Tamar van Riessen (She/Her)

I am a PhD researcher in Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter, supervised by Dr Meredith Hale and Dr Yue Zhuang. My doctoral research examines the work of the Dutch painter Pieter van Roestraten (1630–1700), who migrated to London in the 1660s. The project, titled Pieter van Roestraten (1630-1700) and the Anglo-Dutch Exchange. Art, Power, and the Global Table in the late Seventeenth Century, investigates how Van Roestraten’s still lifes engage with questions of power, trade, and cultural exchange in the late seventeenth century, situating his practice within the broader Anglo-Dutch artistic and mercantile networks of the period.

Alongside my doctoral research, I have been working as an art historian and curator since 2018. In 2021, I served as Curator-in-Training of 17th-Century Dutch Painting at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. From 2023 to 2025, I returned to the Rijksmuseum and worked as Junior Curator of 17th-Century Dutch Painting. During my tenure, I co-curated the landmark exhibition Frans Hals (2024), organised in collaboration with The National Gallery, London, and the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. For the Rijksmuseum at Schiphol Airport, I independently curated the exhibitions Female Power (2021–22) and Setting the Table (2023–24). I have also held positions at Christie's, Mauritshuis, Rijksmuseum Muiderslot, and Museum Van Loon.

In addition to my academic and curatorial work, I am actively involved in several professional networks and committees. I currently serve as a Vetting Assistant for Old Master Paintings at TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) and as a Board Member of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. I am also a Member of the IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee for the Historians of Netherlandish Art (HNA) and a Member of the Website Committee for CODART, the international network for curators of Dutch and Flemish art.