# Cathleen Chaffee

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cathleen_Chaffee
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cathleen_Chaffee.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathleen_Chaffee
> Source revision: 1342400743
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American curator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Cathleen Ann Chaffee
| birth_place        = United States
| alma_mater         = [Ithaca College](/source/Ithaca_College),<br /> [The Courtauld Institute of Art](/source/The_Courtauld_Institute_of_Art),<br /> [New York University Institute of Fine Arts](/source/New_York_University_Institute_of_Fine_Arts)
| occupation         = Curator, writer, art historian
| organization       = Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly Albright-Knox Art Gallery)
}}
'''Cathleen Chaffee'''<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 March 1999|title=WomenSpeak Day Monday at IC|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/257153325/|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Ithaca Journal|page=3|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120073407/http://www.newspapers.com/image/257153325/ |archive-date=2022-01-20 }}</ref> is an American [curator](/source/curator), writer, and [art historian](/source/Art_history) specializing in [contemporary art](/source/contemporary_art).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Boucher|first=Brian|date=2015-03-17|title=25 Women Curators On the Rise|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/25-women-curators-on-the-rise-276386|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Artnet News|language=en-US}}</ref> She currently serves as the chief curator of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the [Albright–Knox Art Gallery](/source/Albright%E2%80%93Knox_Art_Gallery)) in [Buffalo](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), where she joined in January 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Laster|first=Paul|title=Meet the Curator Rethinking Painting|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-curator-rethinking-painting/|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Vice magazine|date=23 August 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Artforum-2017">{{Cite web|date=September 13, 2017|title=The Albright-Knox Art Gallery Names Cathleen Chaffe Chief Curator|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/albright-knox-art-gallery-names-cathleen-chaffee-chief-curator-71079|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Artforum.com|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428191134/https://www.artforum.com/news/albright-knox-art-gallery-names-cathleen-chaffee-chief-curator-71079 |archive-date=2019-04-28 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Bowley|first=Graham|date=2021-01-21|title=Do Museums Need a Shopping Network for Art Donations?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/arts/design/art-museum-exchange.html|access-date=2022-01-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Chaffee attended [Ithaca College](/source/Ithaca_College);<ref name="Art & Education-2013">{{Cite web|date=November 3, 2013|title=Cathleen Chaffee Appointed Curator of Albright-Knox Gallery|url=https://www.artandeducation.net/news/56382/cathleen-chaffee-appointed-curator-of-albright-knox-gallery|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Art & Education|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120072809/https://www.artandeducation.net/news/56382/cathleen-chaffee-appointed-curator-of-albright-knox-gallery |archive-date=2022-01-20 }}</ref> followed by study at [Courtauld Institute of Art](/source/The_Courtauld_Institute_of_Art) where she received a M.A. degree; and the [New York University Institute of Fine Arts](/source/New_York_University_Institute_of_Fine_Arts) where she received a Ph.D. in 2013.<ref name="Wang-2013">{{Cite web|last=Wang|first=Annie|date=October 30, 2013|title=Albright-Knox Appoints Cathleen Chaffee as Curator|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/albright-knox-appoints-cathleen-chaffee-as-curator-59569/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Art in America|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927110307/https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/albright-knox-appoints-cathleen-chaffee-as-curator-59569/ |archive-date=2020-09-27 }}</ref> Her dissertation was ''Décors: Marcel Broodthaers's Late Exhibition Practice, 1974-1975,'' and her advisor was [Robert Storr](/source/Robert_Storr_(art_academic)).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Institute of Fine Arts Annual 2012 - 2013 by The Institute of Fine Arts, NYU - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/nyuifa/docs/ifa_annual_2013 |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=issuu.com |date=20 January 2016 |page=57 |language=en}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Chaffee was Assistant Curator at the [Yale University Art Gallery](/source/Yale_University_Art_Gallery) from 2010 to 2013 in [New Haven](/source/New_Haven%2C_Connecticut);<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dunne|first=Susan|date=13 September 2013|title=That 70's Show: Exhibit Goes Back in Time|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/263546742/|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Hartford Courant|page=D1|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120071724/http://www.newspapers.com/image/263546742/ |archive-date=2022-01-20 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Weinberg|first=Elizabeth|date=2014-02-20|title=Virtual Reality|url=https://dailynutmeg.com/2014/02/20/yale-university-art-gallery-photorealism-virtual-reality/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Daily Nutmeg New Haven|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220071250/http://dailynutmeg.com/2014/02/20/yale-university-art-gallery-photorealism-virtual-reality/ |archive-date=2014-02-20 }}</ref> and held curatorial positions at the [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art) from 2007 to 2008 in New York City and the [Cleveland Museum of Art](/source/Cleveland_Museum_of_Art) from 2001 to 2004.<ref name="Halio-2017">{{Cite web|last=Halio|first=Grace|date=2017-11-27|title=Cathleen Chaffee Named VIA Art Fund's 2018 Curatorial Fellow|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/cathleen-chaffee-named-via-art-funds-2018-curatorial-fellow-9378/|access-date=2022-01-20|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Wang-2013" />

In 2023, Chaffee curated ''Marisol: A Retrospective'' (in 2023–2025), the largest posthumous survey of the artist's work.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-29 |title=Marisol, the once popular Pop artist, is back in the spotlight in major travelling show |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/09/29/marisol-the-once-popular-pop-artist-is-back-in-the-spotlight |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events}}</ref> The exhibition was largely drawn from Marisol's bequest of more than 700 artworks, her papers, and her copyright to the Buffalo AKG in 2016.<ref>Chaffee, Cathleen; Brodbeck, Anna Katherine; Brodsky, Estrellita; Da Corte, Alex; Desmarais, Mary-Dailey; Hong, Jessica; Solomons, Delia; Vázquez, Julia M.; Hose, Jason (2023). Marisol: A Retrospective (First ed.). Buffalo: Buffalo AKG Art Museum in association with DelMonico Books - D.A.P., p.9</ref> In Buffalo, Chaffee oversees the museum's stewardship of Marisol's estate.<ref>https://buffaloakg.org/about/our-team/staff/cathleen-chaffee-phd</ref> In this role, she completed the Aspen Institute's Seminar on Strategy for Artist-Endowed Foundation Leaders in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olague |first=Susana |date=2025-06-13 |title=Announcing the 2025 Graduates of AEFI's Seminar on Strategy |url=https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/aefi_2025_seminar_grads/ |access-date=2025-07-31 |website=Aspen Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2024-25, Chaffee curated ''Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Charles |date=2024-05-01 |title=Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2024/05/artseen/Stanley-Whitney-How-High-the-Moon |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=The Brooklyn Rail |language=en-US}}</ref> [Whitney](/source/stanley_Whitney)'s first retrospective. This project was preceded by ''Stanley Whitney: the Italian Paintings'' (in 2022), (co-curated by Chaffee and Vincenzo de Bellis) an installation of works made by [Stanley Whitney](/source/Stanley_Whitney) in Italy since the 1990s and an official collateral event of the [59th Venice Biennale](/source/59th_Venice_Biennale).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Amah-Rose |date=2022-05-04 |title=Stanley Whitney's Italian paintings reveal an art practice in transition |url=https://www.wallpaper.com/art/stanley-whitney-italian-paintings-venice |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Wallpaper*}}</ref>

Other notable exhibitions include ''Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective'' (in 2018),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kapplow |first=Heather |date=2019-01-01 |title=A Mad Scientist of the New York Avant-Garde Gets a Retrospective |url=http://hyperallergic.com/477454/introducing-tony-conrad-a-retrospective/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}}</ref> the first large-scale museum survey devoted to artworks [Conrad](/source/tony_Conrad) presented in museum and gallery settings, and part of an ongoing reappraisal of his creative achievement;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://buffaloakg.org/art/exhibitions/introducing-tony-conrad-retrospective | title=Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective &#124; Buffalo AKG Art Museum }}</ref> ''Joe Bradley'' (in 2017);<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dabkowski |first=Colin |title=Albright-Knox show explores Joe Bradley's diverse career |url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/albright-knox-show-explores-joe-bradleys-diverse-career/article_6516f1a1-286e-52b8-a51f-ba03fdf7daf2.html |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Buffalo News |date=21 June 2017 |language=en}}</ref> ''Clyfford Still / Mark Bradford'' (in 2016);<ref>{{Cite web|last=Whyte|first=Murray|date=2016-09-23|title=Throwing shade: Mark Bradford tackles Clyfford Still|url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/23/shade-mark-bradford-tackles-clyfford-still-exhibition-buffalo-denver|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-20|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923234832/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/23/shade-mark-bradford-tackles-clyfford-still-exhibition-buffalo-denver |archive-date=2016-09-23 }}</ref> ''Erin Shirreff'' (in 2016);<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-06 |title=Erin Shirreff at the Albright-Knox |url=https://www.dailypublic.com/articles/04062016/erin-shirreff-albright-knox |access-date=2025-07-31 |website=The Public |language=en}}</ref> ''Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Ecologies of Drama'' (from 2015 to 2016);<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moynihan|first=Conor|title=Eija-Liisa Ahtila's multichannel installation commands attention|url=https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/eija-liisa-ahtila-s-multichannel-installation-commands-attention/article_8565732c-d0c3-57c3-ab99-4b0f596f8321.html|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Buffalo News|date=17 December 2015 |language=en}}</ref> ''Screen Play: Life in an Animated World'' (in 2015);<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hampton|first=Chris|date=2015-07-31|title=Unpacking and Decoding the World of Animation|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/arts/design/unpacking-and-decoding-the-world-of-animation.html|access-date=2022-01-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Overtime: The Art of Work'' (in 2015);<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarlin |first=Paige |date=2015-11-01 |title=Review: Overtime: The Art of Work |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/afterimage/article/43/3/27/20348/Review-Overtime-The-Art-of-Work |journal=Afterimage |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=27–29 |doi=10.1525/aft.2015.43.3.27 |issn=0300-7472|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and ''Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from The Panza Collection, 1967–1990'' (from 2015 to 2016).<ref name="Artforum-2017" />

She was awarded a Curatorial Fellowship from the VIA Art Fund in 2018;<ref name="Halio-2017" /> and a [Fulbright Fellowship](/source/Fulbright_Program) in 2008 to Belgium.<ref name="Art & Education-2013" /> Chaffee is a 2026 Fellow at the Center for Curatorial Leadership.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/6784522/ccl-fellows-2026|title=CCL Fellows 2026|date=November 20, 2025|website=e-flux.com}}</ref> 

== Publications ==
* {{cite book |last1=Chaffee |first1=Cathleen |title=Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon |date=2024 |publisher=DelMonico Books and Buffalo AKG Art Museum |location=New York and Buffalo}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chaffee |first1=Cathleen |title=Marisol: A Retrospective |date=2023 |publisher=DelMonico Books and Buffalo AKG Art Museum |isbn=9781636811017 |location=New York and Buffalo}}
* Chaffee, Cathleen; de Bellis, Vincenzo (2022). ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/Stanley_Whitney_The_Italian_Paintings.html?id=0JYfzwEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description Stanley Whitney: The Italian Paintings].'' Buffalo, NY: Buffalo AKG Art Museum. 
* {{Cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Julia Bryan|title=Liza Lou|last2=Chaffee|first2=Cathleen|last3=Adamson|first3=Glenn|last4=Sherman|first4=Elisabeth|publisher=Rizzoli Electa|others=Carrie Mae Weems (contributor)|year=2022|isbn=978-0847870752|location=New York City, NY|type=artist monograph}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Zoë |title=Gabriel Kuri: Sorted, Resorted |last2=Kuri |first2=Gabriel |last3=Chaffee |first3=Cathleen |last4=Snauwaert |first4=Dirk |publisher=Walther König |year=2020 |isbn=978-3960986850 |location=Cologne}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StgEtAEACAAJ|title=Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective|publisher=Albright-Knox Art Gallery|others=Rachel Adams (author), Diedrich Diederichsen (author), Branden Wayne Joseph (author), David Grubbs (author), Jay Sanders (author), Constance DeJong (author), Vera Alemani (author), [Tina Rivers Ryan](/source/Tina_Rivers_Ryan) (author), Annie Ochmanek (author), Andrew Lampert (author), Christopher Müller (author), [Tony Oursler](/source/Tony_Oursler) (contributor), Anthony Elms (author), Henriette Huldisch (author), Paige Sarlin (author), Christopher Williams (author)|year=2018|isbn=9783960983361|editor-last=Chaffee|editor-first=Cathleen|type=art exhibition}}
* {{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Postscript: Writing After Conceptual Art |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2018 |isbn=9781442649842 |editor-last=Andersson |editor-first=Andrea |location=Toronto}}
* {{Cite book |last1= |first1= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cz5hvgAACAAJ |title=Joe Bradley |last2= |first2= |publisher=Albright-Knox Art Gallery |year=2017 |isbn=9781887457224 |editor-last=Chaffee |editor-first=Cathleen |type=art exhibition}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1AujgEACAAJ|title=Marcel Broodthaers: A Retrospective|publisher=The Museum of Modern Art|others=[Marcel Broodthaers](/source/Marcel_Broodthaers) (artist), Benjamin Buchloh (contributor), Cathleen Chaffee (contributor), Jean-François Chévrier (contributor), Kim Conaty (contributor), Thierry de Duve (contributor)|year=2016|isbn=978-0870709623|editor-last=Cherix|editor-first=Christophe|location=New York City, NY|type=art exhibition|editor-last2=Borja-Villel|editor-first2=Manuel}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Chaffee|first1=Cathleen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1wZjwEACAAJ|title=Erica Baum: The Naked Eye|last2=Colard|first2=Jean-Max|publisher=Crevecœur/Bureau|others=[Erica Baum](/source/Erica_Baum) (photographer)|year=2016|isbn=978-2954136943|type=art exhibition}}
* {{cite book | last=Hatley | first=Pam | title=Erin Shirreff | publisher=Albright Knox Art Gallery | date=2015 | isbn=978-1-887457-18-7}}
* Chaffee, Cathleen, ed. (2015). ''Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Ecologies of Drama: Essays, Interviews, and Scripts''. [Eija-Liisa Ahtila](/source/Eija-Liisa_Ahtila) (artist). Buffalo: Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
* {{cite book | last1=Butler | first1=Cornelia H. | last2=Chaffee | first2=Cathleen | last3=Roberts | first3=Veronica | last4=Sullivan | first4=Lexi Lee | title=Drawing Redefined | publisher=DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park | date=2015 | isbn=978-0-300-21591-5}}
* {{Cite book|title=Eye on a Century: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery|publisher=Yale University Art Gallery|year=2013|isbn=978-0300184945|location=New Haven, CT|type=art exhibition|editor-last=Chaffee|editor-first=Cathleen}}
* {{Cite book |last=Chaffee |first=Cathleen |title=Hanne Darboven's Abstract Correspondence |publisher=Leo Castelli Gallery |year=2013 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Gross|first1=Jennifer R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iseFuQAACAAJ|title=Richard Artschwager!|last2=Chaffee|first2=Cathleen|publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art|others=Adam D. Weinberg (contributor), Ingrid Schaffner (contributor), [Richard Artschwager](/source/Richard_Artschwager) (artist)|year=2012|isbn=9780300185317|series=Bioethics Series|type=art exhibition}}
* {{Cite book |last=Chaffee |first=Cathleen |title=Carol Bove: The Middle Pillar |publisher=Karma |year=2013 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book|last1=van den Bossche|first1=Phillip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zckco--7RtUC|title=In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art, 1960-1976|last2=Chaffee|first2=Cathleen|last3=Cherix|first3=Christophe|last4=Dippel|first4=Rini|last5=Feldman|first5=Paula|last6=Rattemeyer|first6=Christian|publisher=Museum of Modern Art|year=2009|isbn=978-0870707537|editor-last=Cherix|editor-first=Christophe|location=New York City, NY|editor-last2=Liese|editor-first2=Jennifer}}

== See also ==
* [Women in the art history field](/source/Women_in_the_art_history_field)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.albrightknox.org/about/our-team/staff/cathleen-chaffee-phd Profile] at Buffalo AKG Art Museum
*[https://www.art.yale.edu/cathleen-chaffee Profile] at Yale School of Art

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaffee, Cathleen}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Living people
Category:American women art historians
Category:American art historians
Category:American women curators
Category:American curators
Category:21st-century American historians
Category:Ithaca College alumni
Category:Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art
Category:New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cathleen Chaffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathleen_Chaffee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathleen_Chaffee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.