Enfilade

Thomas Gainsborough, Landscape with Sheep and Cattle on the Bank of a Stream, 1780–84, synthetic black chalk with stumping on wove paper, all four corners cut (London: Courtauld Gallery, Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952).

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From The Courtauld:

Imagining Britain: Postgraduate and Early Career Research in British and Irish Art

The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 9 June 2026

Organized by Claire Ó Nualláin and Clara Shaw

Proposals due by 9 March 2026

In recent decades, a significant aspect of British art studies has involved reflection on the nature and boundaries of the field itself, debated critically and curatorially.

A decade on from the inaugural provocation of British Art Studies volume I, published in November 2015, in which art historians responded to the statement, “There’s No Such Thing as British Art,” the expansion of the field’s geographic and intellectual perspectives has opened new research avenues. Increasingly, scholars have recognised the possibilities afforded to the study of British art when it is brought into dialogue with the arts of regions which have hitherto been marginalised in its discussion, including Ireland and former colonial territories. This introspection has instigated a reexamination of British collections, with major rehangs including at Tate Britain and the Yale Center for British Art, encouraging fresh perspectives on canonical works of art and the emergence of lesser-known artists and histories from the archive. In 2025, the Courtauld Institute of Art announced the opening of the Manton Centre for British Art, a major new initiative in the field providing new contexts in which to explore the definition, scope, and even relevance of the concept of ‘British’ art.

In light of these exciting developments in the study of British and Irish art, we wish to announce a call for papers from postgraduate and early career researchers responding to the theme Imagining Britain. This student-led symposium aims to provide an interdisciplinary, cross-period forum for fruitful discussions interrogating the role of visual and material culture in reinforcing, challenging and complicating the notion of ‘British.’

We welcome proposals for fifteen to twenty-minute papers exploring any aspect of the visual histories of Britain and Ireland from medieval to the present day that address issues including, but not limited to:
• Reflections on the historiography of British and Irish art, and the influence of major collectors and institutions in constructing its canon
• Histories of state or monarchical deployment of art and material culture to construct or shape national identity
• Case studies of the role of art and visual culture in responding to questions of British identity, particularly from underrepresented perspectives
• Longue durée analysis of the development of British art
• Analyses of canonical works of British art from post-colonial and post-Imperial perspectives

Please send paper proposals (250–400 words) and a full CV to Claire Ó Nualláin c2400367@courtauld.ac.uk and Clara Shaw c2101718@courtauld.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is Monday, 9 March. Applicants will be informed about decisions by early April. Successful applicants will be encouraged, where possible, to use institutional funding they have available for travel and accommodation, as only minimal funding from the Courtauld will be available and this will be reserved for early career candidates and those without institutional support.

Supported by the CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership.