University of Oxford
Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities
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Laura Waelbroeck (USA/Belgium)

Laura Waelbroeck
MSt in History of Art & Visual Culture

I received my BA from Columbia University, where I studied art history and classics. While studying in New York, I completed internships at Christie's, the Frick Collection, and for a private dealer of Renaissance sculpture. My undergraduate senior thesis explored the marketing practices of the art dealer Jacques Seligmann, who popularized eighteenth-century furniture in nineteenth-century New York. 

While at Oxford, I completed my MSt dissertation on the arts patronage of Pauline Bonaparte and its uneasy relationship to Napoleonic propaganda, both during Pauline's lifetime and when her home later became the British Embassy in Paris. I am deeply grateful to the Ertegun Scholarship for allowing me to pursue graduate study at Oxford while surrounded by a wonderful community. 

Life After Ertegun House

After leaving Oxford, I returned to New York to accept a role in Christie's Decorative Arts Group. I joined Christie's Chairman's office in 2014, and currently work as a Client Relationship Manager in the Client Advisory group. In my role at Christie's, I help cultivate relationships with  new and existing collectors internationally and support their collections across diverse categories. After countless hours spent researching the history of collecting at Oxford, it is a privilege to work with many incredible objects and fascinating collections firsthand.