Professional History

2017 – 2018 National Gallery of Australia, Curator, 19th Century Australian Art 

2013 – 2020 National Gallery of Australia, Assistant Curator, Australian Paintings and Sculpture 

2016 – 2018 Lorne Sculpture Biennale, Artistic Director/Curator 

2011 – 2013 Deutscher and Hackett, Senior Art Specialist and Head of Corporate Collections

2001 - 2011 Art consultancy – private practice

1997 – 2000 Sotheby’s Australia, Australian Paintings Specialist 

1994 – 1997 Trinity College, University of Melbourne Fine Arts Tutor, Curator – Trinity College Art Collection, Professional Mentor Coordinator (while completing a Master of Arts)

1992 – 1995 Melbourne Fine Art Gallery Manager

Appointments

Expert Examiner under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986

Commonwealth Valuer, Federal Government Cultural Gifts Program

Academic Qualifications

2020 Jennifer Strauss Fellow in the Humanities

2019 – current Residential Fellow, Burgmann College

2019 – current PhD Candidate, Centre for Art History and Art Theory, Australian National University (ANU)

Recipient of an ANU HDR Scholarship

1999 Master of Arts, University of Melbourne (Art History) First Class Honours

1995 Postgraduate Diploma of Arts, University of Melbourne (Art History)

1989 Bachelor of Arts, University of Melbourne (Double Major - Art History)

1996 Art Gallery of New South Wales research scholarship to the Cité des Arts, Paris (5-month residency)

Alumna

Trinity College, University of Melbourne; Firbank Anglican School; Camberwell Girls Grammar School; Christchurch Grammar School

Publications

2019 Nicholls L. & Pitt, E., The World Turns Modern: Art Deco from the National Collection, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2019

2018 Love & Desire – Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2018, (contributing writer)

2018 Bonyhady, T. & Lehman, G. The National Picture: The Art of Tasmania’s Black Wars, NGA (curatorial co-ordination and checklist)

2018 Landfall – Lorne Sculpture Biennale 2018, exhibition catalogue, Lorne Sculpture Exhibition Inc., Lorne, 2018

2017 Nicholls, L., Abstraction: Celebrating Australian Women Abstract Artists, NGA, exhibition brochure and education kit including timeline

2010 Nicholls, L & Clemente, C, The Athenaeum Club Art Collection, The Athenaeum Club, Melbourne, 2010.  Currently engaged to update and edit the catalogue.

2008 Nicholls, L, Heilige Stätten – Sacred Places, Australian Aboriginal Art Today, Zurich exhibition catalogue, Melbourne, 2008

2001 Nicholls, L, In a New Light – The Art Collection of Trinity College, Trinity College, University of Melbourne, 2001

1993 Nicholls, L (editor), Australian Women Artists, Melbourne Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne, 1993.

2013 – Current National Gallery of Australia Art on View essays including Ethel Spowers (no. 79 Spring 2014), Tony Tuckson (no. 80 Summer 2014), Dorrit Black (no. 81 Autumn 2015), John Young (no. 82, Winter 2015), John W Power (no. 84, Summer 2015), ‘Dale Frank – Dark Tales and Wild Colonial Boys’ (no. 85 Autumn 2016), Abstraction (citation?)

Forthcoming publications

Hart, D. & Pitt, E. (eds.), Know My Name, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2020 (contributing writer)

‘Invisible Mending – the Women Who Made the Rajah Quilt’ in Educating in the Crafts, Springer Education, 2020

Bold: Australian Women Artists Abroad 1880-1980, Melbourne University Press (co-editor and writer), 2021