Ricardo Mercado Ruiz

Art Historian

Ricardo Mercado Ruiz holds a B.A. in Art History from Columbia University. He recently received his Master of Arts from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, a joint program with the Clark Art Institute. At the Clark, Ricardo led a reinterpretation project for the museum’s collection of 18th–century British silver objects. The project culminated in a new package of gallery labels, multi-media guides, and other educational materials researched and written by Mercado Ruiz.

Ricardo also held a Judith M. Lenett Memorial Conservation Fellowship in American Art, working closely with the Senior Paintings Conservator from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. The Lenett project focused on the life of American Impressionist Howard Gardiner Cushing. It involved treating a portrait of Ethel Cushing, the artist’s wife and muse, from the collection of the Newport Art Museum. In addition, Mercado Ruiz examined the painting in the context of Cushing’s life and times. He explored Cushing’s relationship with contemporaries, his family, and his elite social circle. This research built upon what was previously understood about the artist’s working technique and inspiration and his place in the history of American art.

Ricardo will soon assume a new role as the Charles H. Sawyer Curatorial Fellow at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts.