In respect to curatorial experience and auction houses, I find the reverse
is true: many specialists come to the auction world with substantial museum
curatorial experience.  While I believe the museum vs. auction house
credibility issue is pretty much overstated (having worked both sides of the
fence), I see very few people leave an auction house to take any type of
curatorial position. Naturally, I'm making generalizations here, and I will
add that my first-hand knowledge is neccessarily limited to large art
museums.  At the same time, I would hesitate to suggest the auction house
route as a means to eventual curatorial positions...

John Lamberson
Director, Museum Services
Butterfields Auctioneers

>From: "Ellerbe, Genevieve" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: The unofficial guide to getting a museum job
>Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 15:06:45 -0400
>
>The list sounds really good, except for that bit that somebody already
>corrected about the registrar/curator thing.  I did have a question about
>this part, though.
>
>  "  If you want to curate, work for an auction house;  "
>
>I was told that it could frequently be difficult for somebody who worked at
>an auction house to be "taken seriously" by museums, and that they'd have
>to
>prove their professionalism a bit more rigorously.  Is this accurate?
>
>Genevieve Ellerbee
>Associate Registrar
>Daughters of the American Revolution Museum
>
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