In memoriam Molly Faries
On Thursday 11 June 2025, Molly Faries (b. 1940) passed away. She was a scholar and professor of Northern Renaissance art, and a pioneering early adopter of infrared reflectography (IRR) for the study of art.
Faries completed her studies in Groningen under Professor J.R.J. van Asperen de Boer and wrote her dissertation in 1972 on Jan van Scorel, whose work she continued to study throughout her career. In 1975 she was appointed to the faculty of Indiana University and continued working with Van Asperen de Boer at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, examining paint samples using microscopy and other analytical techniques. In 1985, Faries was promoted to full professor at Indiana and became the first scholar in the US to purchase and teach with reflectography equipment. In 1998, she was also appointed professor of Technical Studies in Art History at Groningen. She retired from both universities in 2005.
Faries was a leader in the use of infrared reflectography to study underdrawings in paintings. In 2005, she donated a substantial part of her research archive to the RKD. With the transfer of Faries' archive, the RKD’s collection of technical documentation was significantly strengthened. The RKD is deeply grateful for this generous contribution and is committed to ensuring that her research remains accessible to future scholars.