Library Research Grants for Advanced Undergraduate Students: Application Deadline October 15, 2019

This is the first year the Getty Research Institute Library is offering Library Research Grants for advanced undergraduate students. We recently had the first grantee, Mary Najmon, arrive to conduct research for an exhibition is she co-curating at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We had a short chat with Mary to learn more about her experiences using the library.

What advice would you give undergraduate applicants or Library Research Grant recipients based upon your experience at the Getty Research Institute Library?

I would advise applicants and grant recipients to plan time for consulting sources that aren’t in their original bibliography. Once I got to the library I talked to a Reference Librarian, and discovered how to access all of the resources available, I found many more sources I wished to consult and had to reprioritize my time.

What collections or items did you focus on during your time at the Getty Research Institute Library?

My research mainly focused on the large collection of reproductive prints (both bound in volumes and loose) after Charles Le Brun and Pierre Mignard including the Grand escalier du Château de Versailles published by Louis Surugue and a bound volume titled Engravings of Frescoes at Versailles and St. Cloud by Pierre Mignard.

What are your plans now after completing your research at the Getty?

Now that I have completed my research at the Getty I will spend the following weeks co-curating and writing a catalogue essay for an upcoming exhibition Rivalry in Print at the Center Art Gallery at Calvin University. Using a recent donation of 15 prints bound together in the 1720’s titled Grandes pieces de Mr Le Brun et Mignard by Étienne Baudet and Gérard Audran, depicting ceilings painted by Charles Le Brun and Pierre Mignard, the exhibition explores the role these prints play in the broader world of artistic competition in 17th century Paris and the rivalry between Le Brun and Mignard.

Visit the Getty Library Research Grants web page to learn more and to apply for the 2020 calendar year cycle. The application deadline is October 15, 2019.

Visit the Library Catalog to explore the library’s collections.

Reference Librarians are happy to answer questions and to provide assistance in using the Library Catalog. Please contact us.

-Sarah Sherman, Manager of Reference and User Engagement