Andrew Wyld Research Support Grants

Andrew Wyld was a well-known and much respected London art dealer, specialising in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British watercolours. As a young man his only training was to look at as many works of art as possible. For Andrew it was more important to look at and handle original works, and to question and judge their relative merits, than to study photographs and reproductions in books or online. After his death in 2011, a group of friends and family decided to set up a fund in his memory; its aim is to enable students to do exactly as he did, namely to look at, and judge, works of art on paper for themselves.

The Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant is administered by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art on behalf of the Andrew Wyld Fund.

The award is to allow students to see and research works on paper at first hand. Grants may be used towards the expenses incurred in visiting prints and drawings collections, galleries, museums, sale rooms and other institutions for the purpose of studying British works of art on paper of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including watercolours, prints and drawings.

The award can be used for:

• standard rate fares (in full)
• accommodation (up to a maximum of £100 per night)
• daily subsistence (£40 per day)

The Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant is for up to £2,000 and is awarded to assist with travel and subsistence.

The award will be paid directly to the individual as a lump sum only.

Our funding programme supports research, educational activities and the dissemination of knowledge in the fields of British art and architectural history, from the medieval period to the present day and across the spectrum of relevant geographical and cultural contexts. Our remit is broadly defined and adapts as the interests of those working in our field change. It encompasses art made in Britain or by British artists, but is not solely limited to art made, or artists from, within the geographical boundaries of the British isles. Rather we understand the field of British art studies to encompass a broad range of subjects and topics related to the artistic and cultural histories of Britain, past and present.

We do not offer grants and fellowships in field archaeology, the current practice of architecture or the performing arts. Applications in the fields of photography, performance, film and digital media will need to demonstrate their relevance to British art studies.

Applicants must demonstrate that they are working on a topic in the field of British works of art on paper of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and that they intend to use the grant to see and research works on paper first hand.

Undergraduate students undertaking dissertation research, graduate and doctoral students are eligible to apply in the Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant category, with the stipulation that their research is of a scholarly nature.

Applicants cannot also apply for a Research Support Grant in the same funding round.

For further questions on eligibility please contact the Grants & Fellowships Manager at grants@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk.

Andrew Wyld Grants are offered in our autumn round of funding.

The Andrew Wyld Research Support Grants programme is now open. The closing date is Friday 6th October at 11:59pm.

To apply for an Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant you must use our online system at grants.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. Once registered you will be able to fill out the online application form (an example of which can be downloaded below) and provide the details of one referee. The option to provide the referee details will be available once the application is submitted. We will then contact the nominated referee with details on how they can submit their reference which must be completed through our online system and must be no more than five hundred words.

The referee should have first-hand knowledge of the applicant’s academic career and the subject area for which funding is being sought. The Advisory Council would like to be informed of the originality of the subject matter and the applicant’s suitability to pursue such research.

Applications and nominated referee details must be received by the application deadline; the referee has an extra seven days after the deadline to submit their reference.

• Payment of the grant must be claimed within twelve months of it being awarded and the research trip(s) must be taken within eighteen months.
• Within six months of completion of the Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant the recipient must submit a final written report to be circulated to the Board of the Andrew Wyld Fund.
• The support of an Andrew Wyld Research Support Grant should also be acknowledged in any subsequent articles or publications.