John Bezold (6 November, 1985) is an American-Dutch scholar who studies how institutions construct and scale authority. His research focuses on art markets, collecting practices, museums and publishing, with particular attention to institutional formation in the early twentieth century. In 2016, he held a research fellowship at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, working with curatorial and institutional history. He holds a BSc from the University of Cincinnati (2008) and an MA (2015) and Research MA (2017) from the University of Amsterdam, where he is completing doctoral research on curatorial logic, publishing history and institutional authorship. From 2019 to 2024, he served as an editor and Editorial Board member of Oud Holland, contributing to the journal’s transition into digital publishing. Alongside his academic work, he has worked across media and technology since 2008, developing digital publishing systems and editorial infrastructures for cultural organizations. In 2027, he will defend his doctorate, An Institutional Insistence: Gerrit Gratama, the Frans Hals Museum, & the Curatorial Creation of a Haarlem School (1912–1946). He is currently Senior Editor at FRAME, where he helps shape editorial direction across print and digital publishing, covering architecture, design and cultural institutions.

Articles & Reviews
'The Frans Hals Exhibitions at London and Amsterdam', Renaissance Studies, 39, no. 2 (April 2025): 303-312.
'Frans Hals Connoisseurs and Exhibitions: From Thoré to Today', in Frans Hals: Iconography, Technique and Reputation, eds. Rudi Ekkart and Norbert Middelkoop (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2024), 221-243.
'Frans Hals in America: Collectors, Scholars, and Connoisseurs', Oud Holland Reviews (Aug. 2023).
'Frans Hals: The Male Portrait', Early Modern Low Countries 6, no. 2 (Dec. 2022): 278-280.
'Gerard, Lina, & Jan Gratama als schilders en tekenaars', Eigenbouwer, no. 16 (Nov. 2022): 22-33.
'Van de Velde and Sons: Marine Painters', Oud Holland Reviews (Nov. 2022).
'The Frans Hals Family Portrait Exhibition', Oud Holland Reviews (Dec. 2020). 

Edited Books
Bezold, John (ed.). Basquiat: The Artist and His New York Scene (Heerlen: Schunck, 2019).
–––. Un-Conscious-City (New York City: Actar, 2019). 
–––. Ellen Kooi Above Rotterdam (New York City: Actar, 2016). 
–––. Wiel Arets—Bas Princen (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2015).

Edited Journals
Review Editor & Editorial Board Member, Oud Holland, 2019–2024. 
Published 60+ reviews over a five year period as the review editor.

• Established editorial guidelines, style guide, and publishing process for the journal.
• Managed commissioning, editing, and publishing of new exhibition and book reviews.
• Wrote announcement articles and other digital media messaging to promote new editions.
• Sourced and secured supporting imagery, along with the necessary copyright permissions.
• Supported the editor-in-chief and the managing editor, including at editorial board meetings.
• Within two years of launching the review section of the website, its online readership doubled.

Podcasts
Dutch Art & Design Today, 2022–
Frans Hals Paintings—The Podcast, 2022-

Conference Papers
'The Many Frans Hals Connoisseurs and Exhibitions: From Thoré to Today.' Frans Hals: A Survey of Current Research, Organized by the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 8 January 2023.

Awards
Frits Duparc Thesis Award 2017, Honorable Mention: Contrasting Connoisseurs: Attributing the Family Portraiture of Frans Hals (MA 2015).

Fellowship
American Friends of the Mauritshuis Researcher, Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, 2016.