Ellen Joan Handy is an American art critic and historian of art,

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

, and photography. She is Chair of the Photography Department of the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. She is known for both her knowledge of historical movements and genres, such as Japanese photo-postcards and her commitment to developing original talent. Some artists who later became well-known were championed by her in their early years, such as Barbara Rosenthal and Mark Feldstein.

Life and career

Handy was born in Schenectady, New York. Her father, Rollo Handy, is an itinerant philosopher; her mother was Toni Scheiner. Handy graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

in 1980 while still a teenager and later received a Ph.D. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. Handy has written for international publications such as ''Arts'' magazine,^{etter source needed/sup> as well as small, regional ones, such as ''The Catskill Center for Photography Quarterly''. She has contributed essays to reference books such as ''Cézanne and American Modernism''.

Handy has been Curator of Collections at the International Center of Photography, and in 1999, edited reference books the Center published, such as ''Reflections in a Glass Eye''. She has also held curatorial posts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
and, briefly, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
. She has been an instructor in Christie's

Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
M.A. program and a faculty member at Bard College

Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
and LaGuardia Community College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handy, Ellen
Year of birth missing (living people)
Date of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century American women
Barnard College alumni
City College of New York faculty
American art critics
American art historians
American art curators
American women curators
Photography curators
Historians of photography
American women art historians
Princeton University alumni
LaGuardia Community College faculty
Bard College faculty}