Enfilade

From The University of Melbourne:

Human Kind: Transforming Identity in British and Australian Portraits, 1700–1914
The University of Melbourne & National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 8–11 September 2016

Proposals due by 12 February 2016

Joseph Wright of Derby, Self-portrait, 1765–68, oil on canvas (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria)

Inspired by the outstanding collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, this interdisciplinary conference will be the largest gathering of international and Australian scholars to focus on portraits. It will provide a unique opportunity to explore both British and Australian portraits through a dynamic interchange between academics and curators.

Papers are invited that focus on British or Australian portraits between 1700 and 1914, which can be interpreted as separate fields or as overlapping or comparative studies. The portraits may be in any public or private collection worldwide, but in particular in the National Gallery of Victoria. They may be in any medium, including painting, print, drawing, sculpture and photography.

The conference aims to be both informed and provocative and to provide a robust forum for new and contemporary perspectives. These will include:
• How portraits shape social values and invent new possibilities for defining ‘human kind’
• The importance of place and provenance in the interpretation of portraits
• How portraits form a bridge of self-interpretation between Britain and colonial society
• The bonding role of portraits, their exchange as gifts, as agents in friendship and social cohesion, as testament to empathy and kinship
• The interaction of portraits with other art forms and cultural media, including theatre, literature and music, photography and film
• The role of portraits as records of social exclusion, isolation and displacement
• Issues of authorship, attribution, restoration and the multiplication and copying of portraits.

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words and a short CV to portrait-conference@unimelb.edu.au. Deadline for proposals is Friday, 12 February 2016.

Keynote Speakers
• Mark Hallett, Director of Studies, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
• Martin Myrone, Lead Curator Pre-1800, Tate Gallery
• Kate Retford, Senior Lecturer, Department of History of Art, Birkbeck University of London

The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art has provided funding for graduate bursaries. Please direct your enquiries to portrait-conference@unimelb.edu.au.

Hers & Hers: Women as Artists, Clients, and Consumers
California State University, Sacramento, 16 April 2016

Proposals due by 22 February 2016 [revised, extended deadline]

Keynote speaker: Sheryl E. Reiss (President, Italian Art Society), ‘Noble Exemplars of Their Sex’: Tomb Monuments Commissioned for and by Women during the Italian Renaissance

The past three decades have seen an increased amount of scholarship about women who were artists and women who were either sponsors of art projects or purchasers of art objects between about 1500 and 1800. Publications and presentations have resulted in a greater awareness of the significant role played by women in the art market in the 18th century and earlier. For the 12th Annual Art History Symposium at California State University, Sacramento, we welcome proposals for 20-minute papers that provide new information and/or insights about women artists, clients, or consumers in the 16th, 17th, or 18th centuries.

Please send:
(1) A 300-word proposal
(2) A short biographical statement (one paragraph)
(3) Full contact information

Send all three items as e-mail attachments to ruth.hansen@csus.edu by February 22, 2016. Questions about the symposium may be addressed to Professor Catherine Turrill (turrillc@csus.edu).

Imagining Apocalypse
Oxford University, 18 June 2016

Proposals due by 28 February 2016

The University of Oxford research network, Romanticism and Eighteenth-Century Studies Oxford invites proposals for a one-day interdisciplinary conference to be held at Oxford University on 18 June 2016 on the subject of Imagining Apocalypse. A plenary lecture will be given by Professor Fiona Stafford (Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford). The conference aims to bring together academics from across English, History, Theology, History of Art, and Music to reassess the numerous responses to the idea of apocalypse produced during the long eighteenth century (1660–1830).

Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:
• The French Revolution as apocalyptic
• Millenarial cults, the Bible, and prophecy
• The summer of 1816 and apocalyptic anxiety
• Secular doomsday and apocalypse without millennium
• Scientific predictions concerning the end of the world
• The figure of the ‘Last Man’
• Parodies and satires of apocalypse
• The apocalyptic city
• Apocalypse as ‘unveiling’
• Post-apocalypse
• The legacy of long eighteenth-century depictions of apocalypse

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words to catherine.redford@hertford.ox.ac.uk no later than Sunday 28 February 2016 along with a short biographical note. Proposals for roundtables and panels, as well as traditional 20-minute papers, are welcome.

Details of this graduate student colloquium are available at H-ArtHist:

Between Revolution and Reaction: French Art in the European Context, 1750–1830
Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, 1 June 2016

Proposals due by 15 February 2016

Due to political and social Umwälzungen/alterations, between ca. 1750 and 1830 political key notions and aesthetic conceptions of the modern era changed considerably. It therefore seems legitimate to consider the decades around 1800 as an epoch-making turn. The colloquium offers insights into current research concerning French art of this period. It focuses on the dynamics between revolution and reaction as well as on functions of the cultural policy during the French revolutionary period and on the establishment of new artistic pictorial/Zeichen- and symbolic systems.

The half-day colloquium offers six doctoral students the possibility to present their dissertation project in a paper that should not be longer than 10 minutes. Papers and discussions can be in German, French, and English. Speakers residing outside Munich will receive a lump sum of 200,- euro covering travel expenses. Applications containing a short cv and an abstract of the paper (not to exceed 3000 signs in length) must be sent to frz1800@zikg.eu by February 15, 2016.

Organized by Iris Lauterbach and Christine Tauber, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich

From H-ArtHist:

Allegory and Topography in Early Modern Period (16th–18th Centuries)
Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris, Paris, 9–10 June 2016

Proposals due by 10 February 2016

Organized by Étienne Jollet and Antonella Fenech Kroke

The arts of the early modern period, from the Renaissance to the end of the eighteenth century, attach great importance to the allegory as a mode of visual evocation of the invisible universal—be it the Christian divine or the human values. Defined in this manner, the notion of allegory appears far removed from the understanding of topography intended as expression of the specificity of a ‘place’, all together visible, physical and particular. However, this tension between the universal and the particular, the invisible and the visible, the intangible and the tangible, figure and place, meaning and representation, characterizes the culture and the arts of early modern. During this period, Western Europe thinks out a new order of the world and, at the same time, endeavors to describe it and to figure it through complex symbolic representations set in a significant space, which then is ‘place’.

Four major questions constitute the principal axes of this symposium.
• The first one is the place of allegory. Allegory deploys its figures in a meaningful extension and in variable ways—for instance, in the tension between allegory and personification.
• The second issue concerns allegory of ‘place’ (but also allegory of specific places): this dimension is especially important because of the constitution, since the Renaissance, of increasingly strong political entities gradually defining their boundaries, until the appearance of modern notion of borders at the end of the eighteenth century.
• The third point focuses on the relation and on the tension between allegory and the world. The early modern period is characterized by a renewal of comprehension of the world and by the discoveries of regions of the Earth still unknown to Europeans: in this particular context, how does allegory challenge the new topographical knowledge and, first and foremost the development of cartography? But beside this kind of issues, one can also question the links between allegory and other ‘worlds’, as those intangible of the soul which shape other visual
forms of allegorical cartographies.
• The fourth question concerns allegorical spaces, that is to say the space as a notion provided by different meaning but irreducible to a precise signification: mainly the landscape in which an allegorical meaning is just potentially to be found in natural features (for example, the entrance of a grotto, a waterfall, a volcano, etc.) allowing sometimes the representation of the nature’s sublime to emerge.

This call for papers is an invitation to all scholars working in the field in a plural and interdisciplinary perspective. We encourage to propose submissions for the conference, both emerging and established researchers. Please send your proposal, in English or French (max. 500 words including a short bibliography) with a one-page curriculum vitae to the organizers: allegory.topography@gmail.com. The deadline for the call for paper is February 10, 2016.

The symposium is sponsored by the HiCSA, University Panthéon-Sorbonne and the Centre André Chastel (UMR 8150), University Paris-Sorbonne.

From H-ArtHist:

Rethinking Pictures: A Transatlantic Dialogue
Paris, 19–20 May 2016

Proposals due by 25 January 2016

On the occasion of the launch of Picturing, the first volume of the Terra Foundation Essays, a new publication series exploring themes of critical importance to the history of arts and visual culture of the United States, the Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte, Paris, and the Terra Foundation for American Art are jointly organizing a conference that will further the transatlantic dialogue about what pictures are and what they do.

Since the 1980s, theories of visual studies in Anglo-American scholarship and of Bildwissenschaft in German art history have expanded the field of potential subjects for study, building an extensive body of literature and introducing innovative methodologies and approaches. Developed nearly contemporaneously, these theories about the nature and reception of images have run parallel to one another. While on the Anglophone side visual studies have branched out to a wide range of media following a socio-critical impetus, Bildwissenschaft finds origins in Aby Warburg’s methods and (among other approaches) is notably nourished by a hermeneutic perspective. Over the last decade on both sides of the Atlantic, new avenues of inquiry have questioned the purely visual nature of images to consider them as objects that possess agency or vitality in and of themselves. Pictures are now understood as inviting complex experience in which the entire body, not only the eye, is solicited, and as invoking multiple temporalities, by collapsing past and present. Attention is called to the materials that constitute the object world and the ways in which their circulation creates social relationships that become part of their meaning over time. In alignment with object-centered approaches in anthropology, material culture, media studies, and philosophy, recent theories of the visual have raised questions of affect, subjectivity, and medium in Anglo-American scholarship, while socio-historical considerations have gained particular ground in the German literature. As renewed attention to the art work’s “materiality” shifts the terms of investigation, this conference invites speakers to reflect on the differences and convergences between the intellectual traditions of visual studies and Bildwissenschaft. Are there ways to think about pictures anew by bringing these models more closely together? Does the move away from visuality towards the material offer possibilities for overcoming early differences between these two approaches?

We seek proposals for 20-minute talks introducing new ideas and propositions. We especially welcome submissions from early- and mid-career scholars. Presentations are encouraged to focus on specific objects and historical conditions in order to anchor theoretical questions. While binary considerations of comparative methodologies and the scope of national traditions will certainly arise, the discussion will be plural and interdisciplinary, inviting reflections on the various forms of study of the visual arts in Europe, the United States, and beyond. Please submit abstracts no longer than 500 words in English along with a CV, to rethinkingpictures@gmail.com by January 25, 2016. The symposium will cover travel and lodging. Selected participants will be notified by February 15, 2016.

Historians of British Art Young Scholar Session
College Art Association, Washington, D.C., 5 February 2016

Proposals due by 18 December 2015

The Historians of British Art, a CAA-affiliated society, seeks papers for an upcoming mini-session of work by emerging scholars to be held during the HBA Business Meeting at CAA in Washington, D.C. (February 5, 2016). Current or recent graduate students are invited to submit proposals (if a Ph.D. recipient, the degree must have been earned within the past three years). Papers may address any topic related to British art, architecture, and visual culture and should be limited to fifteen minutes. This is an opportunity for informal presentations of new or ongoing research followed by open discussion.

To submit a paper for consideration, please send the following items to Craig Hanson, HBA President, at CraigAshleyHanson@gmail.com: (1) a one page abstract; (2) a C.V. (limited to two pages).; and (3) a brief cover letter explaining interest in the field. The deadline for submission is December 18, 2015. Upon selection, each presenter will be requested to join HBA if not already a member.

From H-ArtHist:

‘Showing Off’: Design and Ostentation
The Twenty-Fifth Annual Parsons/Cooper Hewitt Graduate Student Symposium on the History of Design
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, 7-8 April 2016

Proposals due by 25 January 2016

What makes an object desirable? And why do we show it off? From Veblen’s theories of conspicuous display to Bourdieu’s concept of “ostentatious discretion,” scholars have long been fascinated with how display and extravagance, or their converse (e.g. studied reserve or ironic shabbiness) act as signs of economic and/or cultural capital.

The symposium will explore issues relating to ornament and excess—or their conspicuous avoidance—in relation to social structures, aesthetics, technology, politics and economics. Proposals might consider the invention, uses and semiotics of materials whether natural or synthetic, mundane or exotic; relationships of beauty and value; luxury studies and branding; normcore and humblebragging in design; collecting and collections; or the display of objects, including virtual or cinematic display. Objects of study might include jewelry, fashion or other articles of personal adornment; interiors, interior design and furniture; industrial design, e.g. cars or home appliances; ostentatious technologies, e.g. watches, glasses, headsets or home theaters; or hotels, casinos, museums, apartment buildings, stores, theaters or other public or private sites of demonstrative architecture.

Proposals are welcome from graduate students at any level in fields such as Art History, History of Design, Design Studies, Fashion Studies, History of the Decorative Arts, Cultural Anthropology, History of Architecture, Consumer Studies, Design and Technology, Media Studies, Museum Studies, Food Studies, etc.

The symposium’s Catherine Hoover Voorsanger Keynote speaker will be Ulysses Grant Dietz, Chief Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts at the Newark Museum. The Keynote will be on Thursday evening, April 7, 2016 and the symposium sessions will be in the morning and afternoon on Friday, April 8.

To submit a proposal, send a two-page abstract, one-page bibliography and a c.v. to Ethan Robey, Associate Director, MA Program in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies, robeye@newschool.edu. The symposium is sponsored by the MA Program in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies offered jointly by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Parsons School of Design.

From The Courtauld:

Placing Prints: New Developments in the Study of Print, 1400–1800
The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 12–13 February 2016

Proposals due by 22 November 2015

Traditionally, the history of printmaking has fallen in the space between art history and the history of the book. Often ‘reproductive’ and multiple in nature, prints have long been marginalized in art historical scholarship in favour of the traditional ‘high’ arts. The inherent complexities in the manufacture and sale of print, often involving multi-faceted networks of specialist craftsmen, artists, publishers and sellers, has also led to much confusion. Not knowing how prints are made has affected our ability to understand the medium and its aesthetic qualities. However, recent scholarship has opened up new avenues for placing prints in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. From the techniques applied in the making of prints to the individuals involved in their production, distribution and use, current research is continuing to shape our understanding of this complex field.

This conference aims to showcase new developments in the study of prints, challenging and developing traditional approaches. We are looking for papers that address a wide variety of issues and plan, over
the course of the two-day conference, to have a series of panels devoted to different themes. Some issues to consider include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the question of the ‘reproductive’ print and the idea of originality in printmaking
• the print in art criticism
• the development of new genres of print
• the question of the ‘popular’ print and the place of cheap prints on the early modern market
• the relationship between word and image in print
• the social uses of prints, in collections and other environments
• seriality and sequencing in prints
• the role of prints as transmedial agents, triggering the production of the same composition in different media
• techniques and innovations in the making of prints
• networks and relationships behind the production and sale of prints; the notion of collaboration
• colour: coloured printing, hand-coloured prints and processes of translating colour into in a monotone linear medium

The conference will include a pop-up display in the Courtauld Gallery’s print room, curated for the occasion. This will provide the opportunity to engage directly with objects related to the themes discussed.

We invite papers from both established and emerging scholars in universities, museums and galleries. Our aim is to provide a platform for sharing approaches and developing future collaborations between scholars working with prints. For this reason, we are also willing to consider papers delivered in French, Italian and German. However, speakers must provide an English translation of their text and be willing to answer questions and contribute to discussions in English. Unfortunately, funding for speakers is not available and speakers from outside London are encouraged to apply to their institutions for subsidies to attend the colloquium.

Abstracts for 20-minute papers, not exceeding 250 words should be sent with a brief academic CV (100 words) by 22 November to: placingprints@courtauld.ac.uk.

Organised by Naomi Lebens, Tatiana Bissolati, Bryony Bartlett-Rawlings and Chloe Gilling (The Courtauld Institute of Art).

From the conference website:

Nouveau Reach: Past, Present, and Future of Luxury / Passé, présent et avenir du luxe
Ryerson University, Toronto, 11–14 May 2017

Proposals for complete panels and individual papers due by 15 March 2016

Nouveau Reach: Past, Present, and Future of Luxury brings together leading thinkers in luxury studies and industry to explore the future of luxury in the Canadian and global contexts. Taking place in Toronto, Canada from 11 to 14 May 2017, we invite scholars of anthropology, business, fashion, fine art, history, modern languages, museum studies, material art & design, and social sciences to share findings on historical and contemporary developments in luxury studies. We also invite established professionals currently working in luxury market—via fashion, curatorship, fine arts, auctioneering, design, commerce, and travel—to contribute their expertise and insight on the future of luxury in the global context.

The three-day conference is co-organized by Brock University and The School of Fashion at Ryerson University. It features both traditional panels of 20-minute papers and interactive workshops led by leading industry experts. Please submit 4-member panel proposals that include 300-word (max) abstracts per presenter and a 200-word rationale for the panel, as well as a brief curriculum vitae for all presenters by 15 March 2016. Proposals for individual papers will also be considered. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. Participants will be asked to submit completed papers in January 2017 for consideration for a special issue of Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Topics can include, but are not limited to:
• The history of and new frontiers in luxury
• Trajectories in Canadian luxury
• Luxury and global markets
• Luxury and the public
• Luxury as business model
• Curating luxury
• Luxury and nation, race, and/or sex
• Cultural/literary/artistic representations of luxury
• Luxury consumption and/or production
• Luxury and space
• Scandals, ruptures, and slippages in the pursuit of luxury

Please submit proposals, in Word format, to NouveauReachCAN@gmail.com.

Organizing Committee
Jessica Clark, History, Brock University
Nigel Lezama, Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Brock University
Alison Matthews David, The School of Fashion, Ryerson University
Robert Ott, The School of Fashion, Ryerson University

Plenary Speakers
Jonathan Faiers, University of Southampton, Editor, Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption
Giorgio Riello, University of Warwick, The Luxury Network
Jana Scholze, Victoria & Albert Museum, Co-curator of the 2015 exhibition What is Luxury?