Bard Graduate Center is devoted to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through research, advanced degrees, exhibitions, publications, and events.

Bard Graduate Center advances the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through its object-centered approach to teaching, research, exhibitions, publications, and events.

At BGC, we study the human past and present through their material expressions. We focus on objects and other material forms—from those valued for their aesthetic elements to the ordinary things used in everyday life.

Our accomplished interdisciplinary faculty inspires and prepares students in our MA and PhD programs for successful careers in academia, museums, and the private sector. We bring equal intellectual rigor to our acclaimed exhibitions, award-winning catalogues and scholarly publications, and innovative public programs, and we view all of these integrated elements as vital to our curriculum.

BGC’s campus comprises a state-of-the-art academic programs building at 38 West 86th Street, a gallery at 18 West 86th Street, and a residence hall at 410 West 58th Street. A new collection study center will open at 8 West 86th Street in 2026.

Founded by Dr. Susan Weber in 1993, Bard Graduate Center has become the preeminent institute for academic research and exhibition of decorative arts, design history, and material culture. BGC is an accredited unit of Bard College and a member of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History (ARIAH).

Julius Bryant is keeper emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London. As the V&A’s former keeper of word and image (2005–21), he was responsible for the museum’s collections of paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, designs, the National Art Library, the Archive of Art and Design, and the V&A’s Architecture Partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects. He also served as the V&A’s curatorial adviser to Chevening, the UK foreign secretary’s official country house, a role he continues to enjoy in “retirement.”

After training in London at University College and the Courtauld Institute of Art, Dr. Bryant worked at Sotheby’s, the V&A, and the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood. As the first director of museums and collections at English Heritage, he established a nationwide team of curators and conservators and specialized in the acquisition, restoration, and redisplay of historic houses open to the public. He rediscovered and “saved for the nation” many historic objects that returned to their former homes, especially furniture by William Kent, Robert Adam, George Bullock, John Lockwood Kipling, and Peter Malacrida. His most significant acquisition for English Heritage was the Wernher Collection of Renaissance and later decorative arts from Luton Hoo.

Dr. Bryant was the V&A’s lead curator for exhibitions organized with BGC on James “Athenian” Stuart (2006–07), William Kent (2013–14), and John Lockwood Kipling (2017–18). He also contributed to the BGC exhibition Majolica Mania (2021–22) and is currently writing for BGC’s exhibition on Philip Webb. His next book, The Great Exhibition in Art : Picturing the First World’s Fair, 1851 (October 2025) forms the prequel to his 3-volume history of the V&A.