Marjorie Trusted
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Marjorie Trusted, also known as Holly Trusted, is a historian of European sculpture. Previously Senior Curator of
Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
at the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
she is known in particular for her work on British and Spanish sculpture and was the lead curator for the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
Cast Courts. Since January 2019, she has been an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She was Honorary Vice-President of the
Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...
in 2018–19.


Education

Trusted was educated at
The Maynard School The Maynard School is a private selective day school for girls aged 4–18 in the city of Exeter in Devon. Founded in 1658, the school is the second oldest girls' school in the country, only predated by the Redmaids' High School in Bristol (1 ...
,
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
and left in 1973. She gained her BA and her PhD at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and her MA at the
Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...
.


Career

Trusted joined the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in 1979, where she worked on British and Spanish sculpture as well as extensively on European decorative arts in the V&A collection such as ambers, ivories, and medals. She has lectured and published widely. As Senior Curator of Sculpture, she was the lead curator for the redevelopment of the V&A Cast Courts, which opened in 2018. She gave the keynote lecture at The
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA, for ''Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium - Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique'') is a Belgian federal institute of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The in ...
(KIK-IRPA, Brussels) conference ''Uniqueness and Multiplication: Plaster as an Art Material'' in October 2017 on the Cast Courts project. In 2008 she jointly curated an exhibition entitled ''The Return of the Gods'' at
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
with Tim Knox and Helen Dorey (
Sir John Soane’s Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects and a l ...
), and Martin Myrone (
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
). The exhibition was the first in Britain to focus on British
neoclassical sculpture Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclass ...
. The exhibition included works by Thomas Banks,
Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...
,
Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...
, and
Bertel Thorvaldsen Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...
. In January 2019, she was appointed an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the V&A, and continued to research and lecture on art history while working on a book on German
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
sculpture, which was published in 2022. She is currently Senior Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow, and Senior Research Fellow of Durham University. She served on the vetting committee of TEFAF Maastricht in March 2019 and in June 2022 for Western Sculptures up to 1830. She is co-chair and co-founder of the Public Statues and Sculpture Association, established in 2020. As Senior Research Fellow of Durham University she catalogued the sculpture collection at the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland, a collection formed by Jonathan Ruffer from 2012 onwards. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts (2025) and is currently working on a book on the Spanish baroque sculptor Luisa Roldán with Catherine Hall-van den Elsen. Trusted's work on ''The Arts of Spain: Iberia and Latin America 1450–1700'' (2007) was praised as "excellent" and "highly reliable". Her work on the
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and later ivory collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum led to a major publication in 2013, ''Baroque & Later Ivories'', which was praised in review for its detailed approach to the subject and described as a "veritable ''magnum opus''".


Extramural roles

Trusted was elected a member of the
Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...
in October 1999 and served as Honorary Vice-President in 2018–19. She was the founding editor of the ''
Sculpture Journal The ''Sculpture Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal of sculpture published by Liverpool University Press. It was established in 1997 by the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA), with Marjorie Trusted as founding e ...
'' in 1997. She is Honorary President of ARTES, Iberian and Latin American Visual Culture Group, an association she co-founded in 2000. She is also co-founder and co-chair of the international Ivory Studies Group, founded in 2009, which meets annually to study and discuss collections of post-medieval ivory sculpture.


Personal life

Trusted has two children and five grandchildren. She divides her time between Oxfordshire and London.


Selected publications

Trusted publishes under the name Marjorie Trusted. *''Catalogue of European Ambers in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' (V&A Publications, 1985) *''German Renaissance Medals: a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' (V&A Publications, 1990) *''Spanish Sculpture: catalogue of the post-medieval Spanish sculpture in wood, terracotta, alabaster, marble, stone, lead and jet in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' (V&A Publications, 1996) * with Diane Bilbey ''British Sculpture 1470 to 2000: a concise catalogue of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum'' (V&A Publications, 2002) *"Exotic Devotion: Sculpture in Viceregal America and Brazil, 1520–1820", in Joseph J. Rishel ''The Arts in Latin America, 1492–1820'', (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2006) 248–257. *''The Making of Sculpture: the materials and techniques of European sculpture'' (V&A Publications, 2007) *''The Arts of Spain: Iberia and Latin America 1450–1700'' (V&A Publications, 2007) * with Helen Dorey and Tim Knox ''The Return of the Gods: neoclassical sculpture in Britain'' (Tate Britain, London, 2008) *"Survivors of a Shipwreck: Ivories from a Manila Galleon of 1601", ''Hispanic Research Journal'' (2013) 14:5, 446-462 *''Baroque & Later Ivories'' (V&A Publications, 2013). * contributor to ''Sculpture Victorious: art in an age of invention, 1837–1901'' (New Haven: Yale University Press: Yale Center for British Art, 2014) * contributor to ''A Reservoir of Ideas: essays in honour of Paul Williamson'' (V&A Publications, 2017) * co-editor with Joanna Barnes, ''Toppling Statues: papers from the 2020 PSSA webinar co-hosted by the Burlington Magazine'' (Public Statues & Sculpture Association, 2021) * ''Baroque Sculpture in Germany and Central Europe 1600–1770'' (Brepols/Harvey Miller, 2022) * co-editor with Joanna Barnes, ''Discovering Women Sculptors'' (Public Statues and Sculpture Association, 2023)


References


External links


An introduction to the Sculpture Galleries at the V&A

Marjorie Trusted on WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trusted, Holly Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum British art historians British women art historians British curators 1955 births