Empire Builder: Christian Lilly in the Atlantic World 1688-1738

Research Lunch at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Friday  March 1st, 12.30-2.00PM

Emily Mann of the Courtauld Institute of Art will be giving a paper entitled ‘Empire Builder: Christian Lilly in the Atlantic World 1688-1738’.

The spring programme of events at the Paul Mellon Centre includes a series of five research lunches, geared to doctoral students and junior scholars working on the history of British art and architecture. These research lunches, which will normally take place on alternate Fridays, are intended to be informal events in which individual doctoral students and scholars will talk for half-an-hour about their projects, and engage in animated discussion with their peers. A sandwich lunch will be provided by the Centre on these occasions. The hope is that this series, to be maintained in the summer and autumn, will help foster a sense of community amongst PhD students and junior colleagues working in the field, and bring researchers from a wide range of institutions together in a collegial and friendly atmosphere.

The 2013 Courtauld Institute of Art Postgraduate Symposium

Showcasing New Research: 10.00 – 18.15, Thursday 7 March; 12.30 – 18.30, Friday 8 March; Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House

Drawing on the extraordinary range of research projects carried out at the Courtauld, the 2013 symposium provides a forum for third year PhD students to present and discuss papers derived from their current work. With an audience that includes other postgraduate students, academic staff, and those outside the Courtauld, the sessions will be organised thematically, promoting new dialogues across the broad sweep of periods and methodologies on display.

This Friday: ‘Experiments in Liberty: Barry’s Phoenix of 1776’

Research Lunch at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Friday February 1st, 12.30-2.00PM

Esther Chadwick (Yale University) ‘Experiments in Liberty: Barry’s Phoenix of 1776’.

The spring programme of events at the Paul Mellon Centre includes a series of five research lunches, geared to doctoral students and junior scholars working on the history of British art and architecture. These research lunches, which will normally take place on alternate Fridays, are intended to be informal events in which individual doctoral students and scholars will talk for half-an-hour about their projects, and engage in animated discussion with their peers. A sandwich lunch will be provided by the Centre on these occasions. The hope is that this series, to be maintained in the summer and autumn, will help foster a sense of community amongst PhD students and junior colleagues working in the field, and bring researchers from a wide range of institutions together in a collegial and friendly atmosphere.

Research Seminar Tomorrow – ‘Architectural Husbandry: ‘Rough Materialls’ and Tough Clients in Eighteenth-Century Britain’

Paul Mellon Centre, London: Wednesday 23rd January 5.30-8pm

Christine Stevenson (Courtauld Institute of Art) ‘Architectural Husbandry: ‘Rough Materialls’ and Tough Clients in Eighteenth-Century Britain’

The second in a seasonal series of five, fortnightly research seminars will be given by distinguished historians of British art and architecture. These research seminars, which take place on Wednesday evenings, are intended to showcase original and stimulating research in all areas of British art and architectural history. They will take the form of hour-long talks, followed by questions and drinks, and are geared to scholars, curators, conservators, art-trade professionals and research students working on the history of British art. The papers given in this first series of research seminars will be delivered by members of The Paul Mellon Centre’s Advisory Council. 

Call for Papers: Navy and Nation, 1688 to the present

Conference, 25-27 July 2013 – National Maritime Museum

From conflict, culture and science to society, economics and politics, the Royal Navy’s relationship with Britain has always been complex and reflexive. It has been the nation’s primary arm of defence and the means by which empire was expanded and sustained. In both peace and war, it has shaped and been shaped by the powers of the British state. It has driven and responded to commercial, industrial and technological forces. As an institution, it has defined and reflected not only the nature of Britishness, but its component notions of class, race and gender. As a workplace, it has generated lifestyles that mirror wider norms while also diverging from them.

Artist talk: David Medalla

Tate Britain, Auditorium. Wednesday 11 July 2012, 18.30 – 20.00: £9, concessions available

Born in the Philippines and based in Britain since the Sixties artist David Medalla describes himself as a citizen of the world. His work does not come from one single cultural perspective but draws from his constant travelling, inspired by the places and the people he meets. In this talk Medalla speaks about his practice spanning painting, sculpture, installation and performance, and shares his thoughts on the theme of Migration in art.

Conference: Cultures of Collecting

King’s Manor, University of York: Saturday 10 March 2012, 9.30am to 5.00pm

Registration is now available at the Online store . The fee is £12.00, which covers a simple lunch and teas/coffees.

Members of the University of York. Please email Clare Bond to register. Registration is free, but if you require lunch the cost will be £5.00 (cheques made payable to University of York (Collections). 

Call for Papers – Renaissance Old Worlds: English Encounters from the Levant to the Far East

The British Library, 29 June – 1 July 2012

The early modern period saw England establishing its first colonies in the New World, but its ideas and expectations about foreign nations, travel and its identity as a political and economic power on the global stage were influenced largely by its experiences in other distant but familiar nations. This conference will investigate English interactions with the ‘old worlds’ of the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East. It will ask how such cross-encounters may have shaped not only the literature, art and cultures of England and the host nations, but also a broad range of intellectual, political, cultural, religious and economic determinants of England’s relationship with the wider world.

Call for papers – Emblems of Nationhood: Britishness 1707–1901

National identity is a central point of enquiry that is repeatedly called upon in contemporary social and political rhetoric. Our conference, ‘Emblems of Nationhood, 1707–1901’, will address the roots of this theme by discussing depictions of Britain and Britishness in literature, philosophy, and art between the Act of Union in 1707 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Over the course of this multidisciplinary conference, we aim to explore how expressions of nationalism have moulded both critical perspectives on national identity and their creative products. 

Talk – Stephen Bann: The Art Critic in a Cold Climate

Tuesday 6 December 2011, 18.30–20.00

Arguably, art criticism predates art history. Stephen Bann draws on his extensive experience to reflect on some of the dilemmas presented for art criticism and the role of the art critic. Prompted by the traditions of writers from Hazlitt, Ruskin and Pater, to Fry and Stokes, he explores the changing role of writing and judgement in an era of media, and the relationship of art criticism to art history. Stephen Bann CBE FBA is Emeritus Professor of Art History at Bristol University. He has published widely on contemporary art in Britain, Europe and America.