Stephanie Brown

At Johns Hopkins, Stephanie Brown is a lecturer for the MA in Museum Studies program.

Stephanie Brown is the author of The Case of the Disappearing Gauguin: A Study in Authenticity and the Art Market (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), which traces the unlikely history of a still life formerly attributed to post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin—and explores what we mean by authenticity and who gets to define it. She regularly works with the Haggin Museum in Stockton, Calif., as guest curator. Dr. Brown’s academic interests include the art market, catalogues raisonnés, and late 19th-century French funeral practices.

Brown has worked in and around museums for 25 years. Her museum work has ranged from designing and implementing collections plans to curating exhibitions to institutional strategic planning. She served as executive director of the Chevy Chase Historical Society in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and associate curator for American Material Culture and Historian at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Washington, D.C. She regularly participates in local, regional, and national museum conferences. Brown is the former co-chair of the American Alliance of Museums’ Museum Studies Network. Her museum interests include the history of museums, collecting and collectors, storytelling with objects, and broadening the stories we tell and the communities we serve.

Brown earned a BA in History from Williams College and a PhD in European history from Stanford University.

Featured Work

• The Case of the Disappearing Gauguin: A Study of Authenticity and the Art Market, Stephanie A. Brown, Rowman & Littlefield, July 31, 2024