Richard Martin

Richard Martin (1947–1999) was an American scholar, lecturer, critic and curator, and a leading art and fashion historian. At the time of his death he was curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, creating many critically acclaimed exhibitions and contributing widely towards publications on the subject. After his death, an award in his name was set up to recognise creative, high quality and innovative costume exhibitions.

Early life and education Richard Harrison Martin was born December 4, 1946, at Bryn Mawr, PA. He studied at Swarthmore College, graduating in 1967, and gained two master's degrees, both from Columbia University. Koda, who worked closely with Martin on exhibitions until they parted company in 1997, later said:

"We did five or six shows a year at F.I.T. and three a year at the Met, while most museums do only one. And he always had three or four years' worth of ideas. Some fashion people had difficulty with his language, because his language was the language of art, not fashion."

He was also editor of Dress, the Costume Society of America's scholarly journal.

2002 The Museum at FIT for London Fashion

2003 McCord Museum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada for Clothes Make The Man Los Angeles County Museum of Art for Miracles and Mischief: Noh and Kyogen Theater in Japan

2004 Colonial Williamsburg for The Language of Clothing

2005 Mark Twain House for "Modesty Died When Clothes Were Born": Costume in the Life and Literature of Mark Twain

2006 No award was given for this year

2007 Yeshiva University Museum for A Perfect Fit: The Garment Industry and American Jewry 1860-1960

2008 Kent State University Museum for a series of exhibitions comprising The Age of Nudity; Hair: The Rise of Individuality, 1790-1840; and Fashion on the Ohio Frontier: 1790-1840. Metropolitan Museum of Art for Poiret: King of Fashion

2009 McCord Museum for Reveal or Conceal?

2010 Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum, for High Style: Betsey Bloomingdale and The Haute Couture.

2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art for American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity The Museum at FIT for Eco-Fashion: Going Green A Certificate of Commendation was awarded to the University of Alberta for In Mother's Hood: Inuit Packing Dolls of Taloyoak

2012 No award was given for this year

2013 Two Certificates of Commendation were awarded, one to the Design Exchange in Toronto, Canada, for 60 Years Designing the Ballet; the other to the Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, Ohio, for Tying The Knot.