Dr Isobel Muir was an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral candidate, carrying out a doctoral project on cultural philanthropy at the National Gallery and Durham University. Her thesis, ‘Jewish Collectors, Donors and Fundraisers at the National Gallery, 1824-1945’, was co-supervised by Dr Tom Stammers and Dr Susannah Avery-Quash). She received her PhD in June 2024. Her examiners were Professor Frances Fowle (Edinburgh University) and Professor David Feldman (Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism and a Professor of History).
Prior to studying at Durham, she was Assistant Curator of Painting and Assistant to the Chief Surveyor, Royal Collection Trust. Previously, she held roles in the Learning Department of Dulwich Picture Gallery and an exhibition design practice, Metaphor. She obtained an MA in nineteenth century painting at the Courtauld Institute (2015), and a BA in History of Art from the University of Cambridge in 2014.
Since her PhD, she worked on presenting the National Gallery's bicentenary exhibition, 'Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers', as Project Curator. She is now Assistant Curator, 19th Century British Art (1850-1915) at Tate Britain.
