Scholarship Ruth Baumgarte

The Ruth Baumgarte Art Foundation is offering a doctoral scholarship aimed at outstanding academics in the field of art history. The research fellowship focuses on the multifaceted work of the artist Ruth Baumgarte, which is to be examined in the context of current German, European and global art, literature and media history from 1940 onwards.

Application deadline: 30.06.2024

Ruth Baumgarte (1923-2013) is an impressive female artist of the 20th century. During a period characterized by radical upheavals, she created an artistic life's work spanning seven decades, from her first drawings in the 1940s to the monumental paintings, watercolours and drawings of the Africa cycle from 1984 to 2004. The three-volume Catalogue Raisonné Ruth Baumgarte, which contains over 3,300 entries, has been available since 2022. In addition to the artistically autonomous catalog raisonné, the extensive illustrative work has also been published as a catalog raisonné. Most recently, her works were exhibited at the Albertina in Vienna.

The Ruth Baumgarte Art Foundation owns the most extensive collection of works by Ruth Baumgarte and administers the written and photographic estate. It owns an extensive research library containing press reports, documents on the history of exhibitions, and catalogs on the work and activities of Ruth Baumgarte, as well as numerous publications on her artistic environment.

The scholarship for the preparation of a doctoral thesis is aimed at highly qualified young scholars in the field of art history.  

The range of topics for eligible dissertations includes research in the art historical field of global portrait art of the 20th/21st century, watercolor painting, aspects between illustration research and autonomous art, interdisciplinary topics between literature and visual art, or the placement of Ruth Baumgartes work in the global context of feminist and representational art history from 1945 onwards. The funding period is up to two years with a monthly support of 1,500 euros. In justified cases, it is possible to apply for an extension of the fellowship for up to a further twelve months before the end of the second year of support. No residency requirement in Bielefeld is expected. However, it is considered essential that the fellowship holder deal with the originals in the estate and archive on site. A prerequisite for application is that the project be connected to a Department/Chair of Art History at a renowned university or to a renowned art historical research institute.

To apply for the doctoral fellowship, please submit the following documents:

  • Letter of motivation (max. 2 pages)
  • Curriculum vitae in tabular form
  • Copies of university certificates
  • List of publications with text samples (links to PDFs) 
  • Project outline of the planned research project on Ruth Baumgarte for two years (3-5 pages, 7000-10,000 signs incl. space)  
  • Time and work schedule with details of the necessary travel to archives, libraries and museums (max. 2 pages)
  • detailed cost breakdown (estimate if necessary) of the travel and material costs likely to be incurred
  • summary of the research project (1000 signs incl. space)

The selection of the candidates will be made by an expert commission.

Please send your application digitally in a PDF document (up to 5 MB) to: stiftung@ruth-baumgarte.com.

All applicants will receive a confirmation of receipt after their documents have been processed.

For further information and questions about the work of Ruth Baumgarte, please contact the Ruth Baumgarte Art Foundation directly or go to the present website.

Contact persons for inquiries are in this regard are Dr. Wiebke Steinmetz (Director, 0521 560 31 28) and Dr. Viola Weigel (Curator, 0521 560 31 11).

Ruth Baumgarte Art Foundation
Niederwall 10
33602 Bielefeld, Germany