Joanna Woodall read history at the University of York, with a year abroad at Vassar College. She trained as an art historian at The 91制片厂 Institute of Art and began her PhD research at the University of Cambridge, as Speelman Fellow in Dutch and Flemish Art. Having spent several years in curatorial work at Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford, and a year on a Leverhulme Fellowship at the University of Leiden, she joined the academic staff of The 91制片厂 Institute of Art in 1986 as Lecturer in Netherlandish Art. From听2002-2005听Joanna was Deputy Director, Head of Studies, with responsibility for the teaching and research programmes, widening participation and staff development. She has since returned to her research and teaching.
Joanna has published widely in听Art History, the听Berliner Jahrbuch, the听Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek听and the听Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. Her edited book,听Portraiture: Facing the Subject听(Manchester University Press, 1997), has become a standard work on the subject and in 2007 she published a major monograph,听Antonis Mor: Art and Authority听(Waanders), that uses this sixteenth-century, internationally renowned portrait specialist to explore a period of extraordinary change, involving both opportunities and dangers (reviews by Walter Melion and Konrad Jonckheere).
The creative and educational potential of collaboration has been a longstanding interest. Joanna鈥檚 previous work in conjunction with others includes the exhibitions听Rubens. A Touch of Brilliance听(2003-4) in the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, 听and听Self Portrait. Renaissance to Contemporary听(2005) at the National Portrait Gallery. 听Another joint collaboration gave rise to听Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek听59 in 2009. This volume of twelve essays is concerned with the ways in which Netherlanders negotiated their positions in relation to varied, often contested ideas of what it meant to be an artist at a time when relations between a community of craftsmen and elite individuals, between consciousness of a native tradition and membership in an international humanist society, between image and word, between hand, mind and spirit, were being actively defined.
Joanna is responsible for the听website听Picturing the Netherlandish Canon,听an听online project focused on a crucial early modern text on Netherlandish art and culture: Hendrick Hondius the Elder鈥檚 print series of artists,听Pictorum aliquot celebrium, pr忙cipue虂 Germani忙 Inferioris, effigies听(The Hague 1610).听This makes accessible online English translations by Daniel Hadas of the Latin texts relating to these prints and includes essays by Joanna Woodall and Stephanie Porras. Designed by Eva Bensasson, the website has an interactive dimension.
PhD Supervision
Current
- , 鈥楨ncounters in the Eternal City: Netherlandish Drawings after Ancient Sculpture in Rome, 1522-1617鈥
- ,听Inventing the 鈥楳annerist鈥 Body in the Early Dutch Republic, c. 1575 鈥 1615
Recently Completed
- Deborah听Babbage Iorns,听Companionship and Collaboration: Rembrandt鈥檚 Pendant Marriage Portraiture
- Thomas听Balfe,听The Animal and the Edible in the Work of Joannes Fyt (1611-61)
Research interests
- Joanna鈥檚 current research relates to her involvement with the NWO project 鈥楾rading Values. Cultural Translation in Early Modern Antwerp鈥, for which she is working on the relationship between money and virtue.
- She is interested more generally in Netherlandish art from about听1540-1670,听particularly painting and prints, in the broader context of developments in European art and the construction of knowledge.
- She has a longstanding interest in portraiture, especially early modern portraiture, with some forays into modern and contemporary portraiture. This extends to self-portraiture and the artist as a figure for subjectivity in the early modern period.
- She听is concerned with broader issues of realism, including the significance of the copy, translation, the relationship between realism and desire.
Recent Publications
Books, online books and edited books
- . An听online project focused on a crucial early modern text on Netherlandish art and culture: Hendrick Hondius the Elder鈥檚 print series of artists,听Pictorum aliquot celebrium, pr忙cipu茅 Germani忙 Inferioris, effigies听(The Hague 1610), 2015.
- Art and Migration. Netherlandish Artists on the Move听1400-1750,听听D. Meijers, F. Scholten and J. Woodall eds.听Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 63,听Brill 2014
- Envisioning the Artist in the Early Modern Netherlands.听H. Perry Chapman and Joanna Woodall (eds.),听Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek听59, Brill 2009.听听听It includes an introductory essay jointly written by the editors: 鈥楾he Netherlandish Artist has his intelligence in his hand.
- Antonis Mor: Art and Authority听(Waanders, 2007)
- Portraiture: Facing the Subject听(Manchester University Press, 1997)
Essays and articles
- 鈥楬ieronymus Cock鈥檚听Effigies.听Living Presence in portrait prints after the death of the original model鈥 in C. van Eck et al. eds.,听The Secret Lives of Artworks,听Leiden University Press 2014.
- C. Goettler, B. Ramakers and J. Woodall, 鈥業ntroduction鈥, and J. Woodall, 鈥樷De Wisselaer鈥.听Quentin Matsys鈥檚听Man weighing gold and his wife,听1514鈥 in C. Goettler, B. Ramakers and J. Woodall eds.,听Trading Values in Early Modern Antwerp,听Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarbeod 64, Brill 2014
- 鈥樷 in a special issue of听Art History听2013:听Dutch Art and the Erotics of Interpretation听edited by Bronwen Wilson and Angela Vanhaelen . This volume will also be published as an independent book.
- Entries on Rubens鈥 drawings of听Helena Fourment听and听Head of the Farnese Hercules听in Stephanie Buck ed.,听Mantegna to Matisee. Master Drawings from the 91制片厂 Gallery,听scholarly catalogue to accompany an exhibition at the 91制片厂 Gallery and the Frick Collection, 2012-13.
- 鈥楲ost in Translation? Thinking about classical and vernacular art in Antwerp,听1540-1580听in Bart Ramakers (ed.),听Understanding Art in Antwerp. Classisizing the Popular, Popularizing the Classic (1540-1580).听Leuven, Peeters Publishers, 2011 (Groningen studies in Cultural Change).