Holger Jacob Friesen

Prof. Holger Jacob Friesen holds an Honorary Professorship in Art History at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) under the Jehle Professorship. He currently serves as Director of the Old Masters Picture Gallery and Sculpture Collection up to 1800 at the Dresden State Art Collections since March 2024. Previously, he was Head of the Collection and Science Department at KIT (2011–2024) overseeing the Picture Gallery, Print Room, Conservation, Library, and Art Education divisions. His professional trajectory includes leadership roles at the State Art Gallery Karlsruhe (2003–2024) and curatorial work at the Kunstmuseum Basel and Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.

• Education: PhD from University of Basel (1999), Licentiate in Art History (1994), studies at Georg-August-University Göttingen and Free University of Berlin.

Research focuses on Enlightenment-era art, Old Masters, and institutional art curation. He has organized major exhibitions and led conservation initiatives. Awards include a DFG fellowship (1997/98) and a scholarship from the Lower Saxony Foundation.

Grants and collaborations include roles at the Research Center for European Enlightenment (Potsdam) and factorial KG_KIT projects. He maintains active teaching at Heidelberg and Karlsruhe Universities, emphasizing art-historical methodologies and conservation practices.

Labs/Teams: Leads teams at Dresden State Art Collections and KIT's Art History department, coordinating interdisciplinary research and public engagement initiatives.