Dr Luke Smythe is a Lecturer in Art History and Theory in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture.  Prior to commencing at Monash, he taught art history at Otago University and Wesleyan University.  From 2013-2014, he worked as a Curatorial Fellow in Postwar Art at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

His historical specialty is modern art from the postwar period until today with at present a particular focus on three subjects: the global evolution of modernism since the Second World War, identity art and its constraints, and the passage of analog media into the digital era.  His articles and essays, addressing these and other topics, have appeared in many journals and catalogues, among which are October, Modernism/modernity, the Art Journal (U.S.), and Oxford Art Journal.  He is currently completing two book manuscripts: the first on the New Zealand artist Gretchen Albrecht (forthcoming with Massey University Press in 2019) and the second on the German painter Gerhard Richter.

In addition to his research and writing, he has worked on exhibitions at a number of museums and galleries, including the Chinati Foundation, Yale University Art Gallery and the Pinakothek der Moderne.

His work has been supported by the DAAD, the Fulbright Foundation, the Yale Centre for British Art, the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, and Creative New Zealand.