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About Jonathan Fairbanks:

For me, the weekly newsletter is a learning experience that I love to share with readers. It is my hope that these essays are both entertaining and useful. Sometimes the essay is written in direct response to inquiries from readers. At other times the essay reflects a recent or a remote experience. From time to time I offer advice on collection care, methods and materials used by artists and craftsmen, and historical references. The many responses are a pleasure for me to receive.

Jonathan Leo Fairbanks (b. 1933) is an American artist and expert of American arts and antiques. Fairbanks created the American decorative arts and sculpture department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and served as the department's Curator from 1970-1999.

Fairbanks earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Utah and his Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania through a joint program with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He earned a second Masters degree, an M.A. in American Culture, from the University of Delaware in the Winterthur Museum Fellowship Program. He served at the museum as an Associate Curator in charge of conservation for nine years.

Since his departure from the MFA, Fairbanks has served as a Guest Curator for several exhibits, including ""Becoming a Nation, Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State,"" which toured eight cities from April 2003 until January 2005. He was also the Sr. Vice President of AntiquesAmerica.com, the Editor at Large for the Catalogue of Antiques and Fine Art, and a Research Associate at Boston University. He is on the Board of Directors of the Decorative Arts Trust, of which he was President for 12 years.

Fairbanks has received several awards, including the Victorian Society of America Award for Conservation, The Charles F. Montgomery Award from the Decorative Arts Society, The Urban Glass Award for Exceptional Museum Glass Exhibition, The Ellen Banning Ayer Award for Contributions to Arts and Culture, and the Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston. In 2003 the Decorative Arts Trust announced the endowment of The Jonathan L. Fairbanks Lectureship in honor of Fairbanks' achievements. Also in 2003 The Furniture Society bestowed upon Fairbanks the Award of Distinction. In 2006 Fairbanks received the Iris Foundation Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Decorative Arts by the Bard Graduate Center.

In 2009, Jonathan was honored with The Decorative Arts Trust Award for Excellence for Distinctive Contributions in the Field of the Decorative and was selected as a Luminary by The Fuller Craft Museum.

Jonathan Fairbanks
The Katharine Lane Weems Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

I enjoy hearing from readers via email at jfairbanks@artfact.com.

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