Enfilade

From the V&A:

Grinling Gibbons and the Story of Carving
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 24–25 June 2022

Organized by Jenny Saunt, Kira d’Alburquerque, and Ada de Wit

Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721) is the most celebrated carver in British history. His closely observed depictions of full-bodied natural forms, executed in hyperreal detail, captivated audiences of his own time as much as they captivate audiences today. But how much is really known about this man, his work, and its implications in terms of the way we think about carving now? As part of the year-long Gibbons tercentenary celebrations of 2021/22, the V&A is hosting a two-day conference to explore the story of Gibbons and to investigate broader themes around the subject of carving in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Britain and Europe. On day one of the conference, an invited panel of speakers will present the latest research on Grinling Gibbons and his work. On the second day, international scholars, across disciplines, will consider the broader story of carving in this period, exploring themes of design, production, materials, and techniques, and how these interacted to create the type of physical forms so recognizable as the product of Gibbons’s world. Registration £15–35.

F R I D A Y ,  2 4  J U N E  2 0 2 2

10.00  Registration

10.30  Welcome and Introduction

10.40  Session 1: Introducing Mr Gibbons
• Ada de Wit, Gibbons’s Dutch Roots and Early Career
• David Luard, Development of a Style
• Alan Lamb, An Extension of his Hand: Gibbons’s Technique and Workshop Practice

12.25  Lunch

14.00  Session 2: Processes and Commissions
• Frances Sands, Gibbons as a Master of Two Dimensions
• Gordon Higgott, Gibbons and the Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral

15.20  Break

15.50  Session 3: Wood and Stone
• Kira d’Alburquerque, Gibbons’s Stone Monuments and Bronze Sculptures
• Lee Prosser, The Transition from Wood to Stone: Gibbons’s Work for the Crown after 1706

S A T U R D A Y ,  2 5  J U N E  2 0 2 2

10.00  Registration

10.30  Welcome

10.35  Screening of V&A film: How It Was Made: Grinling Gibbons’s Cravat

10.45  Session 4: Investigating Mr Gibbons
• Nick Humphrey, ‘Even unto deception’: Re-examining Gibbons’s Cravat
• Jonathan Taveres and Lisa Akerman, Retracing the Master’s Gouge: Recovering the Art Institute of Chicago’s Gibbons Overmantel
• Sandra Rossi and Maria Cristina Gigli, Two Masterpieces by Gibbons: Notes on Restoration Work

12.30  Lunch

14.00  Session 5: Gibbons from Other Perspectives
• Ada de Wit, Floating Splendour: Dutch and English Ship Carving, 1650–1700
• Lauren R. Cannady, Gibbons, Naturally

15.20  Break

15.50  Session 6: Beyond Gibbons
• Wendy Frère, In the Shadow of Grinling Gibbons: Arnold Quellinus and His Stay in Britain, 1678–1686
• Tessa Murdoch, Carvers at Court: Gibbons’s Huguenot Contemporaries

Speaker biographies are available on the full programme. Also, please note that the schedule is subject to change.