Joanna Karlgaard

Joanna Karlgaard (she/her) is the Assistant Curator in the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs. Her work centers on research, cataloging, and collections management initiatives to improve access to the collection, with a focus on pre-1900 holdings. Joanna began work in the department in 2014, completing a two-year IMLS-funded project of cataloging prints by Northern European artists in the T. Harrison Garrett Collection. Upon completion of that project, she continued work on the department’s initiative to catalogue prints, illustrated books, and ephemera from the George A. Lucas Collection. Prior to coming to the BMA, Joanna held curatorial positions at Harvard University Art Museums, Houghton Library, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of Bristol, where she wrote her dissertation on the prints and drawings of the 19th-century British artist Frederick Sandys. Her research interests include the history of collecting, illustration, and the reception of old master prints.