Curatorial Assistant at The Crosby Company of New Hampshire
Job Title: Curatorial Assistant
Job Status: Full-time
Location: Salem, NH
Salary: $55,000.00 – $70,000.00
Description
Private foundation with fine and decorative arts collection is seeking to hire a full time Curatorial Assistant to join the team. Role is envisioned as entry level Curatorial Assistant but higher-level applicants with the appropriate qualifications will be considered.
We are a single-family office located in NH dedicated to dynamic, forward-thinking stewardship for the family’s businesses, assets, and philanthropy. With “family first” as our guiding principle, our work is grounded on the values of respect, integrity, teamwork, trust, and high performance.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
This role reports directly to the Head of Curatorial/Curator and provides assistance on a wide range of curatorial work.
The Curatorial Assistant/Assistant Curator is responsible for completing research on objects in the collection to enhance the data in the database and permanent records. This includes:
- Research on the artist/maker/designer
- Documenting and researching materials, as needed
- Research into the larger context and time period objects were created, both within the artist’s oeuvre and greater society
- Research publication or exhibition information, and related published research
- This work includes both database entry and maintaining hardcopy accession file records
Responsible for researching potential acquisitions. This includes:
- Occasional travel to view auction or gallery items in person to assess condition and gather pertinent information about the items
- Research and compile information on comparable auction sales to assist in determining if the asking price/auction estimate is realistic
- Complete professional, high-level executive summaries on potential acquisitions for various audiences both internal and external. This includes written narrative putting the items in context of the existing collection, the artist’s work, and overall market interest.
Responsible for tracking auction houses, galleries, and other resources on a weekly basis to identify items that may be of interest to the collection. This includes:
- A weekly review of upcoming auctions, identifying items of interest and distribution of personalized emails outlining the findings
- Consistent contact with galleries and auction houses to ensure we are notified of items of interest in advance whenever possible
- Monitoring several search engines for potential matches to collection interests at auctions or galleries not known to us
The Curatorial Assistant/Assistant Curator will work closely with the Curator to execute their duties. They will also work closely with registration staff to ensure that data in the database is accurate, including pre-purchase condition information, artist/maker information, and exhibition and publication history.