Jonathan Perkins is currently Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Illinois, Springfield, where he has been teaching since 2002. Although his research is centered on modern and contemporary art, he enjoys exploring a wide range of artistic creations with students, from the earlier Prehistoric cave paintings through the most current art. Prof. Perkins teaches a wide range of classes, from art surveys, to more specialized classes on periods of art, and even course focused on single artists. He has a particular scholarly interest in the Swiss modernist Paul Klee, and has presented papers on his work and life in conferences around the United States. More recently, he has written and publicly presented his work on the British twentieth-century painter Francis Bacon. Prof. Perkins is currently investigating the interconnections between Bacon’s personal life and his art in a paper about sexuality and violence in his work.
Education
1988-2000 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ph.D., History of Art, August 2000 Dissertation: Klee and Eros
M.A., History of Art, August 1990
1986-1987 Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Studied fifteenth-century European art
1982-1986 Harvard University A.B., cum laude, Fine Arts (Art History), 1986
Professional Work Experience
Aug. 2008-present Associate Professor of Art History; Art, Music, and Theatre Department;
University of Illinois, Springfield
Aug. 2007-Aug.2010 Chair, Visual Arts Department, University of Illinois, Springfield
Aug. 2002-Aug. 2008 Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Illinois, Springfield
Aug. 2005-July 2007 Director, Visual Arts Gallery of the University of Illinois, Springfield
Aug. 2001-May 2002 Part-Time Instructor, Maryville University
Aug. 2000-May 2001 Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, St. Louis
June 1999-May 2001 Part-Time Instructor, St. Louis Community College at Meramec
Sept. 1997-Feb. 1999 Researcher at Phillips-Selkirk, St. Louis Fine Arts Auction House
1990-1991 Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan
1989-1994 Grader, University of Michigan
1991-1993 Assistant Guest Curator, University of Michigan Museum of Art
“The Fair View: Representations of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893,”
exhibition held at the Terra Museum of American
Art, Chicago and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Aug.-Dec. 1993
Publications
2016 "Fantastic Nature: Associations between Paul Klee and Odilon Redon,”
book chapter in Rosina Neginsky and Deborah Cibelli, eds.,
Light and Obscurity in Symbolism, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
pp. 87-97.
2010 “Paul Klee, the Femme Fatale, and Symbolism,” book chapter in
Rosina Neginsky, ed., Symbolism, Its Origins and Its Consequences,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 572-582.
Winter/Spring 2008 “Childhood and Eros: Parallels between Klee and Freud,”
Source: Notes in the History of Art, Vol. XXVII, Nos. 2/3, pp. 32-39.
Sep. 2006 Bearing Witness: The Art of Preston Jackson, catalogue for exhibition at the
Visual Arts Gallery of the University of Illinois at Springfield, pp. 4-16.
Nov. 2005 “Crafting the Digital: Mike Miller’s Recent Work,” in Mike Miller: Digital
Environments, catalogue for exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery
of the University of Illinois at Springfield, pp. 1-2.
Nov. 2004 “Robert Natkin’s Abstract Narratives,” in Robert Natkin: Paintings and Prints,
catalogue for exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery of the University of Illinois at Springfield,
pp. 2-4.
Aug. 2004 “The Art of the Coinage of Mende,” The Celator, Vol. 18, No. 8, pp. 6-16.
April 2004 “Representations of Blindness in Picasso’s Blue Period,”
Archives of Ophthalmology, Vol. 122, No. 4, pp. 636-639 (Co-authored with
Dr. James Raven).
Feb. 1997 “Paul Klee and the Grotesque Body,” in The Grotesque in Art,
Papers from the Eighth Annual Art History Graduate Student Association
Symposium, University of Arizona, Tucson, pp. 12-20.
1995 (published) “Danger Recollected and Foreseen: Paul Klee’s Blitzgefahr,”
Bulletin: The University of Michigan Museums of Art and Archaeology,
Vol. X, 1992-93, pp. 4-26.
Public Lectures
April 2017 “Francis Bacon’s ‘Complex’: Oedipus and the Sphinx After Ingres,” \
paper presented at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Meeting, Cleveland
Oct. 2016 “The Etchings of Rembrandt,” lecture at the Springfield Art Association
April 2016 “‘Working Somewhere Up in the Empyrean’: Associations between
Francis Bacon and Howard Hodgkin,” paper presented at the Midwest Art History
Society Annual Meeting, Chicago
Feb. 2014 “Gender Problems in Paul Klee’s Self-Portraits,” paper presented at
the 2014 College Art Association Annual Meeting, Chicago
Nov. 2013 “Paul Klee’s Dark Side,” sabbatical presentation at the University of Illinois,
Springfield
April 2012 “Fantastic Nature: Associations between Paul Klee and Odilon Redon,”
paper presented at Symbolism: Its Origins and Its Consequences,
International Conference held at Allerton Park, Monticello, Illinois
Sept. 2010 “Five Accomplished But Little-Known Artists,”
lecture at the Springfield Art Association
April 2009 “Paul Klee, the Femme Fatale, and Symbolism,” paper presented at
Symbolism: Its Origins and Its Consequences, International Conference
held at Allerton Park, Monticello, Illinois
Sept. 2008 “Francis Bacon,” lecture at the Springfield Art Association
April 2008 “‘In the Womb of Nature’: Paul Klee’s Images of Fertility,” paper presented
at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Meeting, Chicago
Nov. 2007 “Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portraits,” lecture at the Springfield Art Association
Oct. 2007 Panel Discussant, “The Power of Partnerships,” presentation at the Illinois
Association of Museums Annual Conference, Springfield, Illinois
Feb. 2007 “Childhood and Eros: Parallels between Paul Klee and Sigmund Freud,”
paper presented at the 2007 College Art Association Annual Meeting, New York
(Abstract published in CAA, 95th Annual Conference, Abstracts 2007, p. 15)
Sept. 2006 “Picasso and Paradox,” lecture at the Springfield Art Association
March 2006 “‘Eating the Enemy’: Robert Natkin’s Palimpsest Series,” paper presented
at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Meeting, Dallas Museum of Art
April 2004 “Paul Klee’s Erotic Childhood,” paper presented at the Midwest Art History
Society Annual Meeting, Notre Dame University
Feb. 2004 “Robert Natkin and Howard Hodgkin,” lecture at the
Springfield Art Association
April 2003 “‘The Hellish Perversity’: Paul Klee’s Hermaphroditic Self-Portraits,”
paper presented at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Meeting,
University of Pittsburgh
March 2003 “Paul Klee,” lecture at the Springfield Art Association
Feb. 2003 “The Sex and Violence of Picasso,” lecture for ArtNOW series at the
University of Illinois at Springfield
Feb. 1997 “Paul Klee and the Grotesque Body,” paper presented at
The Grotesque in Art, The Eighth Annual Art History Graduate Student
Association Symposium, University of Arizona, Tucson
Oct. 1993 “The Book of the Builders: Chronicle and Construct,” paper presented
at the opening symposium of the exhibition The Fair View Representations of the
World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Service at the University of Illinois, Springfield
Member, CLAS Personnel Committee, Spring 2022
Member (Chair, Spring 2022), CLAS Peer Review of Teaching Committee, Fall 2021-present
Member, Art, Music, and Theatre (Formerly Visual Arts) Department Committee, Aug. 2002-present
Member, Art, Music, and Theatre (Formerly Visual Arts) Department Personnel Committee, Aug. 2002-present
Interviewer, Visual Arts Gallery Manager Search, Spring 2022
Chair, Michael Miller Post-Tenure Review Committee, Academic Year 2021-2022
Member, Carrie Switzer Post-Tenure Review Committee, Academic Year 2018-19
Chair, Rosina Neginsky Post-Tenure Review Committee, Academic Year 2016-17
Chair, Michael Miller, Post-Tenure Review Committee, Academic Year 2014-2015
Peer Reviewer for CLAS Peer Review of Teaching Program, Spring 2016 and Spring 2017
Member (Co-Chair Fall 2010-Spring 2012), CLAS Peer Review of Teaching Committee, Fall 2010-Spring 2014
Co-Chair, Visual Arts Art Instructor/Gallery Director Search Committee, Academic Year 2011-12
Member, Music Program Ethnomusicology Faculty Search Committee, Academic Year 2011-12
Member, Music Program Applied Music Specialist Search Committee, Academic Year 2011-12
Chair, Visual Arts Ceramics Search Committee, Academic Year 2010-2011
Member, Committee to Investigate Intercollegiate Athletics, July 2009-April 2010
Member, CLAS Peer Review of Teaching Task Force, Oct. 2009-May 2010
Member, Executive Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Aug. 2007-May 2010
Visual Arts Representative, Capital Scholar and Transfer Preview Days, Fall 2002-present
Member, Visual Arts Ceramics One-year Appointment Search Committee, Summer 2008
Member, Assistant to the Dean of CLAS Search Committee, Dec. 2007
Member, Capital Scholars Steering Committee, Aug. 2004-Dec. 2006
Member, Visual Arts Digital Art/Graphic Design Search Committee, Academic Year 2005-2006
Member, Communications Department Theater Faculty Search Committee, Spring 2006
Co-Chair, Visual Arts Ceramics Search Committee, Academic Year 2004-2005
Member, General Education Working Group, March 2003-Sept. 2005
Member, Music Advisory Committee
Member, Art Acquisition Committee
Other Service Activities
Selecting or Awarding Judge, Liturgical and Sacred Art Exhibition, at the Springfield Art Association, 2006, 2008, 2010