Announcement: Robert Munman Student Research Fund in Art History
Supporting Student Art Historical Research at UIC
The School of Art and Art History is thrilled to announce the creation of the Robert Munman Student Research Fund in Art History, established by Mark Clark to honor the exceptional contributions to the Department and discipline of Art History by UIC Emeritus Professor Robert Munman.
"Robert Munman was the most talented, engaging and energetic professor I had at the University of Missouri. He also provided my first real, almost tactile, experience of the excitement of research -- a 'bug' I apparently also caught -- as I soon launched my own academic studies at Mizzou, Johns Hopkins, UIUC and Northwestern. I will always feel fortunate for being (the minor) part, nearly fifty years ago, of a fortuitous intersection of two young lives and paths. I am warmed by the promise that the Munman Student Research Fund may nourish another young person’s enchantment with art and research."
The Munman Fund will provide financial support for undergraduate Art History majors engaged in excellent and innovative art historical research without regard to geographic region or time period. Recipients of the Robert Munman Award may use the funds to support expenses related to undertaking original research (such as travel or archival fees), coursework for language study relevant to the student’s research plans, the presentation of research at an academic conference, or other academic expenses.
Honoring Robert Munman
Professor Emeritus Robert Munman received his B.A. in Art History from UCLA in 1962 and his PhD from Harvard University in 1968. His areas of research and publication have been the art, and particularly the sculpture, of the Italian Renaissance, beginning with his doctoral dissertation, Venetian Renaissance Tomb Monuments. Munman’s academic career began at UC Riverside (1968-70), followed by the University of Missouri, Columbia (1970-74). He then came to UIC from 1974 to 2009, chairing the Department of Art History from 1984-90. His courses centered on the Italian Renaissance, European Baroque and Rococo, and much of the general survey of Art History, and he received several awards for excellence in teaching, beginning with the Silver Circle Award in his second year at UIC.
“Bob is a cherished member of the Art History community at UIC. During his time as a faculty member, Bob was an honored researcher and teacher, inspiring thousands of students with his passion for art history and his engaging and jovial presence in the classroom,” current Chair Blake Stimson said. Indeed, after retiring from the Department in 2009, Bob was invited back to teach Art History for the Honors College and to run Art History’s single most popular course, AH 111: World History of Art and the Built Environment II.
After publishing a number of articles on fifteenth-century Venetian sculpture, Munman went on to research parallel subjects from Tuscany, publishing a series of articles on Florentine and Sienese sculpture, a monograph on optical corrections in the sculpture of Donatello, and a book on Sienese Renaissance tomb monuments. His most recent scholarly work was as an extensive contributor to A Corpus of Drawings in Midwestern Collections (3 volumes), and as associate editor of the final volume on 16th-century Northern Europe.
The support provided by the Munman Fund will be a tremendous resource for our student scholars and a beautiful way to honor Bob’s legacy in the Department and in the field of Art History.
We hope you will consider making a gift to the Munman Student Research Fund in Art History. To do so, please visit http://give.uic.edu and in the “Other” section, type “Munman Student Research Fund in Art History” or use the fund number 12337714. Your gift will honor Emeritus Professor Munman and celebrate his UIC legacy, and will directly and immediately support our art history students in pursuit of excellent and innovative research.