Jed Surio (USA/Philippines)

While at Oxford, I will be pursuing an MSt in Modern Languages. In particular, I will be exploring the art and intellectual culture of France during the Age of Enlightenment. Currently, my research interests include: prints and drawings, colour theory, and the history of science.

I received my MA in Art History from Tulane University and BA in Art History from California State University, Los Angeles. I also briefly studied studio art with an emphasis in sculpture and textiles at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While finishing my MA at Tulane, I completed a thesis titled “Artificial Magic: Art and Optics under Louis XV.” My project centred on the French artist Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo and the connection of his paintings to Newtonian thought, Enlightenment literature, and monarchical power.

Outside of my studies, I have worked in museums, archives, and cultural institutions in France and the United States. This includes past positions at the Opéra national de Paris, Château de Fontainebleau, Wende Museum of the Cold War, and J. Paul Getty Museum. In 2022, I was a Fellow for the Benton Museum of Art's “AllPaper Seminar,” a programme that provides training for emerging curators of works on paper. Prior to this, I was also a Getty Fellow for both the American Alliance of Museums and the California Association of Museums.

I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of Mica Ertegun and the support of the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme. This funding has made it possible for me to not only pursue my research here at Oxford but to also join a tight-knit community of humanities scholars coming from various disciplines, countries, and backgrounds.