Art History Lightning Talks

Presented by the Department of Art & Art History, this art history lightning talk event features three distinguished alums—Altair Brandon-Salmon, Alisa Eagleston-Cieslewicz, and Sabrina Buell. Each alum will give a 15-minute presentation on their work and area of expertise, followed by a brief 5-minute discussion. From curatorial research and art conservation to art advising and public collections, the talks highlight the diverse career paths and perspectives of Stanford Art History graduates. The event will be moderated by Head Librarian Lindsay King.

EVENT PROGRAM

Electric Contrasts: The Art of the Detail
Speaker: Altair Brandon-Salmon (PhD ’24)

In 1938, the National Gallery in London published One Hundred Details from Pictures in the National Gallery, written by its young director, Kenneth Clark (1903-83). Old Master paintings in the collection were presented as cropped, black-and-white pairs. The book, with its witty commentary and beautiful production, was a huge success.
 
This curator’s talk will illuminate the Bowes Art and Architecture Library’s exhibition Electric Contrasts: The Art of the Detail, which is the first to take One Hundred Details as the lynchpin to understand how details—cropped reproductions of paintings—were central to looking at art in the early 20th century. From the groundbreaking work of art historians to avant-garde publications, the exhibition shows that these monochrome details, published facing one another across a page spread, created a distinctive, modernist way of seeing Old Master painting.

Altair Brandon-Salmon is an art historian and a lecturer in Civic, Liberal, and Global Education at Stanford University. His scholarship on modern art has appeared in Art History, Art Journal, British Art Studies, and the Oxford Art Journal. He has been a curator for the Sheldonian Theatre and Campion Hall, University of Oxford, and he is currently a guest curator for Projects Twenty Two. His book, Rubble: Art, the Blitz, and London in Ruins, is forthcoming in spring 2027.
 

Setting Art Up For Success: A Career in Art Conservation
Speaker: Alisa Eagleston-Cieslewicz (BA ‘04)

Art Conservators often think about how their actions will impact artworks many years from now.  Throughout her career in art conservation and museum administration, Alisa Eagleston-Cieslewicz (‘04) has brought this long-term perspective to the conservation of individual artworks, public art installations, and museum administration. This talk will look at how considering the long-term interaction of art-making materials, conservation choices, and exhibition sites can strengthen the preservation and maintenance of artworks, particularly in public installations and private collections. 

Alisa Eagleston-Cieslewicz holds a MA in art history with an advanced certificate in art conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.  She has held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, SFO Museum, and The Foster Museum.  She is currently an objects conservator and museum consultant in private practice at Mayfield Art Conservation and Consulting LLC, where she works with museums and collectors to conserve their artworks and to build the institutional infrastructure to support ongoing collections care. Alisa also serves on the Historic Resources Board for the City of Palo Alto and on the board of the Bay Area Art Conservation Guild.
 

Building a Collection: the Eye, the Market, and Public Art at Stanford
Speaker: Sabrina Buell (BA ’99)

Sabrina Buell will trace her path at the intersection of art and business, from studying Art History and Economics at Stanford through her 25 years in the business as an Advisor to many of the most important public and private collections of our time.  Chief among the public collections she and her firm have advised is Stanford University.  She will speak about the growing public art collection on campus, the Denning House collection for the Knight-Hennessy scholars, and Stanford’s commitment to the arts on campus going forward.

Sabrina Buell founded Zlot Buell + Associates, a cross-generational, multifaceted art advisory firm, in 2012.  She was previously a Director at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York for 10 years.  Sabrina grew up in San Francisco and holds degrees from Stanford University and NYU.

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This event is being held in conjunction with Stanford Reunion Homecoming and Art & Art History's Reunion Open House. Please RSVP to attend Art & Art History's Reunion Open House, and indicate which additional programs, including this event, you plan to attend on Friday, October 16.

Light refreshments will be available for attendees in the library lobby before and following the event.

Event image captions:
Top: Kenneth Clark, One Hundred Details from Pictures in the National Gallery (London: The National Gallery, 1938), p. 79, featuring a detail from Venus and Mars (c.1485) by Sandro Botticelli.
Middle: T3E Departures, Blendolph restoration. Photo courtesy of Alisa Eagleston-Cieslewicz.
Bottom: Alicja Kwade, Pars Pro Toto, 2021. Twelve stone spheres.

VISITOR INFORMATION: The Bowes Art & Architecture Library is located on the second floor of McMurtry Building on Stanford campus at 355 Roth Way. Visitor parking is available in designated areas and payment is managed through ParkMobile (free after 4pm, except by the Oval). Alternatively, take the Caltrain to Palo Alto Transit Center and hop on the free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle. If you need a disability-related accommodation or wheelchair access information, please contact Julianne White at jgwhite@stanford.edu. This event is open to Stanford affiliates and alums. Admission is free.

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