Enfilade

William Hogarth, Portrait of a Family (New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection). An interactive site includes images, a timeline of events, and audio commentaries on a selection of works included in the exhibition. Chi-ming Yang, for instance, describes some of the ways Hogarth’s painting might be understood to aestheticize race and skin color in relation to global commodities (both people and things).

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From the Yale University Library:

Workshop for Graduate Students | Representing Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain
The Yale Center for British Art, New Haven and The Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington, 9–10 December 2014

Applications due by 1 December 2014

In December 2014, The Lewis Walpole Library and the Yale Center for British Art will jointly host a two-day workshop for graduate students focusing on two current Yale University exhibitions related to the visual culture of slavery: Figures of Empire: Slavery and Portraiture in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain and Prospects of Empire: Slavery and Ecology in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain. The workshop will provide an opportunity to explore these complementary exhibitions in depth and to examine additional materials related to the topic selected from the rich holdings of both institutions with curatorial and academic scholars working in the field. The workshop is open to graduate students from a variety of disciplines whose work would benefit from participation in this collaborative exploration of the topic.

Prospects of Empire is curated by Heather Vermeulen, Doctoral Candidate in African American Studies and American Studies, Yale University, and Hazel V. Carby, Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of African American Studies and Professor of American Studies, Yale University. The exhibition explores the notion of empire’s ‘prospects’—its gaze upon bodies and landscapes, its speculations and desires, its endeavors to capitalize upon seized land and labor, as well as its failures to manage enslaved persons and unruly colonial ecologies.

Figures of Empire is curated by Esther Chadwick and Meredith Gamer, PhD candidates in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University, and Cyra Levenson, Associate Curator of Education at the Yale Center for British Art. The exhibition explores the coincidence of slavery and portraiture in eighteenth-century Britain.

The workshop will take place at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, and the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington and will offer exhibition walk-throughs with the curators of each exhibition and additional presentations and conversation in a study room setting. Lead discussants for the workshop will be Gillian Forrester, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, Yale Center for British Art, and Dian Kriz, Professor Emerita, Art History, Brown University. Additional participating scholars working in the field include Paul Grant Costa, Executive Editor, Yale Indian Papers Project, and Marisa Fuentes, Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies and History, Rutgers University. The program will also include a talk at 2:00 on Tuesday at the Yale Art School by artist Fred Wilson, whose groundbreaking project Mining the Museum (1992–93) at the Maryland Historical Society initiated his ongoing critique of the ways in which museums consciously or unwittingly reinforce racist beliefs and behavior, followed by a walk-through of Figures of Empire with the artist at 4:00.

Participants will be provided with accommodations at the Lewis Walpole Library guest house in Farmington, Connecticut. Shuttle transportation between Farmington and New Haven will be provided. A syllabus and list of readings will be provided in advance of the workshop.

Application Procedures
Applications must be submitted electronically. Please include a CV and a brief statement (of no more than one page) outlining how your research interests intersect with the focus of this workshop and what benefits you expect from participating. Applications and questions about content, organization or practicalities of the workshop should be emailed to Cynthia Roman, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Paintings, The Lewis Walpole Library cynthia.roman@yale.edu. Space is limited. The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday, 1 December 2014.

Historians of British Travel Award
Proposals due by 15 September 2014

HBA is accepting applications for this year’s Travel Award. The award is designated for a graduate student member of Historians of British Art who will be presenting a paper on British art or visual culture at an academic conference in 2015. The award of $750 is intended to offset travel costs. Applicants must be current members of HBA. To apply, send a letter of request, a copy of the letter of acceptance from the organizer of the conference session, an abstract of the paper to be presented, a budget of estimated expenses (noting what items may be covered by other resources), and a CV to Renate Dohmen, Prize Committee Chair, HBA, brd4231@louisiana.edu. The deadline is September 15, 2014.

From caa.reviews:

Dissertation Listings

PhD dissertation authors and titles in art history and visual studies from US and Canadian institutions are published each year in caa.reviews. Titles can be browsed by subject category or year.

Titles are submitted once a year by each institution granting the PhD in art history and/or visual studies. Submissions are not accepted from individuals, who should contact their department chair or secretary for more information. Department chairs: please consult our dissertation submission guidelines for instructions. The annual deadline is January 15 for titles from the preceding year.

In 2003, CAA revised the subject area categories of art history and visual studies used for all our listings, including dissertations. These categories are listed in the Dissertation Submission Guidelines.

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The index for 2013 lists four eighteenth-century dissertations completed:

• Beachdel, Thomas, “Landscape Aesthetics and the Sublime in France, 1750–1815” (CUNY, P. Mainardi)

• Jarvis, M. W., “Noir/Blanc: Representations of Colonialism and Cosmopolitanism in Eighteenth-Century Painting” (UC San Diego, N. Bryson)

• Knowles, Marika, “Pierrot’s Costume: Theater, Curiosity, and the Subject of Art in France, 1665–1860” (Yale, C. Armstrong)

• Lenhard, Danielle, “Reading with One Hand: Suggestive Folds and Subversive Consumption in Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Bolt” (Stony Brook University, J. Monteyne)

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and forty-three dissertations in progress, including:

• Athens, Elizabeth, “Figuring a World: William Bartram’s Natural History” (Yale, T. Barringer)

• Hafera, Alison, “Images of Mourning and Melancholia in France, 1780–1830” (UNC Chapel Hill, M.Sheriff)

• Helprin, Alexandra, “Art and Servitude on the Sheremetev Estates” (Columbia, A. Higonnet)

• Lee, Hyejin, “‘Tout en l’air’: Visual and Material Representations of Air in Eighteenth-Century France” (UNC Chapel Hill, M. Sheriff)

• Mayer, Tamar, “Consequences of Drawing: Self and History in Jacques-Louis David’s Preparatory Practices” (Chicago, R. Ubl, M. Ward)

• Peterson, Laurel O., “The Decorated Interior: Artistic Production in the British Country House, 1688–1745” (Yale, T. Barringer)

• Polzak, Kailani, “Picturing Circumnavigation and Science: English, French, Russian, and Prussian Observations of Oceania, 1768–1822” (UC Berkeley, D. Grigsby)

• Ridlen, Michael T., “Prud’hon and the Graceful Style” (Iowa, D. Johnson)

• Strasik, Amanda K., “Representations of Childhood in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century France” (Iowa, D. Johnson)

MA in Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors
Leche Trust Bursary for September 2014

Bursary applications due by 2 June 2014

Applications are invited for a partial studentship on the Buckingham University MA in Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors starting September 2014. Generously funded by the Leche Trust, the bursary, worth £7500, will cover 82% of the course fees for EU students and 55% for international students. Priority will be given to applicants with excellent academic qualifications seeking, or currently pursuing, curatorial careers in museums or the built heritage. The bursary is also open to part-time students currently working in the field, who can take the course as a form of in-service training over two years.

This unique one-year MA in French and British Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors provides sound vocational and academic training, first-hand study of furniture, silver and ceramics in the context of historic interiors, numerous study trips to museums and historic house collections, (including a study week in Paris) and placements in museums and heritage institutions. For further details please visit the website or contact Clare Prendergast: claire.prendergast@buckingham.ac.uk.

From the Institute of  Fine  Art’s Conservation  Center:

2014 Summer Institute in Technical Art History for Doctoral Students in Art History
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 9–20 June 2014

Applications due by 24 March 2014

The Summer Institute in Technical Art History (SITAH) is an intensive two-week course, geared towards PhD candidates in art history who are looking to delve more deeply into technical studies. Students are immersed into the world of technical art history and conservation of works of art, with faculty ranging from conservators to conservation scientists, curators, art historians, and artists. The course takes full advantage of the wonderful resources of New York City, and many sessions are held in local conservation labs, where attendees have the opportunity to closely examine works of art with experts in the field. Off-site visits also include artists’ studios, museum permanent collections, and, where relevant, special exhibitions and galleries. A priority is placed on case studies and discussions, and students are encouraged to build relationships within the group, in the hopes of enriching their own research.

The Artist’s Book: Materials and Processes

A good understanding of material aspects of works of art is becoming increasingly important to art historical studies. The Artist’s Book is a two-week, intensive seminar that examines how technical art history might simultaneously clarify and complicate established art historical narratives of this important art form. The program will focus on works from the modern era, and will consider a variety of different formats. These might include: traditional letterpress printed books, deconstructed texts and book blocks, artists’ photo books, and other unique works. Bound volumes, as well as forms like scrolls, fold-outs, concertinas, loose leaves kept in boxes, and e-books may all be examined. This topic will allow us to explore the intersections of book construction, photography, printmaking, and graphic design within the context of literature, both experimental and traditional.

Under the direction of Professors Constance Woo (Long Island University) and Michele Marincola (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University), participants will study with distinguished conservators, book artists, scholars and master craftspeople. We will consider specific artworks as case studies, examine materiality and process through close looking and recreation of techniques and processes, and create a book in the studio. Participants will ascertain how these methodologies materially and theoretically inform their own diverse research interests. This seminar will provide a forum to develop critical skills in the interpretation of object-based analyses related to the scholarship of artist’s books.

Generously funded by the Mellon Foundation, the seminar will be held at the Institute of  Fine Art’s Conservation  Center,  with  selected  sessions  at  area libraries, artist  studios  and  in  the conservation labs of New York City’s leading museums.

Eligibility and Application Process
Students currently enrolled in or completing a doctoral program in the US and Canada are eligible to apply. No background in science or conservation is required. A maximum of fifteen participants will be admitted to the program. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their academic accomplishment to date and on their expressed interest in integrating technical art history into their own research.

Applicants should submit  a  cover  letter addressed to Professor Michele Marincola, Sherman Fairchild Chairman of the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; a statement  of  purpose of interest in integrating technical art history into their research; a letter of support from their advisor that addresses their academic standing and their interest in the topic; and an academic and professional CV. The application deadline is March 24, 2014. Please submit applications in electronic format to: Sarah Barack, course coordinator, sb340@nyu.edu.

Funding
Participants will receive housing (single room occupancy) and stipends of $1,300 to help defray travel and living costs. For further information, please contact: Professor Michele Marincola at 212-992-5849,email: michele.marincola@nyu.edu.