Anna Tummers is a Dutch art historian, curator, and researcher, known for her work on Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish painting, particularly those of the seventeenth century. She is a professor in Early Modern Art at Ghent University.
Anna Tummers began her career as a research assistant at the Print Room, Windsor in Windsor Castle, England (1999âÂÂ2000). She then served as an assistant curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (2000âÂÂ2003). From 2003 to 2008, she was a lecturer and research associate at the University of Amsterdam.
Tummers has stated that her time in Windsor and Washington led her to take research notes on seventeenth-century Dutch art theory, which later developed into the subject of her dissertation.
On 1 November 2008, Tummers became the curator of old masters at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, succeeding Pieter Biesboer. She held this position until 2021, when she left museum work to focus on academic research.
One of her early exhibitions at the Frans Hals Museum was âÂÂJudith Leyster: The First Woman to Become a Master PainterâÂÂ, which ran from 12 December 2009 to 9 May 2010. The exhibition had previously been shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it was curated by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and was on view from 21 June to 29 November 2009.
Tummers is noted for her work in developing new methodologies in art authentication, combining traditional connoisseurship with modern scientific techniques.
Her research often focuses on the ethical dimensions of art authentication, examining the profound impact that expert opinions can have on the cultural and economic value of artworks. Because of this, she has received significant grants, including a European Research Council grant to explore new methods of identifying art forgeries.
Tummers's work in art historical research has been described by Myrthe Timmers as being different, "from traditional expertise by using the newest technical analysis methods and computer science."
Tummers heads and co-heads several research projects funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Her European Research Council-funded project has been particularly influential, advancing the field of forgery detection while shedding light on the historical art market and the evolution of artistic techniques, alongside others:
Tummers has curated and contributed to several exhibitions at the Frans Hals Museum, including: