Dr Meredith Hale

I received my PhD from Columbia University in New York and was the Speelman Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, from 2009 to 2018. I joined Exeter as a lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture in 2019. I am a specialist in Netherlandish art of the early modern period (c. 1550-1700). My research interests include: early modern print culture, particularly political satire and international print markets; the 'Glorious Revolution' and reception of Netherlandish art; and issues related to materiality, material agency, and the reception of works of art. My first book, The Birth of Modern Political Satire: Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708) and the Glorious Revolution, was published by Oxford University Press in September 2020.

For a discussion of my book with Ian Hislop on Radio 4, see ‘Who’s De Hoeghe?’, part 9 of Ian Hislop’s Oldest Jokes (aired 1 Feb 2024); https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001vsjb

I was awarded a Research Fellowship from The Leverhulme Trust (2023-24) to write my second book on a series of oil sketches by Anthony van Dyck (Boughton House, Northamptonshire) for his famous print series known as The Iconography. For this project see: https://lcvs.exeter.ac.uk/research/projects/object-affect/

I am Principal Organiser of the Historians of Netherlandish Art (HNA) conference, ‘Britain and the Low Countries: cultural exchange past, present & future’, London and Cambridge (10-13 July 2024); https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hna-conference-2024-tickets-851692634597?aff=oddtdtcreator

I earned a BA in Art History and Archaeology from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. I spent two years as a British Marshall Scholar at The Courtauld Institute, London, before studying for my PhD at Columbia University, New York. I received a number of grants for my graduate study, among them: the Beinecke Memorial Scholarship; the Samuel H. Kress Fellowship, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Swann Foundation Fellowship, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. I worked as a Specialist in Old Master Paintings at Christie’s New York before being awarded the Speelman Fellowship at Wolfson College, Cambridge, a position I held from 2009-2018. I became a lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture at Exeter in 2019.

I welcome research proposals on any subject related to my research interests and expertise, including but not limited to:

• Netherlandish art, c. 1500-1700
• Early Modern print culture
• Political propaganda and satire
• Issues related to materiality and material agency
• Romeyn de Hooghe
• Anthony van Dyck