An expert in early twentieth-century European and mid-twentieth century American art, Dr. Stephen Foster (1941 – 2018) is a renowned curator, historian, and author. Among his many and varied accomplishments, he has curated numerous exhibitions including Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity; The World According to Dada; The Avant-Garde, and the essay with which he collaborated with Neo-Dadaism specialist Estera Milman.
Dr. Foster wrote and contributed to many art publications and featured articles including Hans Richter: Activism, Modernism, and the Avant-Garde, contributing editor (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1998); “Event” Art and Art Events, contributing editor (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1988); Dada/Dimensions, contributing editor (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985) and The Critics of Abstract Expressionism (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1980, 1985).
Additionally, he served as a consultant and General Editor for Crisis and the Arts: A History of Dada from 1996-2001, and as Series Editor and consultant for UMI Research Press’ Series in Fine Arts: Architecture and Urban Design from 1982-1987 and Series in Fine Arts: The Avant-garde from 1980-1990. Mr. Foster also has several books and catalogs in preparation including respectively Franz Kline, a two-volume monograph and comprehensive catalog, Johannes Baader: The Art of Cultural Politics and Debating Modernism: The Quiet Revolutions of American Art in the Fifties and Sixties, among others.
An academician, Dr. Foster served at the University of Iowa from 1974-2001 and was the Chair of its Cultural Affairs Council from 1993-2001; member of the Board of Directors, University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, 1999 – 2001; Director of the Dada Archive and Research Center, 1979 – 2001; and Director of the Program for Modern Studies, 1988 – 1997.
A recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities, for which he also has been a reviewer since 1979, and reviewer of the Getty Post-Doctoral Grant Program since 1993, Dr. Foster was also a Smithsonian and Andrew Mellon Foundation Fellow.
Dr. Stephen Foster holds a doctorate in art history from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois.