David C. Ward is an American historian, published poet and author, and civil servant. He served at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

as senior historian.

Early life

Ward studied under Christopher Lasch and

Eugene Genovese Eugene Dominic Genovese (May 19, 1930 – September 26, 2012) was an American historian of the American South and American slavery. He was noted for bringing a Marxist perspective to the study of power, class and relations between planters and s ...

at University of Rochester graduating in 1974 and subsequently attended graduate school at Warwick University (MA in labour history, 1975) and Yale University, MA (1975), MPhil, 1977).

Senior historian at National Portrait Gallery

Ward began working at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution in 1979. Ward's early work was focused on American art, culture and portraiture. He worked on the documentary history project publishing five volumes on the selected papers of artist

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

and his family. In 2012, Ward was appointed associate director and senior historian.

Hide Seek, Curator

Ward curated numerous shows at the National Portrait Gallery, including ''"Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture"'', ''"Face Value:Abstraction in Portraiture"'', and ''The Face of Battle''. ''Hide Seek'', which opened in 2010, was the first exhibit hosted by a museum of national stature to address the topic and as such invited immediate political attack from conservatives who falsely argued that Hide/Seek was gay propaganda. It was also the largest and most expensive exhibit in the NPG's history, and more private donors contributed to it than to any prior NPG exhibit. In 2010, Ward interviewed

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

for her book

Just Kids ''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. "I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...

. This was related to Hide Seek. In addition to this, Ward did shows on Whitman, Grant & Lee, Lincoln, and Alexander Gardner.

Author

Ward has published two full books of poetry, ''Call Waiting'' (2014) and ''Internal Difference'' (2011). Both of these have been published with

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the '' Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a li ...

. Ward "has published more than 100 poems in Anglo-American literary magazines". Ward in 2004 wrote, for

the Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, an analytical biography of

Charles Wilson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, and ...

, ''Charles Willson Peale: Art and Selfhood in the Early Republic'' (University of California Press, 2004).

Exhibitions

*The Face of Battle (2017) *The Sweat of Their Face (2015) *Dark Fields of the Republic: Alexander Gardner's Photographs (2015) *One Life: Grant & Lee (2014) *Face Value: Portraiture in the Age of Abstraction (2014) *Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets (2012) *Portraiture Now: Asian Americans Portraits of Encounter (2011) *Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture (2010) *The Mask of Lincoln (2008) *Walt Whitman (2006)

Works

* Ward, David C. 2004 ''

: Art and Selfhood in the Early Republic'' Berkley, California : University of California Press * Ward, David C. 2010 ''Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture'' Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Books * Ward, David C. 2011 ''Internal Difference'' Manchester, United Kingdom: Carcanet Press * Ward, David C. 2014 ''Call Waiting'' Manchester, United Kingdom: Carcanet Press * Ward, David C. 2014 ''Face Value: Portraiture in the Age of Abstraction'' Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Books

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, David C. Living people American historians American writers Peale family University of Rochester alumni Alumni of the University of Warwick Yale University alumni 1952 births