Dr Maddie Hewitson

An art historian, lecturer and experienced Travel Editions tour expert, Maddie specialises in British art from the nineteenth century onwards. She completed her BA, MA and PhD in History of Art at the University of York, and is currently a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Before joining Birmingham, Maddie worked at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, as a research assistant for Colour Revolution: Victorian Art, Fashion & Design (2023–24), an exhibition exploring the vivid and sometimes surprising use of colour in nineteenth-century Britain.

Her research focuses particularly on the visual and material cultures that emerged from British encounters with the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-to-late Victorian period. Her current Leverhulme project, The First Covenant, offers the first sustained analysis of the role the Hebrew Bible played in Victorian art. Her work also engages closely with the paintings and interiors of Frederic Leighton.

Alongside her research, Maddie has extensive teaching and lecturing experience and is skilled at making art history engaging and accessible. She has led Travel Editions tours for several years, including tours focused on twentieth-century art in Yorkshire and Britain’s ceramic heritage. Her wide-ranging knowledge allows her to place individual paintings, sculptures and decorative objects within their artistic, historical and local context.

On tour, Maddie combines detailed scholarship with warmth, enthusiasm and a genuine enjoyment of sharing art with others. Travellers regularly praise her ability to connect different artists, movements and places, bringing greater meaning to each visit while keeping the experience relaxed and enjoyable.