Melbourne University Art History Seminar Series Program for Semester 2, 2012 Time: Wednesdays 1-2 pm. Venue: Old Physics, G16 (the Jim Potter Room), University of Melbourne, Parkville All welcome. Enquiries to Felicity Harley McGowan fharley@unimelb.edu.au July 25 Prof. Barbara Larson University of West Florida, MacGeorge Fellow | Darwin and the Creator’s Divine Breath August 1 Lachlan Turnbull University of Melbourne | The Contexts of Early Christian Art August 8 Caroline Wallace University of Melbourne | Messing up the Museum: Theatrical Art Activism in 1960s New York August 15 Pamela Tuckett University of Melbourne | Sir Charles Eastlake and some paintings for Colonial Victoria August 29 Katrina Grant University of Melbourne | The Academy and the Garden September 12 Adam Goatley University of Melbourne | Sceptical Discourses: Re-thinking the ‘absolute’ in Giorgio Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists” October 10 Lachlan Turnbull University of Melbourne | ‘The Harm He…
Tag: Art History
Opinion | Mark McDonald: From La Trobe University to the British Museum, and the slashing of Art History and the Humanities in Australia
From La Trobe University to the British Museum, and the slashing of Art History and the Humanities in Australia Mark McDonald Over the past months I have closely followed news of the proposed closure of the Art History programme at La Trobe University. It has given me cause to reflect on the history of the department—now a major associated with History, following an earlier downsizing—the scholars who have taught there, past and present, the many students who have passed though its doors and the many contributions they have made. These and similar cuts proposed or already executed to the humanities in other tertiary institutions in Australia will result in a country that is significantly poorer, culturally speaking, and these actions will be difficult to rectify in the future. I return to Australia on a regular basis from my position as…
AAANZ Letter | Save Art History at La Trobe
The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand have also allowed their letter concerning the slashing of art history at La Trobe to be published. The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand expresses great concern at the possible closure of art history at La Trobe University. This is particularly to be deplored because the program has healthy numbers with strong retention rates, is cost-effective in its current placement within the School of Historical and Cultural Studies and is being taught by staff with exceptionally high research outputs. Since the 1970s La Trobe’s scholarly art historians have made a significant contribution to the intellectual life of this country and overseas. Students have benefited from outstanding teaching to establish professional careers in universities, art galleries and the media in Australia, Europe and the USA. These are graduates of whom Australia can be…
Letter | Save Art History at La Trobe
Patrick McCaughey, former director of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Yale Centre for British Art, has kindly allowed his letter protesting the slashing of art history from La Trobe to the Vice Chancellor of La Trobe university to be published. Dear Vice-Chancellor, Some colleagues have contacted me recently about the possible closing of the art history program at La Trobe University. If this is the case, I write now to urge you to re-consider the matter. Everybody would recognize that times are tough for Australian universities in general and for the humanities in particular. Having to close down good academic programs and limiting the offerings of the university must be an unpleasant aspect of academic administration. You have my sympathy. The discipline of art history in Australia in general is practiced at a particularly high level amongst the humanities.…
News | La Trobe University Cuts Art History Program
La Trobe University Cuts Art History Program Katrina Grant It is a sad day for the discipline of art history in Australia with the news that art history is to be cut from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University along with gender, sexuality and diversity studies, Indonesian, linguistics and religion and spirituality. The restructure was released to staff yesterday. In addition to slashing the number of subjects and disciplines available the Faculty will also cut forty-five jobs. It is one thing to see disciplines shrink in terms of staff and subject offerings but once a discipline disappears completely it seems unlikely that it will return. The University of Melbourne is now the only university in Victoria to offer a dedicated art history program (a few other universities offer some art history and theory in their visual arts…
Job | Lecturer in Art History 1450 to 1800
Lecturer in Art History 1450 to 1800 Art History and Visual Studies, University of Manchester Closing date : 20/06/2020 Reference : HUM-01188 Salary : £32,801 to £45,486 Employment type : Permanent Applications are invited for a lectureship in Art History in the period 1450 to 1800. A specialism in any area of European art, or in the inter-relationships between European and non-European art, eg. Latin American, Indian, or East Asian art, will be considered. The ability to teach widely about artists and art movements central to the art historical understanding of this period would be an asset. You should have a PhD, research and publications of high quality, and be committed to teaching at all levels. The post is available from 1 September 2012. For full details download the further particulars (pdf) Univ of Manchester_Lecturer in Art History 1450-1800 Informal enquiries…
What are you looking at? | David Packwood – Giuseppe Caletti, David with the Head of Goliath
Giuseppe Caletti, David with the Head of Goliath, Birmingham Museums and Art Galleries, c. 1650 The future King of Israel, David, is contemplating the head of the slain Goliath, champion of the Philistines. As the book of Samuel recounts, David hurls a stone from his sling, which hits Goliath in the centre of his forehead and fells him; David subsequently cuts off his head which results in the flight of the Philistines. In Caletti’s painting, David seems to focus on the wound made by his slingshot; it is a congealed ochre smear, the aftermath of violence, reminiscent of the great red spot of Jupiter, or a bloodshot cyclopean eye. Now the giant’s real eyes are closed forever, but this mark seems to fascinate David as he seems to think back to the time of the battle. The impact must have…
EVCS: Mark Shepheard, ‘Pompeo Batoni and his Roman Sitters: Portraits of the Sforza Cesarini’
Mark Shepheard ‘Pompeo Batoni and his Roman Sitters: Portraits of the Sforza Cesarini.’ This paper examines Pompeo Batoni’s two portraits of members of the Sforza Cesarini family: the portrait of Duke Gaetano II in Melbourne and that of a woman traditionally identified as Gaetano’s wife, which hangs today in Birmingham. It readdresses the question of the identity of the sitter in the Birmingham portrait, and explores the social function of portraiture within the Sforza Cesarini’s extensive art collection and the likely place of Batoni’s two portraits within that collection.The paper concludes with a discussion of Batoni’s portraits of Roman sitters and questions the oft-repeated view that the paucity of such portraits was the result of the low esteem in which portraiture was traditionally said to be held in eighteenth-century Italy. This paper is the result of research carried out…
Funding | Visiting Senior Fellowship Program, 2012-2013 at CASVA, Washington
Visiting Senior Fellowship Program, 2012-2013 Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington Deadline: March 21, 2021 The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts announces its program for Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Visiting Senior Fellowships. Fellowships are for full-time research, and scholars are expected to reside in Washington and to participate in the activities of the Center throughout the fellowship period. Lectures, colloquia, and informal discussions complement the fellowship program. Visiting senior fellows are provided with studies. Those who relocate to Washington will be provided with housing in apartments near the Gallery, subject to availability. They have access to the notable resources represented by the collections, the library, and the photographic archives of the National Gallery of Art, as well as to the Library of Congress and other specialized research libraries and…
Review | Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists by David R. Marshall
Thoughts on Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists David R. Marshall Alain de Botton’s new book is of interest because it directly addresses an issue important for atheistic art historians: if religion is bad, why was the art it produced so good? The usual answer is either (a) that religion is irrelevant to what really matters in such art—it embodies the individuals that created it, rather than the institutions that sponsored it— or (b) it is all a matter of history and so the question is beside the point. The first answer makes particular sense to those whose personal experience is that good things come about in spite of institutions, not because of them. De Botton takes the opposite tack: that it is a given that intellectual bases of religions are nonsense—myths left over from times of ignorance—but we should…
Call for Papers | Performing Art History II: Conveying Research, Communicating Collaboration
Performing Art History II: Conveying Research, Communicating Collaboration The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, May 18, 2012 Deadline: Mar 12, 2021 A conference organised by the Performing Art History Special Interest Group To be held on Friday 18 May 2012, Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2 Building on a further year of workshops and seminars, the Performing Art History Group present a second conference that seeks to explore the clarity, diversity, and freedom that can come from presenting art historical research directly to an audience, as opposed to through traditional publishing routes in books or journals. This year the conference will have an additional focus on collaboration. The topics of previous workshops, focusing on Television, Radio, and Internet Art History all address media that inevitably require creative alliances between different individuals with different skills. Likewise, the shift from more static forms of analysis encouraged…
JOB: Lecturer in Art History – University of Manchester, UK
Lecturer in Art History – University of Manchester, UK The University of Manchester, UK, are seeking to appoint a specialist in European or non-European art in the period from 1700 to the present. Art History and Visual Studies (AHVS) at Manchester maintains close ties with the Whitworth Art Gallery, which this appointment is expected to enhance. It is one of only very few university galleries to have collections designated as nationally important. Landscape art of the eighteenth to twentieth centuries is one area of strength. Recent acquisitions and exhibitions have had a strong contemporary and global thrust. Already a drawcard for AHVS students, the gallery is about to undergo a £12 million refurbishment, with a major expansion of teaching facilities. It is expected that the appointee will discover ways of engaging with the Whitworth and its rich collections. In addition…
Symposium in Honour of Ernst Kitzinger: Sites of Devotion | New Directions in Medieval Art History
Public Symposium in Honour of Ernst Kitzinger (1912-2003) Sites of Devotion | New Directions in Medieval Art History This symposium celebrates the centenary of the birth of Ernst Kitzinger (b. Munich 1912 – d. New York 2003), distinguished historian of Late Antique, Medieval and Byzantine art. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge the ongoing influence of his work in Australia, where he was interned as an enemy alien during World War II. Addressing the interests of both specialists and the wider public, papers will explore the ways in which Kitzinger’s interests in the study of art related to Christian devotion have influenced the teaching and research of four Melbourne-based scholars working across a range of fields including art history, archaeology and curatorship. Speakers from the University of Melbourne and the National Gallery of Victoria will share recent directions their work has taken in…
Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships on National Churches in Rome, Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome
Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships on National Churches in Rome, Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome Roma communis patria: the National Churches in Rome from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era The Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max Planck Institute for the History of Art have announced a one-year doctoral fellowship and a one-year postdoctoral fellowship, both starting in January 2012, both with the possibility of extension for a second year. Candidates must be in possession of an upper level university degree (in the first case, an M.A.; in the second, a Ph.D), good working knowledge of German, Italian, and English, and a research project proposal consistent with the aims and objectives of the Minerva research group. The recipients of these fellowships are also expected to participate with constancy in the activities of both the group and the Institute. About the project Capital of the Empire, residence of the Papacy, destination of pilgrims, and metropolis of art,…
Museums Australia Victoria Seminar: Collections, Exhibitions and Art History: which comes first?
Seminar: Collections, Exhibitions and Art History: which comes first? Friday 21st October 2011 Collections and exhibitions have driven and reinforced art historical perspectives, narratives and trajectories. This seminar will focus on the nexus between museum practice and the discipline of art history. Presenters will discuss how they combine research and practice to create a sound cultural experience. Speakers • Max Delany, Director, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) • Dr Susan Lowish, Lecturer in Australian Art History, The University of Melbourne • Kyla Mcflarlane, Associate Curator, Centre for Contemporary Photography Date: Friday 21st October 2011, 9:30 am- 1:30 pm Venue: Monash University Museum of Art, Ground Floor, Building F, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East VIC 3145 Cost: Gold / Institutional Members $40.00, Silver Members $60.00, Associate / Non Members $80.00, Limited tickets for students $25.00. Bookings: http://www.mavic.asn.au/events?mode=Day&d=21&n=10&y=2011#event1075