CFP: Artistic Biography in Early Modern Europe
RSA at CAA 2019
Call for Papers, CAA 2019 (New York, 13-16 February 2019): RSA-sponsored session: Artistic Biography in Early Modern Europe
Co-chairs: Babette Bohn and Jeffrey Chipps Smith.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 6 August 2018
Early biographies provide crucial primary sources for our knowledge of early modern artists throughout Europe. Inspired by Pliny the Elder, regional loyalties, gifted artists, influential patrons, and each other, biographers from the mid-sixteenth through the eighteenth century produced a staggering variety of biographical collections – varied in terms of their approaches, criteria, scope, and artistic interests. Such authors as Neudörfer, Vasari, Van Mander, Sandrart, Houbraken, Malvasia, Baldinucci, and Palomino, among many others, produced biographical compendia that have supplied modern scholars with first-hand information on thousands of artists. In recent years, a growing number of scholars have reexamined these texts, publishing edited and translated editions as well as critical studies. This session proposes to investigate some of the concerns that have arisen in these studies, including but not limited to: biographers’ differing methods and criteria; questions of reliability and intentional misrepresentation; the role and significance of anecdotes; the uses of ekphrasis; prejudices concerning women, foreigners, and specific artistic specializations; the reliance on primary sources; the influence of local literary and artistic traditions; and the narrative structure, critical vocabulary, and authorial goals employed. We welcome papers that deal with these broader issues about biographical practices and how these have shaped the study of early modern artists. Only RSA members are eligible to participate in this session.
INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT PAPERS/ PROJECTS TO SESSION CHAIRS Deadline: 6 August 2018. Email the following directly to session chair(s): 1. Completed session participation proposal form, (editable PDF, next page). Make sure your name appears EXACTLY as you would like it listed in the conference program and conference website. 2. Paper/project abstract: maximum 250 words, as a single paragraph MS Word Document. Make sure your title and abstract appear EXACTLY as you would like them published in the conference program, Abstracts 2019, and the CAA website. 3. Email explaining your interest in the session, expertise in the topic, and availability during the conference. 4. A shortened CV (close to 2 pages) 5. (Optional) Documentation of work when appropriate, (as PDF) especially for sessions in which artists might discuss their own practice.