Curriculum Vitae
Weixuan Li
Rijksmuseum
Hobbemastraat 22, 1071 ZC Amsterdam
weixuan.li[at]rijksmuseum.nl
w.li [at] uva.nl
Current position
Mellon Research Fellow | Rijksmuseum (2025-present)
Lecturer | Global Arts, Culture, and Politics, University of Amsterdam (2023-present)
Education
2018-2023
Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands
PhD - Cum laude
Dissertation – Painters’ playbooks: Deep mapping socio-spatial strategies in the art market of seventeenth-century Amsterdam
Funded within the NWO research project: Virtual Interiors as Interfaces for Big Historical Data Research: Spatially enhanced publications of the creative industries of the Dutch Golden Age.
Promoters: Prof. Charles van den Heuvel, prof. Julia Noordegraaf
Co-promoters: dr. Marten Jan Bok and dr. Claartje Rasterhoff
Awards: Erasmus Dissertation Prize 2024, Amsterdam School of Historical Studies Dissertation Award 2023-2024; (shortlist) Jan van der Gelder Award 2022-2023.
2016-2018
University of Amsterdam
Research Master in Arts of the Netherlands (Cum lAUDE)
Thesis project — Deciphering the art and market in the Dutch Golden Age: Insights from digital methodologies
Supervisors: dr. Marten Jan Bok, and dr. Claartje Rasterhoff.
Awards: Best Thesis within the Faculty of Humanities 2019, De Zeventiende Eeuw Werkgroep Scriptieprijs
2011-2014
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dual MA-Msc, City planning and Transportation
Research focus: Urban Design, Advanced GIS and SQL, Demand Modeling, Urban Economics
Full scholarship from SMART and Transit Lab
2006-2011
Peking University, Beijing
Dual Be-ba in Urban and Regional Planning & Economics
Experienced in urban and architectural design in 3D, graphic design from multiple design studios
Professional Experience
- 2025 – present: Mellon Research Fellow, Rijksmuseum, NL
- 2023 – present: Lecturer, Global Arts, Culture, and Politics, University of Amsterdam, NL
- 2022 – 2025: Postdoctoral Researcher, Leiden University, NL
- 2014 – 2016: Senior Consultant, Steer Group, Boston MA, USA
- 2013 – 2014: Research Associate, MTR Corporation Ltd., Hong Kong, China |Department of Civil Engineering, MIT, Cambridge MA, USA
- 4 – 6. 2011: Short-term consultant, The World Bank
Additional Functions
- 2025 – present: Peer Reviewer, Semantic Web Journal
- 2019 – present: Peer Reviewer, Oud Holland
- 2019 – 2021: JHNA Digital Advisory Group Board Member, Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art
- 2019 – 2021: Monthly Research Seminar Organiser, Department of Art History, University of Amsterdam
- 2018 – 2022: Project Associate, NWO Golden Agents: Creative industries and the making of the Dutch Golden Age, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2017 – 2018: Pre-Ph.D. Fellow, Creative Amsterdam: An E-Humanities Perspective, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam
- 6 – 8. 2017: Research and Curatorial Intern, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Teaching
- Spring 2025-2026 MA course: Embedded Research Project (within the MA program Cultural Data and AI, UvA), including 3 MA-thesis supervisions.
- Fall 2025 MA course: Critical Perspectives on Data & AI – Concepts (with dr. Houda Lamqaddam)
- Fall 2023-2025 BA1 course: Visual Literacy
- Spring 2024- 2025 BA2 course: Digital Heritage (Lecture course, 100+ students)
- Spring 2024-2025 BA1 course: Digital Literacy and Archival Research (With dr. Annet Dekker, dr. Selena Savic, and dr. Anna Weinreich)
- Spring 2024 MA course: A digital lens: new tools for interpreting early modern art and culture
- Spring 2024 BA2 course: AI & Humanities (With an interdisciplinary teaching team)
- Spring 2023 BA2 course: Hollandse kunst in de zeventiende eeuw (With dr. Elmer Kolfin)
- Spring 2018-2022 MA course: Digital methods and source criticisms in history (With prof. Charles van den Heuvel)
- Fall 2017-2018 MA course: De digitale stad, University of Amsterdam, Nominated for Onderwijsprijs (Education Award) for MA classes at UvA (With dr. Clé Lesger, prof. Lex Bosman, and prof. Gabri van Tussenbroek)
- (Guest lecture) Spring 2022 MA course: Schilders, liefhebbers en de markt voor schilderijen: 1590-1700, invited by dr. Piet Bakker
- (Guest lecture) Fall 2021 rMA course: Digital Perspectives, Utrecht University, invited by prof. Thijs Weststeijn
- (Guest lecture) Fall 2018 MA course: Digital Humanities: The Digital Scholar of Pre-modern Sources, Utrecht University, invited by prof. Mariken Teeuwen
- (Guest lecture) Fall 2018 Digital Humanities and Social Analytics Minor course: Digital Humanities Today, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, invited by dr. Erika Kuijpers
- (Guest lecture) Fall 2017 BA2 course: Cultural and artistic networks in the Dutch Republic, University of Amsterdam, invited by dr. Marten Jan Bok Publications
Publications
Peer-reviewed scholarly publications
- 2025 Li. W., Painters’ Playbooks in the Art Market of Early Modern Amsterdam, Routledge/Amsterdam University Press (Open Access here)
- 2025 Li. W., ‘Spatial Reading of Inventories: A New Approach to Reconstructing Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam Interiors‘. Histories 2025, 5, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/histories5010013
- 2024 Li. W., Van der Deijl, L., ‘Bidloo’s and Lairesse’s Anatomia Humani Corporis (1685)’, in Noorman, J., and Dietz, F. (eds.) Moving Objects: Subtitle Exploring the Materiality of the Dutch Republic Across Disciplines, University of Amsterdam Press, 2024, pp. 27-54.
- 2024 Li. W., ‘Mapping uncertain knowledge in digital art history’, Journal for the History of Knowledge, Special Issue Mapping
Uncertainties, 2024(5), https://doi.org/10.55283/jhk.13998. - 2024 Li. W., Piccoli, C., ‘Placing Value in Domestic Interiors: 3D Spatial Mapping of Pieter de Graeff and Jacoba Bicker’s Home Art Collection‘. BMGN – Low Countries Historical Review, 139(2), 4-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51769/bmgn-lchr.13880
- 2022 Li. W., Piccoli, C., ‘Boedelinventarissen als bron voor reconstructie van interieurs,’ in Alle Amsterdamse Akten, Jaarboek Amstelodamum, 2022, 144-151.
- 2022 Van den Heuvel, C., Van Tussenbroek. G., Noordegraaf, J., and Piccoli, C., Li, W.,‘Virtual Interiors en de gelaagde stad. Een inkijk in een digitaal lab voor een ruimtelijke geschiedenis van Amsterdam’, Stadsgeschiedenis, 2022, 136-149.
- 2021 Li, W., ‘A Network of Iconography: Tracing the Evolution of Iconography in History Paintings in the Dutch Golden Age’, Early Modern Low Countries, 2021 5(2), pp. 216–249. DOI: 10.51750/emlc11334
- 2021 Li, W., ‘Spotting specialists: A digital approach to contemporary concepts of genre and specialisation’, in Osnabrugge, M. (ed.) Questioning Pictorial Genres in Dutch Seventeenth-Century Art: Definitions, Artistic Practices, Market & Society, Brepols Publishers, 2021, pp. 43-71. (Book available here)
- 2020 Li, W., ‘The Hands Behind De Lairesse’s Masterpieces: Gerard de Lairesse’s workshop practice,’ Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 12:1 (Winter 2020). DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2020.12.1.4
- 2019 Li, W., ‘Innovative Exuberance: Visualizing the fluctuations in painting production in the 17th-century Northern Netherlands’, Arts, Special Issue: Art Markets and Digital Histories, 2019 8(2), 72. DOI: 10.3390/arts8020072
- 2011 Li, W., Feng, C. C., and Zhao, F. F., ‘Influence of rail transit on nearby commodity housing prices: a case study of Beijing Subway Line Five’, Acta Geographica Sinica 66.8 (2011): 1055-1062 (in Chinese).
Conference proceedings, book reviews, and online publications
- 2023 Li. W., ‘Review of: “Samuel van Hoogstraten’s introduction to the academy of painting” (2021)’, Renaissance Quarterly
- 2021 Li. W., Piccoli, C., ‘Dealing with multidimensional uncertainty: The house of the painter Gillis van Coninxloo’, Virtual Interiors project
- 2020 Li. W., ‘Review of “Rembrandts plan: De ware geschiedenis van zijn faillissement”’, Oud Holland Reviews
- 2019 Li. W., ‘Visualizing Networks of Artistic Ideas in History Paintings in the Seventeenth-Century Netherland’, Book of Abstracts Digital Humanities 2019 Utrecht
- 2018 Li. W., ‘Deciphering the transmission of ideas among artists living around the corner’, Amsterdam Time Machine
- 2018 Li, W., Bok, M.J., Kisjes, I., ‘Imitation and emulation in Rembrandt’s neighborhood – deciphering transmission of ideas among artists living around the corner’, Golden Agents Project
Presentations and invited talks (selected)
- (15 Oct. 2025) ‘A spatial approach to understanding artistic innovation: Painters’ location choices and the market development in 17th-century Amsterdam’, Digital Art History – Methods, Practices, Epistemologies 5: Critical Approaches to Sources in (Digital) Art History 2025, Zagreb, Croatia.
- (15 Oct. 2025) [With Sofia Baroncini] ‘When but not where: considerations on the underrepresentation of the place of creation in art datasets’, Digital Art History – Methods, Practices, Epistemologies 5: Critical Approaches to Sources in (Digital) Art History 2025, Zagreb, Croatia.
- (11 Jul. 2024) [With Lauryn Smith] ‘ Embracing the digital age’, panel at Historians of Netherlandish Art Conference 2024, Cambridge/London, UK.
- (21 Mar. 2023) ‘The Montias Database: Exploring 17th-Century Dutch Domestic Interiors Digitally’, Frick Art Reference Library Talk (online, recording available here)
- (2-4 Jun. 2022) [With Chiara Piccoli] ‘Place and value inside domestic interiors: the case of Pieter de Graeff and the affluent burghers in Amsterdam’, Historians of Netherlandish Art conference 2022, Amsterdam/The Hague
- (11-12 May 2022) ‘(Deep) mapping uncertainties of artists’ locations in 17th-century Amsterdam’, Workshop Mapping Uncertainties, Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, Rome
- (12 Apr. 2022) [With Lucas van der Deijl] ‘Bidloo’s and Lairesse’s Anatomia Humani Corporis (1685)’, Object Colloquium, Amsterdam Centre for Studies in Early Modernity
- (3 Feb. 2022) ‘Mapping 17th-century art market in Amsterdam: Space and Strategy’, CREATE salon: Creative Industries: Then and Now (online, recording available here)
- (1-3 Jul. 2021) ‘Mapping the social-economic network of Artists in early modern Amsterdam’, Historical Network Analysis conference (online)
- (16 Jun. 2021) ‘A Peek behind Closed Doors: Displaying and Dealing Art in Rembrandt’s Amsterdam’, Rembrandt in Amsterdam exhibition symposium, National Gallery of Canada (public lecture online, recording available below)
- (3 Jun. 2021) [With Eric Jan Sluijter] “Holland’s last epidemic of plague (1663/4) and the decline of the art of painting,” Historians of Netherlandish Art Pandemic session (online)
- (20 Apr. 2021) [With Sandra van Ginhoven etc.] Panel: Early Modern Digital Art History: Computation as Methodology, RSA Virtual 2021 (online)
- (10 Feb. 2021) ‘Spatial Reading of Inventories: Producing and displaying arts in seventeenth-century Amsterdam’, Groningen Research Webinars: Art History and Visual Material Culture (online, recording available here)
- (23 Sep. 2020) ‘3D-Visualizations as tools to understand the painting business in Golden Age Amsterdam’, CREATE Salon: Applying 3D-visualisations to historical research (online, recording available below)
- (29 Jul. -2 Aug. 2019) Workshop leader in Network + Map workshop in Network Analysis + Digital Art History: A Getty Advanced Workshop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- (10 Jul. 2019) [With Chiara Piccoli and Charles van den Heuvel]‘Embracing Complex Interfaces Linking Deep Maps and Virtual Interiors to Big Data of the Dutch Golden Age.,’ DH 2019: Digital Humanities Conference, Utrecht
- (11 Jul. 2019) [With Alex Butterworth, etc.] Panel discussion: Complex Space-Time, DH 2019: Digital Humanities Conference, Utrecht
- (6-7 Jun. 2019) ‘Comprehending the concepts of genre and specialization in the eyes of seventeenth-century connoisseurs: a digital approach’, The Contribution of Artistic Genres to the Construction of the Dutch Golden Age conference, Haarlem
- (29-30 Jan. 2019) ‘Artists and the Creative Urban Space’, Mobility Creates Master: Database for research symposium, National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden
- (5-6 Nov. 2018) ‘The Amsterdam Hands in De Lairesse’s Paintings: A Quantitative Approach’, International Conference Many Antwerp Hands, Rubenianum Antwerp, Belgium
- (20-21 Sep. 2018) ‘Beyond Location: Deep mapping artist’s workshops in the early modern Amsterdam’, Spatial Humanities 2018 conference, Lancaster, UK
- (2-4 Jun. 2018) [With Claartje Rasterhoff, Ivan Kisjes, and Kasper Beelen] ‘Measuring Innovation in the Art and Book Market during the Dutch Golden Age’, Digital Humanities Benelux 2018 conference, Amsterdam
Valorization and media coverage
- 2022 University of Amsterdam Three-Minute Thesis Pitch, second place
- 2021 Research featured in Anne van den Dool, ‘17de-eeuws kunstnetwerk in kaart’, Bulletin van de Vereniging Rembrandt 2021 (3), pp. 50-51.
- 2021 Research featured in Marieke Maathuis, ‘Let’s go digital: Nieuwe kunsthistorische inzichten door big data’, Bulletin Kunsthistorici: Tech-Savvy 2021 (2), pp. 13-14.
Grants and Awards
- 2026-2028 Marie-Curie Fellowship (€ 216,240, two years)
- 2025 Rijksmuseum Mellow Fellowship (€ 50,000, one year)
- 2025 NWO Rubicon €159,171 (withdrawn due to the Rijksmuseum Fellowship and Marie-Curie Fellowship)
- 2024 Erasmus Dissertation Prize (€ 3000)
- 2024 Amsterdam School for Historical Studies Dissertation Award 2023-2024 (€ 500)
- 2024 (shortlist) Jan van der Gelder Award 2022-2023
- 2022 University of Amsterdam Three-Minute Thesis Pitch competition: second place (€ 1000)
- 2021 Claudine de With Beurs -Vereining Rembrandt (€ 2500)
- 2020 De Zeventiende Eeuw Werkgroep Scriptieprijs 2018-2020 (€ 500)
- 2019 Best thesis in the Faculty of Humanities 2018-2019, University of Amsterdam (€ 1500)
- 2018 (Nominated) Onderwijsprijs (Education Award) for MA classes at UvA
- 2017-8 Pre-PhD fellowship (0.5 ft, one year), University of Amsterdam
Honors/Scholarships
- 2013 Transit Lab Scholarship, MIT
- 2012 Contribution to the Intellectual Life, MIT
- 2012-3 Department of Urban Planning, SMART scholarship, MIT
- 2010 Peking University President Scholarship
- 2009 Robin Li Scholarship Professional
Professional Affiliations
- Member of Historians of Netherlandish Art (HNA)
- Member of Renaissance Society of America (RSA)
- Member of International Art Market Studies Association (TIAMSA)
- Member of Historical Network Research Community (HNR)
- Member of the N.W. Posthumus Institute
- Member of Time Machine Organization, Amsterdam Chamber: Amsterdam Time Machine
- Member of Creative Amsterdam: An E-Humanities Perspective (CREATE), University of Amsterdam
- Member of DH Lab, KNAW Humanities Cluster