About the Author

Christina Connett Brophy, PhD, The Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Massachusetts. With a PhD from the University of Valencia, Spain; an MA from University of Auckland, New Zealand; and a BA from Northwestern University, Dr. Brophy has curated and advised on exhibitions in numerous institutions nationally and internationally and has over ten years of university teaching experience at RISD and University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Reviews

"With color illustrations as well as insightful essays by Christina Connett Brophy, Elizabeth Broun, and William C. Agee that analyze, respectively, Ryder’s historical context, his elusive painterly ideas, and his outsize influence on generations of artists, A Wild Note of Longing: Albert Pinkham Ryder and a Century of American Artoffers us the exceedingly welcome chance to reflect on this austere, stirring, and wholeheartedly strange painter."  —THE NEW CRITERION

"The exhibition catalogue … is a substantial publication. High-quality images alternate with essays by the three curators. While Brophy’s text focuses on the historical and artistic context of New Bedford, Broun gives an analysis of Ryder’s work and the effect of his paintings on viewers. As she writes, Ryder’s artworks 'reveal their allure slowly over time, after repeated looking,' echoing the artist’s own slow labor. Agee’s essay (like his curation) focuses on Ryder’s legacy: 'His influence through generations of artists has often been quiet, even invisible, like an underground stream, but nevertheless one that flows steadily.' Agee explains that Ryder’s paintings have attracted artists by giving them 'permission to feel again, to break free of the chains of theory.' This license for freedom and individuality was also felt by painter Peter Shear, who describes Ryder’s work as a 'fortunate place to get lost at a moment when, like all young artists, I was searching for the permission to be myself.'" —THE BROOKLYN RAIL