Getty's New Antiquities Curator
Claire Lyons Assumes New Post at Museum's Villa on June 2, 2008
Los Angeles, California's J. Paul Getty Museum recently announced the appointment of Dr. Claire L. Lyons as Curator in the Department of Antiquities, effective June 2, 2008. Leaving her position as Senior Collections Curator, History of Archaeology and Ancient Art at the world-renowned Getty Research Institute (GRI), she'll join Senior Curator Dr. Karol Wight and her colleagues at the Getty Villa, home to a superlative collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art.
Education and Publications
Claire Lyons earned her A.B. in Classics (summa cum laude) from Bowdoin College, followed by her M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College. She specializes in Greek art and archaeology with an emphasis on the ancient and modern social contexts of antiquities. Lyons is the author of Morgantina Studies (Volume V): The Archaic Cemeteries (Princeton University Press, 1996). She co-edited The Archaeology of Colonialism (Issues and Debates) (Getty Publications, 2002) and studies on gender and sexuality in Greek and Roman art.
Excavations and Academic Affiliations
In addition to her archaeological work at the sites of Morgantina, Murlo, Metaponto and Corinth, Claire Lyons is a Research Associate at UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and Lecturer in the Art History Department at the University of Southern California. The former Vice President of the Archaeological Institute of America is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Cultural Property, the American Journal of Archaeology and the Journal of the History of Collections.
Career at the Getty
Dr. Lyons joined the Getty's staff in 1985. Her intellectual pursuits at the Getty Research Institute have largely been devoted to the afterlife of antiquity in the visual arts and culture as well as the history of collecting. She co-curated the reopened Getty Villa's inaugural special exhibition, Antiquity & Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites (2006), and co-authored its catalogue.
In her new capacity, Claire Lyons will play a pivotal role in developing future exhibitions at the Getty Villa and continue her stellar research in the field of antiquities. She's currently organizing Grecian Taste and Roman Spirit: The Society of Dilettanti at the Villa from August 7 to October 27, 2008. According to Michael Brand, Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, "She understands well the Getty's mission and will help forge even more collaborative efforts between the Museum and the Research Institute."
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