Enfilade

This session is part of next year’s EAHN conference; the full Call for Papers is available here:

‘Character’ in Global Encounters with Architecture, 1700–1900

Session at the Conference of the European Architectural History Network, Aarhus, 17–21 June 2026

Chairs: Sigrid de Jong, Dominik Müller and Nikos Magouliotis

Proposals due by 19 September 2025

The eighteenth century was at once the period when Classical architecture was canonized in the Western world and beyond, and the moment when its supposedly universal ideal came into crisis. The study of competing practices and traditions of various medieval (Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine) and vernacular architectures in Europe, and the allure of ‘Oriental’ styles (filtered through Turquerie and Chinoiserie) challenged the claims of Classicism, as did the encounters with different extra-European building traditions through travel and colonialism. These encounters prompted an avid preoccupation with cultural difference, as evidenced in Voltaire’s Essai sur les moeurs et l’esprit des nations (1756), Vico’s Principi di una scienza nuova d’intorno alla natura delle nazioni (1725–44), and Hume’s Of National Characters (1748).

Before the systematic global histories of architecture of the nineteenth century, and previous to the notion of style, Western authors employed a particular term to describe cultural specificity and difference: character. Stemming originally from the Greek word χαρακτήρ, its meaning evolved from the tool with which one carved signs on a wax or stone surface, over denoting these signs themselves, to the imprint these had on a reader or viewer. The distinctiveness of that impact, and the marks of identity of a whole culture in its environment and material culture, was encapsulated by its character. As such, from 1750 onwards the notion of character became ubiquitous in a variety of languages and was used in reference to people, buildings and landscapes, and shared across different genres of writing and scientific disciplines: from travel literature, political theory and ethnography, over treatises of art and architecture, to gardening manuals.

This session interrogates the architectural category of character in the globalizing world of the long eighteenth century, by zooming in on its meanings, implications, and complexities in moments of encounter between Western and non-Western cultures and architectures. We draw on recent inquiries into how Western travellers conceptualized non-Western architectures (Brouwer, Bressani, and Armstrong, Narrating the Globe, 2023), but also on works aiming to show how indigenous thinking conceptualized and criticized Western political and aesthetic norms (Graeber and Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything, 2021).

We are interested in instances of encounter addressing the following questions:

• How have Western accounts used the notion of character to describe non-Western architectures, building traditions, cultures, landscapes and places?

• How was the notion of character employed for architectures that challenged Western taxonomies and categorizations of architectural style?

• Which are the analogous notions in native languages that have been used to respond to encounters with Western architectures? How were these employed to process cultural specificity and otherness, and to describe, translate, acculturate or criticize Western cultural expressions (including mores and manners) from an indigenous perspective?

We welcome papers dealing with one or more of these questions in the period c. 1700–1900, across geographies. We are eager to discuss a variety of written, visual, and material sources, drawn from various disciplines, to expand the critical history of the term character beyond its well-established place in the history of European architectural theory.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted by 19 September 2025 to sigrid.dejong@gta.arch.ethz.ch, nikolaos.magouliotis@gta.arch.ethz.ch, and mueller@arch.ethz.ch, along with the applicant’s name, email address, professional affiliation, address, telephone number, and a short curriculum vitae (maximum one page). Abstracts should define the subject and summarize the argument to be presented in the proposed paper. The content of that paper should be the product of well-documented original research that is primarily analytical and interpretative rather than descriptive in nature.

Hall of Perspectives, Villa Farnesina, frescoes painted by Baldassare Peruzzi, ca. 1510–16. Built for Agostino Chigi, the villa was acquired by the Farnese family in 1577.

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From ArtHist.net and the American University of Rome: 

Architecture and the Literary Imagination, 1350–1750

American University of Rome, 6–8 November 2025

Organized by Fabio Barry and Paul Gwynne

Proposals due by 1 October 2025

Architecture and the Literary Imagination solicits conference papers that will broaden the repertoire of literary sources for understanding European architecture from around 1350 to 1750 and foster dialogue across disciplines. Architectural historians typically rely on histories for facts, and treatises for theories. A much wider range of texts records the reception of real buildings, the capacity to imagine fantastic ones, and the reciprocity between architecture and literature: poetry, dramaturgy, the picaresque novel, inauguration or consecration speeches, travelogues, epigraphy, and so on.

‘Architecture’ includes cities, civic buildings, palaces, villas, housing, individual rooms, gardens, grottoes, the constructions of nature itself, fountains, monuments, engineering, and decorations from vault painting to topiary. Our focus is largely Europe, but encompasses the Ottoman Empire, all territories ringing the Mediterranean basin, and descriptions of architecture transmitted by the global missions of the Church or travellers.

The source language may be in any vernacular, and we are also interested in Neo-Latin, Neo-Greek, and Classical Arabic as legacy languages of cultural transmission across history and borders. A particular theoretical concern is the intermedial relationship between immaterial words and solid buildings—however that may be defined.

A collection of essays from the conference will be published, subject to peer review, in an edited volume of the new book series, Architecture & the Literary Imagination (Harvey Miller Publishers, series editors, Fabio Barry and Paul Gwynne).

Papers will be 30 minutes in length and preferably in either English or Italian. Please send an abstract of 200 words by 1 October to Fabio Barry (rabirius@cantab.net) and Paul Gwynne (p.gwynne@aur.edu).

From ArtHist.net:

Animals Inside: A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors

HEAD – Genève, Geneva, 17 November 2025

Organized by Javier Fernández Contreras and Youri Kravtchenko

Proposals due by 15 September 2025

The Master of Arts in Interior Architecture (MAIA) at HEAD – Genève studies the role of interior spaces in shaping contemporaneity, paying particular attention to human–non-human entanglements. This includes the dynamic relationships between humans and animals within the domestic sphere, a relationship that has transformed radically across time and geography.

This conference invites designers, architects, historians, researchers, artists, and theorists to explore the history of objects and furniture designed for pets in domestic interiors, from antiquity to today. We aim to investigate when and how animals entered the home, and more crucially, when their presence began to transform its design through specific furniture and objects created for their use.

From the ornately crafted birdcages of imperial courts to Victorian aquariums, and from today’s wall-mounted cat gyms to AI-powered talking buttons for dogs—these objects offer a unique lens through which to examine changes in domestic space, material culture, design, and our understanding of interspecies cohabitation.

We welcome contributions that
• Offer a 30-minute presentation based on original research or practice-based investigation
• Clearly specify the geographic and historical context of the case study
• Examine any type of non-human animal (birds, dogs, cats, fish, reptiles, etc.)
• Investigate any historical period, from ancient civilizations to contemporary design
• Address a range of objects and furnishings, such as aquariums, terrariums, bird cages, pet beds, perches, feeders, cat trees, wall gyms, litter furniture, wearables, communication devices, or smart pet furnishings

Please submit a proposal to javier.fernandez-contreras@hesge.ch and youri.kravtchenko@hesge.ch by 15 September 2025 with the following items:
• Title of your presentation
• Abstract (300–500 words)
• Biographical note (150 words)
• Affiliation and contact details

Interior view, Reformierte Kirche Trogen, Hans Ulrich Grubenmann (architect), Andreas and Peter Anton Moosbrugger (stucco work), 1779–82.
(Photograph by Noelle Paulson)

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From the Call for Papers:

Idioms of Rococo in Switzerland

Session at the 6th Swiss Congress for Art History

Vereinigung der Kunsthistorikerinnen und Kunsthistoriker in der Schweiz (VKKS), Geneva, 7–9 September 2026

Session convened by Maarten Delbeke, Nikos Magouliotis, and Noelle Paulson

Proposals due by 12 September 2025

The 18th century transformed Switzerland: proto-industrialization brought new material wealth to rural homes, while mercantile elites built mansions to fit increasingly cosmopolitan tastes. Simultaneously, confessionalization continued to alter the religious and architectural landscape. Switzerland was a territory divided by language, class, and religion, yet visually unified through the broad adoption of Rococo ornament, from the facades of urban mansions to rural interiors, to decorations for Catholic and Protestant churches.

We argue that the rocaille’s ubiquity in Swiss art and architecture should not be seen as the homogenizing effect of a cultural hegemony. Rather, it may be understood as a process where different groups adapted it to their circumstances and generated distinct decorative idioms, which could serve antagonistic identities. There was not just one Swiss Rococo, but many.

The project Swiss Rococo Cultures examines this hypothesis by focusing on East Switzerland, but we are interested in mapping parallel cases throughout the country. We welcome papers that deal with any of the following questions:
• Which agents facilitated Rococo’s dissemination? How did the idiom transform through different artistic media and scales, from miniatures to buildings?
• How could Rococo and its iconographies adapt to different social spheres? How was this ornamental repertoire applied to Catholic and Protestant churches?
• How did the Rococo relate to the emerging spirit of Swiss patriotism and nationalism at the time of the Helvetic Society?
• When did the Rococo end? Can its continued use in folk art into the 19th century help us revise canonical chronologies? What do current practices of collection, display, and preservation tell us about Rococo’s long history?
• How does the specific case of the Rococo in Switzerland challenge notions of the idiom? How might we consider the Rococo to be a visual repertoire that crosses boundaries of geography, language, confession, and class?

We welcome contributions in German, English, French, and Italian, in the hope of assembling a multilingual session that reflects the topical and institutional diversity of the field and fosters young academics. All speakers will receive a contribution to their travel and accommodation costs and will be exempt from the congress registration fee.

Please send an abstract (1 page, maximum 3000 characters) and a short curriculum vitae with institutional affiliation and contact details to the session conveners (maarten.delbeke@gta.arch.ethz.ch; nikolaos.magouliotis@gta.arch.ethz.ch; and paulson@arch.ethz.ch) by 12 September 2025. Please also CC the Congress Bureau of the 6th Swiss Congress for Art History in Geneva at vkks2026@unige.ch. More information on the conference is available here.

Session Conveners
Prof. Dr. Maarten Delbeke, Dr. Nikos Magouliotis, and Dr. Noelle Paulson (SNSF Project: Swiss Rococo Cultures: Idioms of Ornament and the Architecture of East Switzerland).

From the conference website and the Call for Papers, which include the French and a bibliography:

The Odorous Object: On the Materiality of Scent

L’objet et son sillage: Penser la matérialité des odeurs

Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 27–28 February 2026

Proposals due by 15 September 2025

Organized by Chanelle Dupuis, Jasmine Laraki, and Clara May

Perfumed letters, colorful flasks, scented ceramics, fragrant glass vases, scented jewelry, fragrant wooden boxes, vaporizers, scratch and sniff stickers, soaps, bio-noses, imaginary smell devices; all of these are examples of odorous objects. From the intricate textures and shapes of perfume flasks to the aromatic clays and glass containers of past eras, the materials used to hold scent have changed over time and acquired various cultural and social significance.

Sensory studies approaches have revitalized the study of material culture by reorienting attention towards the life of “sensori-social” things (Howes, 2022) and bringing to light the types of agentivity, exchanges, and experiences that emerge out of interactions between objects, the senses, and socio-cultural contexts. What becomes of perfume and smell when we cease to consider it as a simple emanation or pure olfactory experience and interrogate the materiality itself—that of shapes, gestures, and mediums that render it perceptible?

The receptacle exists in a strange relationship to its contents; while it itself is visible, the scent it holds, the perfume it cherishes, is invisible. The play on presence and absence is central to the perfume, as the liquid we see does not indicate the notes of the perfume we are about to smell. It is this ephemeral quality to smell that creates interesting relationships to materials. A privileged interface—opaque or transparent, open or sealed—the flask represents both visible materiality and the volatile essence of perfume, it condenses an ambivalence where presence and absence coexist (Stamelman, 2006, 2022).

Profoundly complex, the way that smell works has long been misunderstood, leading to centuries of beliefs that belittle the importance of smell. Culturally situated and raising social, moral, political, scientific, religious, or aesthetic questions, these objects today represent useful mediums through which to think about smell. As tools for power and social distinction, as prophylactic instruments, and as routes to other dimensions, perfumes and their contents are inscribed in the history of art, in the history of perfumery, but also in the history of medicine and chemistry. Furthermore, while the usage and purpose of perfume changes from one time period to another, and one region to another, the odorant substances that make up these odorous objects come from around the world: a study of smells, thus, cannot exclude a large geographic coverage, and must address, in our present moment especially, colonial and ecological impacts.

Whether real or imagined, objects contribute to the atmosphere of a place and participate in the creation of a particular ambience. The ecological implications of the storage and disposal of olfactory objects bring to question the atmospheric, material qualities of these and their impacts on bodies. Olfactory objects can be tangible, real-world items, but also invented, imaginary, objects. In literary texts, for example, authors invent olfactory objects that have creative functions. In the dystopia Tè Mawon (2022) by Michael Roch, individuals wear headsets that can simulate “fake food” smells to satiate one’s hunger and mask the bad smells in one’s neighborhood. Smell and taste, the two chemical senses, are closely linked and evoked in unison throughout this dystopia. The evocation of food necessarily comes with smells and flavors, thus showing how odorous objects often involve important multimodal associations.

Due to their immersive and multisensorial nature, perfumes and odors evoke an ensemble of interlinked perceptions that go beyond the sense of smell alone. Synesthesia, an initially physiological phenomenon, has inspired creative initiatives ranging from branding and marketing stories to the creation of immersive environments. For example, a fragrance is often anticipated, prolonged, or translated using a color, a sound, a texture, or movement. The senses that are more difficult to represent—such as taste, touch, or smell—are thus mobilised through metaphors and linguistic slips in a multisensorial logic of correspondences.

To reflect the vastness and complexity of this topic, we invite propositions focused on any time period and any geographic location. While the focus of this conference is research in the humanities and social sciences, we welcome presentations from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) researchers in order to foster interdisciplinary conversations on the topic. Research on smell has been shaped by a variety of disciplines and necessitates a variety of perspectives. Likewise, olfactory aids (perfumes, scented objects, etc.) are welcome at the conference: we encourage presenters to not only talk about smell but also bring scents to be smelled when possible.

As part of our hybrid format we welcome both formal research presentations and creative expositions related to olfactory objects and devices.

1) Formal Research Presentations

Research participants will present their work for 20 minutes in organized panels, followed by a Q&A session. Presentations can be in French or English. We welcome papers related (but not limited) to the following topics:

Odor, object, and:
• Spirituality
• Medicine
• Imagination
• Environment
• Emotions
• Memory
• Gestures
• Agency
• Taste
• Aesthetics
• Art
• Genre(s)
• Materiality
• Technique and know-how
• Storage and conservation
• Economy
• Commerce, colonialism
• Linguistics
• Synesthesia
• Decomposition

2) Creative Expositions

As part of this conference, there will be an open exposition space for those wishing to present a creative research project, a new olfactory design, a perfume sample, or other. Each participant in this space will be offered a table where they can expose their work and talk freely with attendees who will explore the space during a set time in the conference program. Our hope is to encourage artists, designers, perfumers, artisans, and researchers to consider experimental, embodied, ways of researching olfaction.

The expositions may include, but are not limited to:
• Olfactory devices or installations
• Olfactory objects or artifacts accompanied by a scientific or theoretical research proposal
• Olfactory design prototypes
• Artworks that mobilize the medium of olfaction
• Performances, sensory archives, or sensory narratives

For research presentations (option 1), we ask participants to submit an abstract of no more than 400 words including a title, description of your research project, and a bibliography. Please also include a short biography containing your name, research discipline, contact information, and University or laboratory affiliation.

For creative expositions (option 2), we ask participants to submit a description of your project or sample of no more than 400 words, including a title for your exposition and a description of the nature of the object or research exposition, the modality of your presentation, dimensions, and specifics regarding the installation of your project (if you need access to a power plug, ventilation, etc.). Please also include a biography containing your name, contact information, and description of past works and past engagements.

To participate, all proposals, written in French or English, must be sent by 15 September 2025, to theodorousobject@gmail.com.

Keynote Speaker
Prof. Érika Wicky (Université Grenoble Alpes-UFR ARSH, France)

Organizers
Chanelle Dupuis (Brown University, USA), Jasmine Laraki (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France), Clara May (Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

From ArtHist.net and ICOM Design:

Design Collection Displays Reassessed

International Committee for Decorative Arts and Design Symposium

National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo, 28 October — 1 November 2025

Proposals due by 29 July 2025

The Design Collection Displays Reassessed symposium will discuss collection displays as sites of knowledge exchange and active engagement. From a traditionally linear, encyclopedic display, to today’s more narrative approaches, in the last decades, historical and contemporary displays of decorative arts and design have changed dramatically, in response to a variety of forces, including reassessments of institutional priorities, foregrounding of audiences, and the inclusion of different voices. The symposium will interrogate how design objects and interiors are displayed, discussed, and interpreted, and for whom. What does curating these kinds of collection displays represent and mean today? And how might this practice look in the future? What new museological approaches are needed?

The new National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo—a merger of four previously independent museums—is a fitting venue for a symposium with this theme. It opened its new, large-scale collection display in 2022, including decorative arts, design, interiors, fashion, and studio crafts from the 1100s to the present. This permanent collection reinstallation, the first since 2005, provided an opportunity to re-think the curation of the design and decorative arts display.

Some of the questions raised in the curatorial process at the National Museum have inspired and will inform this symposium, including
• How might we curate critically meaningful displays that communicate the distinctiveness of design objects and which reach beyond heroization of the maker?
• What are the specific challenges of exhibiting historic decorative arts for contemporary audiences and how might we meet those challenges?
• How do historic and contemporary objects interact in collection displays, if at all?
• Museum collections have traditionally often reinforced hegemonic and dominant histories. How might collection displays instead convey more inclusive and nuanced narratives?
• How might collection displays be more accessible to new and diverse audiences?
• How might we use the collection display to address societal and global issues?
• How might a design object that is interactive—physically and digitally—have its own presence and be successfully displayed within a collection installation?
• How do collection displays change within house museums?

We welcome submissions that touch on any of the questions above, as well as explorations that go beyond these topics. We also invite contributions that look towards possible futures of collection displays. We look forward to meeting in person to discuss and debate an ever-changing field—a conversation between scholars and practitioners across borders, institutions, and disciplines. An international anthology based on the conference presentations is planned.

Keynote Speakers
• Corinna Gardner (Senior Curator, Design and Digital, Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
• Sebastian Hackenschmidt (Curator of Furniture and Woodwork, MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna)
• Marco Magni (founder and chief architect, and Maria Cristina Rizzello, architect and partner, Guicciardini & Magni Architetti, Florence)
• Leena Svinhufvud (Leading Researcher, Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki)

Please submit an abstract of 300–400 words for a 20-minute presentation, including a title and a 50-word biography, to denise.hagstroemer@nasjonalmuseet.no. All selected speakers must be ICOM members at the time of the symposium.

Symposium Convener
Dr Denise Hagströmer (Senior Curator, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo), denise.hagstroemer@nasjonalmuseet.no

J.M.W. Turner, The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire, exhibited in 1817, oil on canvas, 170 × 239 cm
(London: Tate, Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856, N00499)

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From the Call for Papers:

Turner 250

Tate Britain, London, 4–5 December 2025

Proposals due by 31 July 2025

2025 marks two hundred and fifty years since the birth of Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851). Conscious of the future, he took care to secure his legacy. But what is that legacy? Timed to coincide with the Turner and Constable exhibition at Tate Britain and to help bring celebrations of Turner’s 250th anniversary year to a close, this conference will take Turner’s art and life as a starting point for exploring what it means to research Turner and to curate his work today.

Thanks in part to the gift of the Turner Bequest, Turner is one of the most highly documented artists, and his life and work have inspired extensive scholarship, exhibitions, and creative responses across a range of art forms. We want to open up discussions about how we tell his story in 2025, how we display and respond to his work, and how singular works—such as The Slave Ship—or entire bodies of work have generated their own afterlives. What new contexts can we use to read and reinterpret his work? How much does our focus on Turner through a monographic lens help or hinder fresh perspectives? Where will studies of Turner take us next?

Reflecting Turner’s own approach to his art, the event will encourage dialogue between historical and contemporary perspectives, and across different disciplines, to consider Turner in his own time and the resonances and interpretations of his vision today. We welcome presentations in a variety of forms—such as illustrated talks or short videos. Each presentation should last around fifteen minutes, whether it is a spoken paper or another form of contribution.

We invite proposals on any topic, but are particularly interested in the following themes:
• Curating Turner now: What do audiences want? What do they already know about Turner? What impact does staging a Turner exhibition have on public engagement and attendance?
• Turner’s contemporaries: Who were his peers, and who has been overshadowed?
• Turner contemporary: Artists inspired by Turner or responding to his legacy in their own work.
• Researching Turner in an age of climate crisis / eco-critical turn.
• The artist’s bequest / the monograph: What opportunities and challenges come with an artist’s bequest or a concentrated focus on a single figure?

Please submit the following by 12 midnight (BST) on 31 July, with ‘Turner 250’ as the subject line, to pmc.events@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk
• A 250-word abstract describing your proposed contribution
• A 250-word biography

Please combine your abstract and biography into a single Word document and send it as an email attachment. Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered. We will provide a speaker’s fee of £150 and cover reasonable travel and accommodation costs. If you have any access requirements or need adjustments, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Organised by Tate Britain in collaboration with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and supported by The Manton Foundation Fund for Historic British Art.

From ArtHist.net:

A History of Textile Cleanliness

Washing and Perfuming Fabrics from the Medieval to the Modern Period

Institute of Art History, University of Bern, Switzerland, 28–29 May 2026

Organized by Moïra Dato and Érika Wicky

Proposals due by 30 September 2025

The exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, on view at The Met in 2024, engaged visitors in the museum experience by recreating the displayed dresses’ scents—identified through chromatographic analysis—to illuminate their history and relationship to bodily senses. The analyses and interpretations published in the catalogue reveal not only the presence of perfumes but also traces of cosmetics, sebum, polluted air, and wine, among other aromas. While the poetic resonance of these sensory traces may evoke the ephemeral existence of these garments, their scents have not always been perceived as desirable. On the contrary, the history of textiles and clothing is deeply intertwined with practices of washing, stain removal, deodorisation, and perfuming, all of which were designed to ensure their longevity and reusability. This international conference seeks to explore these practices and their significance in textile history.

The historical study of textile cleaning has emerged at the intersection of cultural history, material culture studies, sensory studies, economic history, and archaeology. While textile production, trade, and consumption have been well-documented, research into the maintenance and cleaning of textiles—both as part of everyday domestic practices and in the care of symbolically significant textiles (such as liturgical garments and ceremonial fabrics)—has only recently gained scholarly attention.

Studies on hygiene underlined the role of textiles in approaches to and conceptions of bodily cleanliness, especially through the relationship between undergarments and the body. As noted by Georges Vigarello in his book Le propre et le sale, white clothing has long been associated with personal hygiene. Researchers have particularly focused on the laundering of linens and their symbolic role as indicators of health, moral, and spiritual virtues (Vigarello, 1985; Roche, 1989). Subsequently, the study of cleanliness and the purity of linens has been extended to colonial contexts, where these notions were intertwined with concepts of race and whiteness while also highlighting regional differences in perceptions of cleanliness and body care (Brown, 2009; White, 2012). Concepts connected to health, bodily hygiene, and clean textiles are also closely linked with questions of smells and techniques for scenting fabrics, an area that has been explored by historians and art historians specializing in the senses (Dospěl Williams, 2019; Schlinzig, 2021).

The inception and evolution of cleaning materials and technologies, from the use of soap to spot-removal recipes and chemical innovations, have also attracted the interest of historians (Leed, 2006). For example, some studies have shown how cleaning methods were adapted based on fibre type and colour stability, as well as how the manufacturing of undergarments itself was conditioned by their future washing (North, 2020). These practices of cleanliness have also been addressed through the lens of social actors, particularly in relation to gendered labour. The work of laundresses, who are rarely documented in written records, has been discussed as a form of embodied knowledge and skills (Morera and Le Roux, 2018; Robinson, 2021). Advertising imagery has also served to explore the dynamic between collective perceptions of clean laundry and its commercial dimensions (Kelley 2010).

Building upon this previous research, this international conference seeks to explore textile cleaning from a global perspective and its interplay with hygiene, olfaction, social opinion, aesthetic preferences, quality expectations, ecological issues, and economic imperatives, all of which are inherent to fabrics. The conference aims to investigate these various practices and their part in the everyday experience of life in the past. Who were the people involved in the daily or extraordinary cleaning of fabrics, and which ingredients and tools were used? What knowledge about textiles and their care was shared at the time, and how was it transmitted? How did these practices evolve during the 18th and 19th centuries, a period of intense development in chemistry and industrial science?

The question of care and cleaning becomes even more significant when considering the many lives of textile objects. Cleaning and maintenance certainly varied not only by fabric type but also by purpose and context of use. Household linens and work clothes were used to the last thread—mended, transformed, and repurposed. More expensive and refined garments and textile decorations were used more sparingly; some were eventually passed down—and even preserved until today. This aspect prompts an exploration of the wide variety of textiles and the differing care practices for under and outer garments, furnishings, and domestic fabrics. Were undergarments the primary focus of cleaning routines? How were sartorial and furnishing fabrics with complex patterning techniques and precious materials (from silk to metal threads) cared for? How was the shape of specific garments, such as ruffs, maintained through washing? How did the intended use of a textile—ranging from menstrual cloths to ceremonial gowns—influence the choice of cleaning methods? Additionally, given that fabric itself was often used as a cleaning tool, what were the interactions between textiles of varying value?

Conceived as a bodily experience, the cleanliness of fabrics carries significant implications tied to the senses. Indeed, integrating sensory studies with the history of cleanliness enables an exploration not only of the sensory experiences associated with washing or wearing clean linen or clothes but also of the sensory knowledge that developed around it. Thus, it becomes possible to examine which notions of pleasantness or discomfort were associated with textile washing or with specific practices such as drying laundry outdoors. How were the smells associated with cleanliness and the thresholds of sensory perception defined? How was the temperature of the washing water evaluated? In what ways were textural changes in fabric during washing assessed? Moreover, attention to sensorial experiences invites us to consider the significant tradition of perfuming laundry, whether placing sachets in linen drawers or sewing them into the hems of garments.

This conference will encompass geographical regions from the Atlantic world to Europe, Africa, the Islamic world and Asia. Adopting this approach raises numerous questions about cultural differences as well as the circulation of cleaning practices and techniques. It enables an examination of the differences and evolutions in conceptions of hygiene and their relationship to textiles across countries and cultures. Moreover, it highlights how these practices were influenced by factors such as available resources, climate, and social norms, shaping distinct traditions of textile care across different societies. Similarly, a longue durée perspective (from the medieval to the modern period) provides an opportunity to explore both changes and continuities in cleaning habits, shaped by advancements in technologies, evolving medical theories, socio-philosophical morals, and shifts in cosmetic and aesthetic preferences. This approach invites us to map out conceptions of cleanliness and identify thresholds of sensitivity: What is considered clean? What criteria are applied in making this assessment? When do clothes become unwearable? What scents are associated with cleanliness? In this regard, the study of representations—such as those found in art and fiction—can offer valuable insights into historical perceptions of cleanliness and its limits.

The conference will take place at the University of Bern’s Department of History of Textile Arts (Institute of Art History) on 28–29 May 2026. We invite proposals from all researchers, particularly doctoral students and early career scholars, on topics ranging from the medieval to the modern period and across all geographical regions. Proposals (300 words), along with a short biography (150 words max), should be sent to Moïra Dato (moira.dato@unibe.ch) and Érika Wicky (erika.wicky@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) by 30 September 2025.

Conference Organizers
Moïra Dato (University of Bern) and Érika Wicky (Université Grenoble-Alpes / LARHRA)

Scientific Committee
Olivier David (Institut Lavoisier / Paris Saclay), Aziza Gril-Mariotte (Musée des Tissus, Lyon / Université Aix), Raphaël Morera (CNRS-EHESS), Corinne Mühlemann (University of Bern), and Helen Wyld (National Museum Scotland)

s e l e c t e d  b i b l i o g r a p h y

• Biow, Douglas. The Culture of Cleanliness in Renaissance Italy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018.
• Brennan, Julia M. and Magali An Berthon. “Threads of Evidence: Textile and Clothing Remains at Tuol Sleng.” In Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: A Multifaceted History of Khmer Rouge Crimes, edited by Stéphanie Benzaquen-Gautier and Anne-Laure Porée, 163–178. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
• Brown, Kathleen. Foul Bodies: Cleanliness in Early America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
• Corbin, Alain. Le Miasme et la Jonquille : odorat et imaginaire social. Paris: Aubier, 1982.
• Delaunay, Quynh. Histoire de la machine à laver. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 1994.
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From Le blog de l’ApAhAu::

Create and After? / Créer et après?

Posterity and Critical Fortunes of 17th- and 18th- Century European Artists

Postérité et fortune critique des artistes européens des XVIIᵉ et XVIIIᵉ siècles

Salle Vasari, Galerie Colbert, 2 rue Vivienne, Paris, 7–8 November 2025

Proposals due by 28 June 2025

According to Antoine Schnapper, one of the tasks of the art historian is to “go against the tide of neglect and oblivion.” Art history has been built on a selection of works and events deemed worthy of remembrance. Conversely, artists, artefacts, and other objects deemed unworthy of an era, a trend, or a discourse have been neglected or obscured. The notions of ‘critical fortune’, ‘posterity’ and ‘reception’ highlight this dynamic. The artists of the 17th and 18th centuries who enjoy lasting recognition escape oblivion, while others, less valued, disappear from the narrative. These contrasting fates are rooted in a variety of factors: changing aesthetic sensibilities, the material nature of the works, historical upheavals, and their visibility in museum collections.

The history of European art has its origins in the writing of artists’ biographies, from Vasari to Félibien to Dezallier d’Argenville. It is based not only on the objective appreciation of works, but also on the judgements made by artists, the public, critics, historians, and the art market, which can alter or reinforce an artist’s position. Since the end of the 19th century and the birth of art history as a discipline, historians such as Henry Jouin (1878; 1888; 1890), Jules Guiffrey (1877), Pierre Marcel (1914; 1924), and Jean Locquin (1912; 1933) have set out to fill these gaps by shedding light on the mechanisms that led to certain artists being forgotten. However, these early studies, which were often based on specific cases, did not provide an overall analysis of the oblivion or marginalisation of artists. Since the 1960s, many artists of the 17th and 18th centuries have been rediscovered or reassessed thanks to monographs accompanied by catalogues raisonnés. New methodologies and easier access to sources have enriched this research, thanks to digital technologies that bring to light previously unpublished information on artists’ careers and their influences. The rise of social history and gender studies has made it possible to place artists in broader contexts, and the study of materials and techniques offers new perspectives on artistic creation. These tools have considerably renewed the approach to monographs, providing a more nuanced reading of artists’ careers. However, the traditional monograph, even when accompanied by a catalogue raisonné, is not always sufficient to provide a comprehensive overview of the critical fortunes of artists.

While there are still many forgotten or neglected artists, the wealth of publications in recent decades provides fertile material for new general reflections, fleshed out by new approaches to the discipline, such as studies. This colloquium therefore proposes to question the notion of posterity, reception, and critical fortune, not only from the point of view of the artist, but also from that of the amateur, cultural institutions, and the public in the 17th and 18th centuries. It will look at the factors and mechanisms that contributed to the rise or fall of certain artists. It is therefore intended to be a reflection on the test that all artists must overcome: time. What role have critics, academies, Salons, the public, and cultural institutions played in this dynamic? What influence have the art market and collectors had on the recognition of artists? In addition, this symposium will look at the challenges faced by art historians when faced with material gaps: how do we deal with an artist or a work for which sources are rare or absent?

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The first theme of this colloquium will focus on the notion of posterity. In his Salon of 1765, Diderot stated: “The artist, in his studio, must feel around him the gaze of a severe and incorruptible posterity.” In so doing, he emphasised the need for artists not to work ‘for their own century’, but to create a future legacy. Taken from the Latin posteritas, posterity refers to the time that comes after, the future. As early as the 17th century, Furetière’s dictionary bears witness to this conception that it is the artist’s responsibility to look after his posterity. It was up to him to ensure that he would be remembered. Many artists in the 17th and 18th centuries directed their careers in this direction. This focus of the symposium will therefore seek to explore the means put in place by artists to ensure their posterity. How did artists’ personal strategies—whether in terms of constructing their image or managing their relations with patrons, critics or institutions—influence their posterity ? In addition, we would like to encourage papers on the material resources that certain artists have deployed to guarantee the longevity of their works. This includes, for example, a certain technical mastery to ensure the longevity and transmission of their works.

Preferred topics
• The use of writing in the construction of posterity : analysis of artists’ memory strategies
• Analysis of the use of prints to promote and disseminate a work of art
• Building a legacy: transmission within families and artists’ studios
• Absence, indifference and refusal of posterity
• The impact of the materiality of works of art on posterity: ephemeral creations, time-tested techniques, etc.

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The second theme of the colloquium will be reception. This term refers to the way in which a work or an artist is perceived and appreciated by the public, who are the main players here. Reception is subjective, sensitive and dependent on the tastes of an era, as well as the social and political influences of the time. By ensuring that his work is well received during his lifetime, the artist takes a step towards success and immortality. Tastes evolve regularly, and works are constantly re-evaluated in the light of one artist’s, one audience’s and one era’s view of another. Criteria differ according to time and place and can therefore be received differently by each century and each new generation. Sometimes it is the works themselves that fall victim to this process, particularly when restoration work alters the original appearance of the objects. This constant questioning of taste can be damaging for some artists, but beneficial for others. The aim is to study how these contexts have influenced artistic criticism and the fortunes of artists. How have political and social events altered the criteria by which works are judged? How does the material state of a work affect its reception?

Preferred topics
• The use and role of the written work in the reception of artists and their works : press articles, critical reviews of the Salons, Academy lectures, treatises, etc.
• The influence of taste on the reception of artists according to the context of space and time
• Lack of interest in an artist, a factor in the destruction of works
• The disappearance of works, a factor in the oblivion of artists
• Consequences of the emergence of the concept of genius in the 18th century on the reception of artists and their works

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The final theme of this symposium will be the notion of critical fortune. This methodical examination of an artist’s reception reflects not only the aesthetic and intellectual judgements made about their work, but also the evolution of their reputation and influence in art history. Critical fortune thus acts as a selective memory, determining which artists are preserved in history and which others sink into oblivion. It influences not only the individual trajectories of artists, but also our understanding of the evolution of styles and aesthetic debates over time. In this sense, critical fortune becomes an essential filter in the writing of art history, structured by the choices of what is valued and what is omitted. Favourable critical fortune can propel an artist to the rank of ‘master’, while unfavourable fortune can condemn him or her to indifference. However, such fortunes are often unstable, subject to fluctuations in trends, social contexts and power dynamics in the art world. This focus will explore transformations in the perception of artists : how were certain artists revalued in the 19th and 20th centuries? What are the reasons for these critical revisions, and how have these reassessments altered their place in art history ? In this way, writing the critical fortune will renew the discourse on an artist for generations to come.

Preferred topics
• The role played by monographs in building the critical fortunes of artists past and present.
• The importance of the vocabulary used to describe artists: ‘master’, ‘small’, ‘great’, ‘minor artist’, ‘major artist’, etc.
• The influence of museums (museography, exhibitions, etc.), universities (conferences, seminars, publications, etc.), the art market and the press.
• New methodologies: what contribution can they make to the writing of critical fortune ?
• Regimes of historicity: the influence of the socio-historical context on the writing of art history and on heritage issues.

Presentations will last twenty minutes and will take the form of individual and collective case studies, focusing, among other things, on the themes listed in the call for papers. Proposals (600–700 words) must be submitted, along with a short biography, to fortunecritique@gmail.com by 28 June 2025. A publication will be considered after the conference.

Organizing Committee
• Élisa Bérard, PhD candidate in Art History, Sorbonne University, Centre André-Chastel
• Romane Delsinne, PhD candidate in Art History, Sorbonne University, Centre André-Chastel
• Enzo Menuge, PhD candidate in Art History, Sorbonne University, CNRS, Centre André-Chastel

Scientific Committee
• Christine Gouzi, Professor of Modern Art History, Sorbonne University, Centre André-Chastel
• Étienne Jollet, Professor of Modern Art History, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne

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b i b l i o g r a p h y

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GOUZI Christine, « Préface », In : Nicolas-Guy Brenet. 1728–1792, Paris, ARTHENA, 2023.

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PASSINI, Michela, L’oeil et l’archive : une histoire de l’histoire de l’art, Paris, La Découverte, 2017.

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ROSENBERG, Pierre, « Roberto Longhi et le XVIIᵉ siècle français », In : De Raphaël à la Révolution, les relations artistiques entre l’Italie et la France, Paris, Skira, 2005, p. 27–36 (1ère éd. dans G. Previtali [dir.], L’Arte di scrivere sull’arte. Roberto Longhi nella cultura del nostro tempo, Roma, Editori riuniti, 1982).

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WARESQUIEL (de) Emmanuel, Il nous fallait des mythes : La Révolution et ses imaginaires de 1789 à nos jours, Paris, Tallandier, 2024.

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e x h i b i t i o n s

• Dunkerque, Lille, Valenciennes, 1980 : La Peinture française aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Dunkerque, musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes, musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1980, Dunkerque, musée des Beaux-Arts, 1980 (dir. Jacques Kuhnmünche et Hervé Oursel).

• Ottawa, 1976 : Le siècle de Louis XV : peinture française de 1710 à 1774, Ottawa, musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, 19 mars – 2 mai 1976, Ottawa, Galerie nationale du Canada, 1976 (dir. Pierre Rosenberg).

• Sceaux, 2013 : 1704, Le Salon, les Arts et le Roi, Sceaux, domaine départemental, musée de l’Île-de-France, 22 mars – 30 juin 2013, Milan, Silvana Editoriale, 2013 (dir. Dominique Brême et Frédérique Lanoë).

• Tours, Toulouse, 2000 : Les Peintres du roi, 1648–1783, Tours, musée des Beaux-Arts, 18 mars – 18 juin 2000 ; Toulouse, musée des Augustins, 30 juin – 2 octobre 2000, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000.