Study Day on Nineteenth-Century French Drawings

Funded by the Getty Foundation’s Paper Project
Organized by Britany Salsbury, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
March 13, 2020
Proposal deadline: September 30, 2019

DRAWINGS FROM NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE have been a cornerstone of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection since the institution’s founding in 1916. Over the course of more than a century, the museum has acquired exceptional works on paper in a range of media by artists from Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix to Edgar Degas and Odilon Redon. Following the launch of the museum’s Open Access initiative in January 2019, these holdings in their entirety are viewable online with high-resolution images.

In anticipation of a major exhibition and publication in spring 2022, the CMA is convening a study day that will focus on new discoveries relating to the materials, function, and collecting of drawings in nineteenth-century France. Funded by the Getty Foundation’s Paper Project, the event will offer an opportunity for experts and emerging scholars to engage with the CMA’s strong holdings in this area and to discuss current issues in the field.

The study day will feature two public thematic paper sessions and an object-based study session. In the latter, participants will have the opportunity to view and discuss the CMA’s nineteenth-century drawings collection with presenters and other museum, conservation, and academic colleagues.

Confirmed participants include the following specialists:

Jay A. Clarke
Rothman Family Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings, Art Institute of Chicago

Michelle Foa
Associate Professor of Art History, Tulane University

Harriet Stratis
Former Senior Research Conservator, Department of Prints and Drawings, Art Institute of Chicago

We invite paper proposals for the two public paper sessions, which address the central themes of the exhibition and publication: the history of collecting nineteenth-century French drawings, and the materials and techniques of drawing in France during the 1800s.

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to the following options:
Galleries and dealers of French drawings
Case studies of individual collectors
Institutional histories of collecting and displaying
Important exhibitions and sales of drawings
The organization of private or institutional drawings collections
The international exchange of drawings between France and the United States
The market for and exhibition and reception of particular techniques
Individual artists’ use of specific materials and processes

Presenters
Scholars interested in presenting a paper in one of the two sessions are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words along with a CV. Participants who present papers will be reimbursed for travel costs.  

Attendees
Paper sessions are open to the public; details are forthcoming from the CMA. The object-based study session is open to specialists in the field, and space is limited. To be considered for the latter, please send a CV and a brief statement (250 words or fewer) summarizing the relevance of the study day to your work. Advanced graduate students are encouraged to apply.

Please submit application materials for the paper session or object-based study session no later than September 30, 2019, to FrenchDrawingsclevelandart.org.