BA, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. (2006)
MA, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2010)
Ph.D, University of Edinburgh (2022)
MaryKate Cleary is an art historian specializing in art market due diligence; restitution and repatriation; and the markets for Impressionist and Modern art. Her PhD research examined art dealer networks between Paris, London and New York in the inter-war era through the lens of the art dealer Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959), as well as the Nazi-looting of his collection and stock in 1940. In MaryKate’s practice as a professional provenance researcher and restitution specialist, she has worked for over a decade with the heirs of families persecuted in Holocaust, as well as with museums, auction houses, commercial galleries and private collectors towards due diligence relating to artwork ownership history, as well as the resolution of dozens of Nazi-era restitution claims. She has lectured widely, including at New York University, where she taught the first academic course at a U.S. institution dedicated to Provenance Research. She has also guest-lectured at Columbia University, Stanford University, The Courtauld, Warwick University, Kingston University, University of Zurich and Sotheby’s Institute, New York. She previously held roles at The Museum of Modern Art, the Art Loss Register, Sotheby’s London, artnet.com and New York’s Jewish Museum. MaryKate holds a BA in German Literature (Catholic University, Washington, D.C.,) an MA in History of Art (The Courtauld) and was a Fulbright Fellow at the Technische Universität Dresden. In addition to planning to adapt her PhD into a monograph, MaryKate is working on two further book projects: the first, a co-edited volume with Professor Frances Fowle (University of Edinburgh) on the history of museums engaging with the art market; the second, a critical examination of international Holocaust-looted art restitution claims and legal disputes since 1998. Her research has been funded by the Centre Allemand d’Histoire de L’art, Paris (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte) and the Andrew Grant Scholarship (Edinburgh).
Academia: MaryKate Cleary
LinkedIn: MaryKate Cleary
Photo courtesy of Sam Day
