague, 9-10 March 1998: CODART EEN
1996
International Congress for the History of Art, Amsterdam: poster session
1993
College Art Association Annual Meeting, Seattle: “Scholarship on the sales counter: art history and publishing”
1988
College Art Association Annual Meeting, Houston: “Towards an historical framework for the study of Netherlandish art”
1987
Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, Santa Monica: “The town hall of Amsterdam,” in workshop “Art in History, History in Art”
Websites and discussion lists
2000
CODART: http://www.codart.nl
1998
CODART-L discussion list
1997
CIHA Posters http://www.luu.nl/CIHA/posters
1996-
ffdys (Form Follows Dysfunction) discussion list, in 2004 renamed the Schwartzlist
Exhibitions
2006 De ‘Joodse’ Rembrandt, Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, November 2006-January 2007, exhibition committee
1995 Jacob van Campen, Paleis op de Dam, Amsterdam, June-September 1995, exhibition committee
1986 The Dutch world of painting, Vancouver Art Gallery, April 6-June 29, curator and author of catalogue
Participation in art projects
1993 Single Art Work Project, with Philip Akkerman (14 March)
1990 Single Art Work Project, with Jan Beutener (24 March)
Dramatic monologue
1985 “Vriend Rembrandt” (for the celebration of Rembrandt’s birthday on July 15 in the Pieterskerk, performed by Henk van Ulsen)
Papers delivered at professional conferences
1999 Studiedag Boek en Beeld, OKBN (Overleg Kunsthistorische Bibliotheken Nederland), The Hague, Royal Library (21 May 1999)
1994 Round table forum for tenth anniversary of Intellectuele Eigendom en Reclamerecht, The Hague (30 November 1994)
1992 “Auteursrecht en gebruiksvergoeding” (on users’ charges in archives), meeting of Vereniging “De Topografisch-Historische Atlas,” Utrecht (19 November 1992)
1991 “One-for-one literary exchange between East and West,” at Aspen Conference meeting, Books without Borders – East meets West, at Jerusalem Book Fair (30 April 30-1 May 1991)
1989 “De nulgraad van de uitgeverij” (on informal scholarly literature from the perspective of the publisher), at Studiedag Stichting Wetenschappelijke en Technische Informatie, Amsterdam (9 November 1989)
Opening speeches and book presentations
“Rembrandt’s Dürer” (sales exhibition of work on paper by Rembrandt and Dürer), Christopher-Clark Fine Art, San Francisco (9 March 2013)
De ‘Joodse’ Rembrandt, Amsterdam, Joods Historisch Museum (9 November 2006)
Panorama Vechtstreek, Maarssen, Museum Maarssen (25 March 2006)
Adriaan van der Willigen and Fred Meijer, Lexicon of Dutch and Flemish still-life painters, The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (14 February 2003)
Hofwijck (14 February 2002)
Launching of Thera Coppens, Antonius Mor: hofschilder van Karel V, Geertekerk, Utrecht (2 November 1999)
The Tree House, American Book Center, Voetbooogstraat 11 (15 April 1998)
“The Hundred-Guilder Print” (sales exhibition of Rembrandt etchings by Galerie Michael), Melbourne, Sofitel Hotel (3 October 1997)
Opening of Zinnen-Beelden, Cast Images, exhibition of work by Joshua Rozenman in Stedelijk Museum,Amsterdam (31 October 1997)
“States and subjects in Rembrandt’s etchings” (sales exhibition)
Galerie Michael, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills (17-18 January 1997)
“De korte Gouden Eeuw” (exhibition De Hollandse kortegaard)
Nederlands Vestingmuseum, Naarden (1 July 1996)
“De self-fashioning van de Huygensen” (dedication of portrait of Christiaen Huygens)
Christiaan Huygens Theater, Zeist (30 March 1996)
“Waarom Delft?” (exhibition Delftse meesters and manifestation Delft 750)
Oude Kerk, Delft (28 February 1996)
Bab Hendriksen Diamond Factory, Weteringschans, Amsterdam (July 1986)
Lectures connected to the Rembrandt Year 2006
February 2006
1: Amsterdam, Hilton Hotel, Accenture, presentation to Leadership Group
17: Amsterdam, Onze Lieve Heer op Solder: opening The amazing Rembrandt
17: Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum: Rembrandt’s life, talk in the gallery
March
9: Amsterdam, Oude Kerk, Saskia and Rembrandt
12: Leiden, CODART NEGEN, Happy birthday, dear Rembrandt
12: Leiden, CODART NEGEN, workshop
31: Budapest, Szépmüveszeti Múzeum: Reintroducing Rembrandt
31: Budapest, residence of Dutch ambassador, talk for cultural circle
April
5: Amsterdam, Hilton Hotel, three women’s groups, Rembrandt’s women
26: Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt en de anderen (Thera Coppens)
May
2: Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt en de anderen (Thera Coppens)
9: Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt en de anderen (Thera Coppens)
17: Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt en de anderen (Thera Coppens)
17: Stockholm, Dutch embassy: Reintroducing Rembrandt
29: Paris, Ecole du Louvre, seminar on biography of Rembrandt
June
7: Utrecht, University, Senaatszaal, studium generale, general introduction 1
13: Brussels, Huis van de Nederlandse Provincies, The European Rembrandt
14: Utrecht, University, Senaatszaal, studium generale, general introduction 2
15-20: Bucharest, National Museum of Art of Romania
21: Brussels, Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen, Rubens in Holland, Rembrandt in Vlaanderen
24: Dordrecht: Opening of exhibition of work by Rembrandt pupils from Dordrecht
28: Amsterdam, SEC (Lili Couvée)
Bucharest, catalogue of Rembrandt exhibition in National Museum of Art of Romania
30 June-3 July: Dresden, Motovun
July
14: Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum: presentation De grote Rembrandt
15: Met het oog op morgen
23: Schleswig, Schloss Gottorf: opening exhibition of Rembrandt’s etchings
September
5: Maarssen, openbare bibliotheek: Rembrandt in Maarssen
21: Savannah, SCAD: Undergraduate course lecture
21: Savannah, SCAD: Reintroducing Rembrandt
22: Savannah, SCAD: Graduate seminar at etching exhibition
25: New York, Institute of Fine Arts: What else can you say about Rembrandt?
28: New York, Sotheby’s: launching US edition of The Rembrandt book
October
4: Ketchum, Idaho, Sun Valley Center for the Arts: Reintroducing Rembrandt
7: San Francisco, opening sales exhibition Rembrandt etchings Christopher-Clark Fine Arts
12: Seoul, Hyatt Hotel, Korean and Dutch business community (Dutch embassy): The secret of Rembrandt’s success
13: Seoul, Hong-Ik University, staff and students (Dutch embassy): Reintroducing Rembrandt
14: Seoul, Hong-Ik University, Association for Korean Researchers of Western Art (Dutch embassy)
12-14 Interviews with Korean news agency, newspaper, glossy magazine and English television
24: Hanoi, De Blauwe Lotus Dutch school (Fine Arts University, organized by Dutch embassy), Class for schoolchildren
24: Hanoi, Fine Arts University, staff, students, guests of embassy (Dutch embassy): Reintroducing Rembrandt
November
4-6: Berlin, Berliner Museen, Wissenschaft auf der Suche, with Mirjam Alexander: Rembrandt’s Hebrew, Rembrandt’s Hebrews
4-6: Berlin, Freie Universität: Ceremonial lecture: Reintroducing Rembrandt
7: Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum: Reintroducing Rembrandt
9: Amsterdam, Joods Historisch Museum:
17: Valletta, Museum of Fine Arts: Reintroducing Rembrandt
18: Valletta, University of Malta: Reintroducing Rembrandt
21: Gouda, Museum GoudA: Rembrandt in Maarssen
December
7: Istanbul, Pera Museum (Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation): Reintroducing Rembrandt
14: Oud-Zuilen, Historische Kring: Rembrandt in Maarssen
2007
January
18: Paris, Louvre: Rembrandt’s late style
22: Heidelberg, university: The Rembrandt year, the morning after
23: Heidelberg, seminar on methodology
25: Dresden, Gemäldegalerie: Reintroducing Rembrandt
February
21: Getty Research Institute: What new archive finds contribute to Rembrandt studies
22: Los Angeles, UCLA: Johannes van Tilburg lecture
March
1: Oglethorpe University, lecture for university community
Oglethorpe University Art Museum, lecture for museum audience
June
3: Amsterdam, RAI, European Congress for Clinical Chemistry
September
17: Amsterdam, RAI, European Association for the Study of Diabetes
Lectures (a selection, no longer kept track of after 2001)
“The ins and outs of Dutch painting” (Hamburger Kunsthalle, 4 December 2001)
“De Tempelberg in de Lage Landen” (Scholarly and millennarian Temple studies in the Netherlands in the 17th century” De Unie, Rotterdam (18 October 2001)
“Qu’est-ce qu’un rembranesque?” (Rembrandt and non-Rembrandt in art history; in English) Musée du Louvre, Paris (11 October 2001)
“A breakfast and a supper in Milan” (creativity in art and life) PINC.1, Zeist (9 May 2000)
“Earning a living in a Golden Age: art markets and careers in Holland in the 17th century” Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zürich (9 December 1999) and National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest (December 2000)
“Daar komen de schutters” (popular version of lecture for Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) De Markiezenhof, Bergen-op-Zoom, annual Vriendenavond (11 November 1998)
“Houbrakens 61 schilders en mijn 1194” Amsterdams Historisch Museum, presentation of volume of selected articles by Dedalo Carasso
“The vitalistic art of Alfred Wolfsohn, Charlotte Salomon and Roy Hart” Institute of Jewish Studies, London (26 May 1998)
“Rembrandts beerput” Plea for improvement of archaeological bureau of the city of Amsterdam, Noordermarkt, Amsterdam (24 February 1998)
“Leren van lijken” (on cadavers in Dutch painting) Opening of new laboratory for dissections, Medical school of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (20 March 1997)
“‘Och ‘t is maer Kunst ick ben bedrogen,’: Nederlandse schilderkunst in het jaar 1650” Provinciaal Utrechts Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, Utrecht (20 November 1996)
Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague (25 November 1996) “‘Three passionate looks’: the organization of painting collections in the seventeenth century”
First Romé Dufour Memorial Lecture, Teylers Museum, Haarlem (9 June 1996)
Sam and Ayala Zacks Lecture, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (15 January 1996)
“Het exemplaar” (on dysfunction as norm in book production), Amor Librorum Teylers Museum, Haarlem (27 September 1995)
“The position of the artist and the art market in the Dutch Republic” Amsterdam Summer University (25 August 1995)
“Dutch painting in 1650: an exercise in the willful suspension of hindsight” Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum (7 June 1995)
“Rembrandt research after the age of connoisseurship” Sotheby’s Educational Services, London (30 May 1995, 3 June 1996)
“Seventeenth-century painting in international context: Holland and Italy compared with other schools” Florence, Istituto Universitario Olandese di Storia dell’Arte (19 May 1995)
“Rembrandt research after the age of connoisseurship” staff seminar for department of Maatschappijgeschiedenis, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (2 December 1994)
“Willem van Haecht: Het atelier van Apelles” Mauritshuis, The Hague, “Het Zevende Museum” (29 May 1994)
“Rembrandt’s Amsterdam stamping grounds” Hamburg University Kunsthistorisches Seminar, Amsterdam (August 1994)
“Dutch culture in Europe; Rembrandt in Dutch culture” Washington and Lee Alumni College, Lexington, Virginia (14-16 July 1994)
“Kunstborsten” De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam, K.L. Poll-Stichting (13 March 1994)
“De plaats van de Nederlandse schilderkunst in Europa rond 1650” Foundation The North Sea in an Urbanizing World, Delft (10 March 1994)
“Leo Steinberg” Studium Generale, Utrecht University (7 March 1994)
“Hollands goud” (on the absolute and relative volume of Dutch art production in the Golden Age) Amsterdam, Barbizon Centre Hotel Boekenbrunch (19 December 1993)
“Image and identity” PTT Opleiding Center Meerwolde, Groningen (22 September 1993)
“De betekenissen van kunstkamerschilderijen” Museum van Schone Kunsten, Antwerp (7 March 1993)
“De invloed van het verzamelen op het maken van kunst in de zeventiende eeuw” (Influence of collecting on the making of art in the seventeenth century) Beurs van Berlage, Symposium Stichting K.L. Poll en Amsterdams Historisch Museum (12 September 1992)
“Two Dutch collectors of Dutch paintings in Scotland” National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (17 August 1992)
“A critique of the Rembrandt Research Project” National Gallery, London (3 April 1992) and University of Hamburg (14 May 1992)
“The place of Rembrandt in the world of Dutch art” Caucasus Foundation, Tbilisi, Georgia (April 2000)
Antique Academy, commercial adult education course (1994/95) Europese School voor Antiquairs, idem (1993/94, 1994/95)Utrecht University Winter course Dutch Culture (lightly revised: December 1993)
Utrecht University Summer course Dutch Society and Culture (heavily revised: 4 August 1993) and Dutch Fulbright Committee Teachers Course, Amsterdam (1992)
“Rembrandt in der heutigen Forschung: Das ‘Rembrandt Research Project’ und die Frage von Autorenschaft und Eigenhändigkeit” Tübingen University (26 November 1991)
“‘The smell of the paint would bother you’: the Rembrandt Research Project and the nature of artistic authorship” Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (20 November 1991)
“Art within art: Kunstkamer painting and its meanings” American Academy in Rome (October 1991), Paul Getty Museum (May 1990) and Harvard University Art Museums (April 1990)
“The Rembrandt Research Project and the question of authorship” Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich (January 1991), Clark Library, UCLA (May 1990) and Maastricht Fine Arts Fair (March 1990)
“The family album: Dutch paintings in the museums of Holland” ICFA sesssion of ICOM Congress, The Hague (September 1989) and UCLA (May 1990)
“Rembrandt in Amsterdam” Duke University Summer course (yearly 1989-)
“Kennnerschap: de straf van het ahistorisch denken” Universiteit van Amsterdam, Kunsthistorisch Instituut (March 1989)
“De Bijbel als Kabbala” Paradiso, Amsterdam (April 1988)
“I, Pieter Saenredam” Trinity University, San Antonio (April 1987) and Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (March 1987)
“How Rembrandt the immortal built his career” Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (February 1986) and Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (February 1986)
“Do we expect too much from Rembrandt?” Stanford University, Palo Alto (May 1987), UC Santa Barbara (April 1987), UC Riverside (April 1987), Northwestern University, Evanston (April 1987), UCLA (March 1987), University of Virginia, Charlottesville (February 1987), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (February 1987) and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (February 1987)
“Rembrandt’s patrons among the clans and cliques of Holland” (also: “The place of Rembrandt’s patrons in Dutch politics and religion”) UCLA (April 1987), Princeton University, Princeton (February 1987), Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (February 1986), Institute for Art History, University of Groningen (May 1986), Columbia University, New York (February 1986) and University College, London (October 1985)
“The painter nearly poet: Rembrandt and Dutch literary life” Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (June 1987), University College, UCLA (May 1987), University College, London (revised: October 1985) and Institute for Art History, Utrecht (March 1985)
Honors
2011 Honorary member of Boekverkooperscollegie Eendragt
2009 Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation Prize for the Humanities
2009 Fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Wassenaar
2007 The Rembrandt book nominated for Banister Fletcher Award for most deserving book on art or architecture
2005 Honorary member of CODART
1999- International Authors and Writers Who’s Who (16th edition)
1993 Rembrandt (First Impressions) selected by New York Public Library as 1993 Book for the Teen Age
1991 Who’s Who in the World (10th edition)
1989-1990 Regents Lecturer, UCLA, Victor Leventritt Lecturer, Harvard University
1987 Wiggert de Haan Award of Boekverkoperscollegie Eendragt (for notable contribution to Dutch booktrade)
1986-1987 Getty Scholar, Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
1985 Rembrandt: a new biography nominated for Publieksprijs voor het Nederlandse Boek
1981 “Can the Prado be saved” (1980) cited in the award to ArtNews of the George Polk Memorial Award