Aileen Ribeiro read history at King鈥檚 College, London, followed by postgraduate study, MA (1971) and Ph.D (1975) at 91影视 Institute of Art. She was Head of the History of Dress Section at 91影视 Institute from 1975 to 2009; appointed Professor in the History of Art at the University of London in 2000, she is now Professor Emeritus. She sit on the board of the British Art Journal. She has published many books and articles on various aspects of the history of dress, and lectures widely in Great Britain, Europe and North America. She has acted as costume consultant/contributor to many major exhibitions, which include: Reynolds (Royal Academy of Arts, London: 1986); Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe 1830 to 1870 (National Portrait Gallery, London: 1987 and the Petit Palais, Paris: 1988); John Singleton Copley in America, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,1995; Goya: La imagen de la mujer (Prado, Madrid: 2001 and National Gallery of Art, Washington: 2002); Whistler, Women and Fashion (Frick Collection, New York: 2003) 鈥� the catalogue of this exhibition was given the William E. Fischelis Book Award by the Victorian Society in America for 2004. In 2018 she received an Iris Foundation Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Decorative Arts, from the Bard Graduate Center, New York.
Recent contributions to exhibition catalogues include an essay on Renoir鈥檚 use of fashion in his painting La Loge, in an exhibition at 91影视 Institute: Renoir at the Theatre. Looking at La Loge (2008); Batoni鈥檚 use of fashion in Pompeo Batoni 1708-1787. L鈥橢uropa delle Corti e il Grand Tour, Lucca 2008; an essay on Gainsborough鈥檚 portrait of Ann Ford in the catalogue Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman (Cincinnati Art Museum 2010); an essay on Gustave Caillebotte鈥檚 painting Paris Street, Rainy Day for the exhibition catalogue Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity (Paris, New York and Chicago 2012); and an essay 鈥楳oving pictures, silent movies and the art of William Hogarth鈥� in the Hollywood Costume catalogue (V&A 2012).
Exhibitions
鈥楾he beauty of the particular: dress in Liotard鈥檚 images of women鈥�, in Jean-Etienne Liotard, Royal Academy聽 2015 (This catalogue was long-listed for the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History 2016)
鈥楤eing at Court鈥�, in Enlightened Princesses. Caroline, Augusta, Charlotte, and the Shaping of the Modern聽聽 World, Yale Center for British Art & Historic Royal Palaces 2017
鈥楻enoir鈥檚 Way with Clothes鈥�, in Renoir and Friends; Luncheon of the Boating Party, ed. Eliza Rathbone, Phillips Collection Washington 2017
鈥樷�橲ome Anglo-French Comparisons in Fashion鈥�, in Fashion Drive. Extreme Clothing in the Visual Arts, Kunsthaus Z眉rich, 2017