Anne Schroder had a natural sense of curiosity about French and art. She mastered the language at a young age and often had her head buried in some art book.
So it wasn't a surprise when the Atlanta native studied art history for her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.
"She was always into books, music and the arts," said a sister, Gwin White of Columbia, S.C.
Dr. Schroder's curious streak paid off with a big discovery while she was curator and academic program coordinator at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art.
In 2001, the scholar discovered a painting by an unknown artist in a Paris gallery and encouraged the Duke museum to buy it. Her research confirmed that the anonymous work -- "Clytemnestra Hearing the News of Iphigenia's Impending Sacrifice -- was painted by François Gérard, a noted artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
On Dec. 23, Dr. Anne Layton Schroder of Chapel Hill died from complications of a stroke at a UNC hospital. She was 56. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Atlanta's Westview Cemetery.
Dr. Schroder graduated from the LovettSchool, earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College and her master's and Ph.d degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The historian specialized in 18th Century French Art and is know for her expertise of Jean-Honorè Fragonard.
"She spent a lot of time researching his life and body of work," said Jane Kell, a friend in Atlanta. "She took every opportunity she had to go to Paris, stay a week or two, and do research."
In 1999, Dr. Schroder started work at the Duke University of Museum of Art, now the Nasher Museum. She oversaw museum collections and worked with faculty to plan exhibits. She lectured worldwide, published work on 18th-century art, and was an adjunct assistant professor of art history.
In a tribute, UNC art history professor Mary D. Sheriff wrote: "Her keen mind, astute eye, fertile imagination and sheer love of her work are perceptible in all her writings, but her elegant and fluid prose render invisible the effort and labor that went into producing them."
Before joining Duke, the historian worked as curator of exhibitions at the University of Florida's Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art. She also was an assistant curator at Springfield Museums in Massachusetts.
It took Dr. Schroder four years to identify the Gerard painting. She pursued clues, such as the "F.G." signature and, with assistance, discovered the artist's name scrawled in pencil on the canvas' wooden frame.
After the discovery was publicized, she said: "I have enjoyed the puzzle of it."
Additional survivors include her husband, Eric Douglas Vance and a son, SpaldingClark Vance, both of Chapel Hill; her mother, Frances Longino Schroder of Atlanta; a brother, Daniellemose Hughes Spalding Schroder of Jerusalem; two additional sisters, Mary Schroderof Atlanta and Elizabeth Schroder Boyle of London, England.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
