The Courtauld Gallery is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Karen Serres as its Schroder Foundation Curator of Paintings. Presently working for the prestigious Yale University Art Gallery in the United States, she will take up this important post in September 2012. Karen Serres will take charge of The Courtauld’s outstanding collection of pre-1900 paintings, which ranges from the early Renaissance to celebrated Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. She will also contribute to the Gallery’s highly successful programme of temporary exhibitions. The post of Curator of Paintings has been generously supported by the Schroder Foundation since 2006.

Dr Serres is currently Nina and Lee Griggs Associate Curator of European Art at the Yale University Art Gallery. Having studied art history at the École du Louvre and the Université of the Sorbonne in Paris, she gained an MA and PhD from The Courtauld Institute of Art. After completing an Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellowship at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Karen was named Robert H. Smith Research Curator in the Department of Sculpture there. She has also worked as a researcher for the complete catalogue of paintings at the Wallace Collection, contributed to a number of conferences and symposia as well as writing articles and essays for various magazines and journals.

Dr Karen Serres will succeed Dr Caroline Campbell who has been Curator of Paintings since 2005. Professor Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld Institute of Art, said: “Karen will be a wonderful addition to The Courtauld. Her expertise, skills and international experience will help to ensure that the Gallery maintains its strong development and growth as one of the world’s leading university art museums.”