American Art in the 1940s: Global Currents, Local Tides
A Study Day in Memory of Professor François Brunet

François Brunet (1960–2018) was a professor of American art and literature at the Université Paris Diderot and member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He specialized in the history of photography. A prolific scholar and dedicated teacher and mentor, Professor Brunet was instrumental in advancing the study of American art and visual culture in France through fostering networks of institutional collaboration and exchange. The conception of this study day is greatly indebted to his generous intellectual contributions, his time, and his energy.

Program

Day 1: Tuesday, April 16
Institut national d’histoire de l’art
Salle Giorgio Vasari, 2 rue Vivienne, Paris 75002

17:30–17:40 Welcome Remarks
17:40–18:50 Keynote Address

Cécile Whiting, Professor of Art History, University of California, Irvine / Visiting Professor, Université Paris Diderot, Spring 2019: “The Panorama and the Globe: Expanding the American Landscape in World War II”

18:50–20:00 Cocktail Reception

Day 2: Wednesday, April 17
Université Paris Diderot
Amphi Buffon, 15 rue Hélène Brion, Paris 75013

09:30–09:45 Coffee and Registration
09:45–10:00 Welcome Remarks and Introduction

10:00–11:00 Homage to François Brunet

Gary Van Zante, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Clément Pont, Université Paris Diderot: “Geostereoscope—An Interactive Cartography of the 1867 Paris World Fair”

11:00–12:20 Panel 1: Wide Lens on the 1940s

Chair: Jody Patterson, University of Plymouth

Carolin Görgen, Université Paris Diderot: “The 1940s as historiographical turning point: Re-envisioning the history of American photography from California”

Isadora A. Helfgott, University of Wyoming: “Part of This History: Anton Refregier, Global Politics, and the Persistence of Social Engagement in 1940s American Art”

12:20–14:00 Lunch Break

14:00–16:00 Panel 2: Communities and Local Networks

Chair: Mark Meigs, Université Paris Diderot

Andrew Witt, Institut für Kunst-und Bildgeschichte Humboldt Universität: “‘It Must Be Done with Mirrors’: The Film and Photography of Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid”

Angela Miller, Washington University in St. Louis: “Ménage à Trois: The PaJaMa Collaborative and the Post-Autonomous Subject of Art”

Christa Noel Robbins, University of Virginia: “Scene Painting: On Occasion and Community in Postwar Manhattan”

16:00–16:20 Coffee Break

16:20–17:40 Panel 3: Art and the Urban Experience

Chair: Véronique Ha Van, Université Le Havre Normandie / Université Paris Diderot

Eliane de Larminat, Université Paris Diderot: “From the Local to the International: Locating Chicago’s Housing Crisis as a Scene, 1940-1949”

Agathe Cancellieri, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: “L’Institute of Design de Chicago dans les années 1940”

For more information, please visit:
http://www.larca.univ-paris-diderot.fr/conferences/2018-2019/article/american-art-in-the-1940s-global-currents-local-tides

Organized by: Tatsiana Zhurauliova
Terra Foundation for American Art Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at the Fondation de l’Université Paris Nanterre / Associate Researcher in American Art and Transatlantic Exchanges, HAR, Université Paris Nanterre and LARCA, Université Paris Diderot