Foister, Susan 1954- (Susan Rosemary Foister)

PERSONAL:

Born May 12, 1954. Education: Earned doctorate.

ADDRESSES:

Office—National Gallery London, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN, England.

CAREER:

Curator. National Gallery, London, England, curator of Early Netherlandish, German, and British painting, and director of collections.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Outstanding title, Choice, 2006, for Holbein and England.

WRITINGS:

Holbein and His English Patrons, University of London (London, England), 1981.

(With others) The National Portrait Gallery Collection, introduction by John Hayes, National Portrait Gallery (New York, NY), 1988.

Cardinal Newman 1801-90, National Portrait Gallery (London, England), 1990.

(With Jill Dunkerton, Dillian Gordon, and Nicholas Penny) Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1994.

(Editor, with Howard Colvin) Anthonis van den Wyngaerde, The Panorama of London circa 1544, London Topographical Society (London, England), 1996.

(Editor, with Susie Nash) Robert Campin: New Directions in Scholarship (Robert Campin Symposium, 1993), Brepols (Turnhout, Belgium), 1996.

(With Rica Jones and Olivier Meslay) Young Gainsborough (exhibition book), National Gallery (London, England), 1997.

(With Ashok Roy and Martin Wyld) Holbein's Ambassadors, National Gallery (London, England), 1997.

(With Jill Dunkerton and Nicholas Penny) Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Paintings in the National Gallery, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1999.

(Editor, with Sue Jones and Delphine Cool) Investigating Jan Van Eyck, Brepols (Turnhout, Belgium), 2000.

(With others) Lucas Cranach: Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne: Ausstellung Des Bucerius Kunst Forums: Eine Ausstellung Des Bucerius Kunst Forums, Hatje Cantz (Ostfildern, Germany), 2003.

Holbein and England, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2004.

Dürer and the Virgin in the Garden, National Gallery (London, England), 2004.

Art of Light: German Renaissance Stained Glass, National Gallery (London, England), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Susan Foister is a curator. Born on May 12, 1954, Foister earned a doctorate and centered her career on art history. She eventually began working at England's National Gallery in London, as the curator of Early Netherlandish, German, and British paintings, as well as serving as the director of collections.

Foister published her first book, Holbein and His English Patrons, in 1981. With other scholars, she helped to create The National Portrait Gallery Collection in 1988. In 1990 she published Cardinal Newman 1801-90.

In 1994 Foister wrote Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery with Jill Dunkerton, Dillian Gordon, and Nicholas Penny. The book covers European artwork of England's National Gallery from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries.

Colin Eisler, reviewing the book in the Renaissance Quarterly, mentioned that "those assimilating the comprehensive information found in Giotto to Durer may deservedly consider themselves well on the way to being truly knowledgeable in the area of European painting from the early fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. This book is an invaluable aid for courses on a college and graduate level in both Italian and Northern European art." Eisler concluded that "to all those interested in art from Giotto to Dürer, buy this book and read it. You are sure to learn a lot, no matter how much you think you already know."

With Howard Colvin, Foister edited Anthonis van den Wyngaerde's The Panorama of London circa 1544 in 1996. That same year Foister also edited Robert Campin: New Directions in Scholarship (Robert Campin Symposium, 1993) with Susie Nash, based on speeches presented at a conference held in 1993. The following year Foister wrote the exhibition book with Rica Jones and Olivier Meslay of Young Gainsborough, an exhibition held at the National Gallery in London. Foister also published Holbein's Ambassadors in 1997 with Ashok Roy and Martin Wyld.

Foister published Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Paintings in the National Gallery with Jill Dunkerton and Nicholas Penny in 1999. The book covers European artwork of England's National Gallery from the sixteenth century.

Cathy Santore, reviewing the book in the Renaissance Quarterly, said that the book provides "a thorough understanding of the different working methods employed in the application of tempera and oil paints." Santore also pointed out that "the chapters on materials and methods are most valuable." In conclusion, Santore remarked that "the reader is offered a synthesis of information that one would normally have to consult a variety of texts to acquire. The most exquisite color plates, many of which are details, add to the book's charm and value as a study aid."

The following year Foister edited Investigating Jan Van Eyck with Sue Jones and Delphine Cool. In 2003 Foister, with the assistance of others, published Lucas Cranach: Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne: Ausstellung Des Bucerius Kunst Forums: Eine Ausstellung Des Bucerius Kunst Forums.

In 2004 Foister published Holbein and England. The book was listed as an outstanding title on Choice's list in 2006. The account looks at the life and artwork of Hans Holbein, a sixteenth-century German painter, attempting to clarify common misunderstandings about the Renaissance-era artist.

Sandra Rothenberg, writing in Library Journal, found the book to be "thorough" and "illustrated with beautiful reproductions." Rothenberg advised that "this detailed, scholarly study is recommended specifically for academic libraries," particularly those with strong art history collections. Bret Rothstein, reviewing the book in the Renaissance Quarterly, stated: "Articulate and diplomatic, its author is more inclined to speak broadly of ill-founded ideas than to cite particular works chapter-and-verse," an approach that Rothstein called "admirable" as "much of the tangle comprises a quite incredible mass of gibberish." Rothstein noted, however, that "fuller attention to issues … would have helped Foister," concluding that "as it stands, this book sheds valuable light on her chosen subject. But it supplements, rather than supplants, work that has come before." Karen Hearn, writing about the book in Apollo magazine, observed that "the physical construction of Holbein's works is investigated in precise detail." Hearn concluded that "Foister's style is functional rather than elegant, but with the occasional flash of dry wit. Every sentence is carefully weighed, which gives the reader confidence in both her judgments and the speculations necessitated by the paucity of hard facts. This eagerly awaited volume will be indispensable to any one interested in the visual arts and cultural history of early modern England and the reign of Henry VIII."

Also in 2004 Foister published Dürer and the Virgin in the Garden. In 2007 she published Art of Light: German Renaissance Stained Glass.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Apollo, August 1, 2005, Karen Hearn, review of Holbein and England, p. 56.

Art History, June 1, 1992, Diana Norman, review of Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, p. 248.

Bookseller, June 30, 2006, "Susan Foister: Holbein in England," p. 36.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, July 1, 1998, C.W. Talbot, review of Holbein's Ambassadors; May 1, 2000, P. Emison, review of Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Paintings in theNational Gallery, p. 1637; October 1, 2005, N. Aksamija, review of Holbein and England, p. 280; September 1, 2007, H.J. Van Miegroet, review of Holbein and England, p. 82.

Journal of British Studies, April 1, 2006, Robert Tittler, review of Holbein and England, p. 394.

Library Journal, December 1, 1989, Lynell A. Morr, review of The National Portrait Gallery Collection, p. 118; September 1, 2005, Sandra Rothenberg, review of Holbein and England, p. 137.

New York Review of Books, April 13, 2000, Willibald Sauerlaender, review of Holbein's Ambassadors, p. 76.

Publishers Weekly, July 21, 1989, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of The National Portrait Gallery Collection, p. 47.

Renaissance Quarterly, fall, 1994, Colin Eisler, review of Giotto to Dürer, p. 715; summer, 2001, Cathy Santore, review of Dürer to Veronese, p. 603; spring, 2006, Bret Rothstein, review of Holbein and England, p. 245.

School Librarian, August 1, 1989, review of The National Portrait Gallery Collection, p. 123.

Sixteenth Century Journal, Marguerite A. Tassi, fall, 1999, review of Holbein's Ambassadors, p. 866; spring, 2001, Jeffrey Fontana, review of Dürer to Veronese, p. 291; summer, 2006, Larry Silver, review of Holbein and England, p. 643.

Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, January 1, 1994, Craig Harbison, review of Giotto to Dürer, p. 135.

Times Higher Education Supplement, March 24, 2000, Mary Rogers, review of Dürer to Veronese, p. 30.