Martina FRANK

Born in Vienna, Martina Frank got her Baccalauréat at the Lycée francais de Vienne. She has studied History of Art at the University of Vienna, where she got her master and Ph.D. degrees and the Habilitation (venia docendi). After a period as Research Professor at the University of Venice, she is currently Associate Professor for Art History at the Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice (with abilitazione scientifica nazionale alla I fascia settore ICAR/18, Storia dell'architettura).  Previous academic charges brought her to teaching and research experiences in several European and North American institutions (Lecturer and the Universities of Padua, Udine, Graz, Vienna; Visiting Professor at Université de Montréal, Canada; research scholar at the CCA/Centre Canadien d’Architecture, etc.). Member of the scientific boards of Edizioni Ca’ Foscari-Digital Publishing (for the Humanities) and of the journals “Les Carnets du Paysage” (Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Paysage Versailles), “MDCCC” (Edizioni Ca’ Foscari) and “Intrecci d’arte” (Università di Bologna); organization and committee member in many international conferences; member of the scientific board of the Osservatorio Regionale per il Paesaggio (Regione del Veneto).  

Author of numerous essays and articles concerning the history of art and architecture from the 15th to the 20th Century. Among her books a study of the patronage of the Manin family (1996), a monograph on Baldassare Longhena (2004) and the recent work on the representation of gardens in painting between the Middle Ages and the 20th Century (2008). A particular interest in her research activity is devoted to questions of art patronage and art collecting from the 15th to the 19th Century in an trans-disciplinary perspective, topics discussed in numerous papers in international refereed journals and conferences. Winner of the Elena Bassi Award (2006) for outstanding contributions on Venetian Art History. Among her most recent research topics: Venetian baroque palaces, villas and gardens in relationship to the European cultural background, academies of art in the 19th Century and theatrical and architectural drawings by the Galli Bibiena workshop in North American collections. Currently winner of a research fellowship at Harvard University, Houghton Library (2015).