Doran Ross Research Archive and Library donated to the Getty Research Institute
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 21, 2024


Doran Ross Research Archive and Library donated to the Getty Research Institute
African Arts journal cover.



LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Getty Research Institute has acquired the research archive and extensive library of leading Ghanaian arts scholar and former director of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Doran H. Ross (1947–2020). The collection was donated by Ross’s partner, Betsy D. Quick.

“Doran Ross was a pre-eminent scholar, a prolific curator and author, and a beloved teacher and mentor to many,” said Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute. “It will be our honor to make his extensive archive available to researchers. His library collection adds important works on West African art and culture and will expand the Getty Library’s significant international holdings.”

The donation comprises a scholar’s library and research archive with copious books, ephemera, and slides related to Ghana and other cultures of West Africa. The library and archive also have a strong museum component, including research files and dense notebooks with accompanying photographs detailing fieldwork and work on a multitude of exhibitions, both realized and unrealized. Ross was an extraordinary photographer, and his stunning photographs of Akan chiefs dressed in sumptuous kente cloth and gold regalia have been published widely; all of his field photography (numbering in the thousands) is included in the gift to GRI.




“Doran Ross’s research was transformative to a field of study that has greatly expanded in recent years,” said Kathleen Salomon, chief librarian and associate director. “His expertise and thoughtfulness are evident in the range of important, and sometimes rare, publications and ephemera he amassed over the years. The Getty Library serves researchers from around the world at all levels and Ross’s contribution to the field will be a tremendous resource. We are very grateful to Betsy Quick for this generous gift.”

Doran Ross earned his bachelor’s in art history and psychology from California State University Fresno and received his master’s in art history at UC Santa Barbara; his research interests centered on the royal and military arts of the Akan peoples of Ghana. He went on to teach at various California institutions before coming to the Fowler Museum at UCLA in 1981. Ross was largely responsible for setting the standard for the Fowler Museum’s highly researched, contextualized, and multimedia exhibitions of global arts, often paired with a scholarly volume, a paradigm that has continued to the present. Among the many highlights of his tenure were his contributions to getting the new Fowler Museum facility designed and built in 1992.

During his 20-year tenure at the institution he curated major exhibitions such as Elephant! The Animal and its Ivory in African Culture (1992), Music in the Life of Africa (1999), Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity (1999), and Main Event: The Ali/Foreman Extravaganza through the Lens of Howard Bingham(2000); and project-directed dozens of exhibitions, including Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou (1995), Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head (1995), and Beads, Body and Soul: Art and Light in the YorubaUniverse (1998). Over his career, Ross curated nearly 40 African and African American exhibitions shown at 30 venues internationally. His tenure at the Fowler was also a time when the museum’s reputation as an innovator in the development of exhibitions and the production of multiauthor publications was established with distinction.

In addition, he was a prolific writer, authoring The Arts of Ghana (1977) with Herbert M. Cole; Akan Gold from the Glassell Collection (2002); Royal Arts of the Akan: West African Gold in Museum Liaunig (2009) and Art, Honor and Ridicule: Fante Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana (2017) with Silvia Forni; edited a number of major publications with multiple contributors, including Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture (1992); and Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity (1998); and served as an editor of the UCLA journal African Arts from 1988–2015, where he wrote more than 50 articles, reviews, and editorials.

Ross made 37 research and development trips to 18 African countries. He was on the board of the West African Museums Programme (1993–2000), an Africa-based organization promoting museums; was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Getty Leadership Institute (2000–2003); was a member of the arts and artifacts indemnity advisory panel of the National Endowment of the Arts (1996–1999); served as co-editor of Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture from 2002 to 2012 and of volume 1 (Africa) of The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (2010), both with Joanne Eicher. He was heavily involved in the Arts Council of the African Studies Association, the primary international organization dedicated to the arts of Africa and the African diaspora, serving as president from 1987–1989; and was awarded the ACASA Leadership Award in 2011 “in recognition of the recipient’s excellence, innovative contributions, and vision in the fields of African and Diasporic Arts.” A special issue of the journal African Arts dedicated to the work and legacy of Ross has just been released.










Today's News

March 4, 2022

One year after Beeple, the NFT has changed artists. Has it changed art?

Russian oligarch steps down as Guggenheim trustee

Christie's presents photographs from the Richard Gere Collection

The Sir Michael Caine Collection sale is 100% sold at Bonhams in London

Kate MacGarry opens an exhibition of works by Bernard Piffaretti

Major survey of paintings by Bridget Riley opens at Yale Center for British Art

Putin's maestro, and the limits of cultural exchange in wartime

Anna Netrebko, Russian diva, is out at the Metropolitan Opera

Christie's Jewels announces global sales for March 2022

Andrew Jones Auctions announces online-only signature Design for the Home and Garden Auction

Cecilia Biagini's fourth show with Ruiz-Healy Art opens in New York

Blue Star Contemporary debuts three new exhibitions

Rebirth: A 99 Projects exhibition curated by Lee Sharrock opens in London

Contemporary Tibetan Art opens at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

DakhaBrakha, a band from Kyiv, saw a war coming

Cécile McLorin Salvant's album tackles a newer archive: Her own

Ruby City to open solo exhibition of Arturo Herrera

Doran Ross Research Archive and Library donated to the Getty Research Institute

Her Majesty's lost Royal vase sells at auction for double its estimate

Detroit Institute of Arts adds six photographs by Metro Detroiters works to permanent collection

A new endowment at the Fralin Museum of Art at UVA provides funding for acquisitions and care for collections

What happens when a 'heritage act' wants more than playing the hits?

Bruce Silverstein Gallery opens an exhibition of photographs from 1955 to today by Adger Cowans

Springfield Art Museum receives $5 million lead gift to capital campaign project

Art Market 2022 Trends: NFT's To Permeate the Market? Expert Commentary from London's Olyvia Kwok Decani

What Makes NZ Online Casinos Safe?

Different Types of Office Cleaning




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful