CFP: THE SPECTATRIX IN EARLY MODERN ART
February 2015. The Society for the Study of Early Modern Women will sponsor a session at the 2015 College Art Association Annual meeting. Our awareness and consideration of early modern female patrons and artists has expanded exponentially in the past few decades. Yet, with a few notable exceptions, many canonical works are still presumed to be made by men for men, and female viewership is rarely considered outside the realms of direct patronage or production, marriage, or domesticity. Despite recent contributions to the study of early modern gender, ‘the viewer’ in art historical scholarship is still male.  This panel seeks to examine the role of the spectatrix in early modern art. Themes might include female responses to the nude (male or female), women as viewers of erotic art, the female artist’s relationship with her models or sitters, female spectators of art commissioned by men, or women’s interactions with civic artworks. How can thinking about women as viewers allow us to locate women at the center of early modern artistic production and consumption? Please send paper proposals of 300-500 words and a current CV to Maria Maurer. Deadline 23 May 2014.