The Artwork Exposed: Politics and the Arts (1850-1914)
Seminar in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Historical Society
(Koninklijk Nederlands Historisch Genootschap)

In art history, the last decades have seen an overwhelming number of
publications that provide political interpretations of a variety of
artworks. It almost seems as if any visual object can be interpreted in
ways inscribing it with political significance. Rather than adding yet
more interpretations of individual works to the canon of art history,
this symposium aims to take the topic of art and politics into more
theoretical realms by asking questions that touch upon the fundamental
relationship between artworks, history and politics. Artworks are in the
first place visual objects. How can artworks and political history be
related to each other, apart from using the first to illuminate the
second – and vice versa? How are visual objects able to communicate a
political message? How can historians deal with the divide between
intention and perception when analyzing artworks? And whose intentions
are we talking about: those of the artist, those of the commissioner, or
those of the viewer?

The conference sets out to develop new ways of thinking about artworks
as objects in networks of intention, interpretation and social relations
that include artists, commissioners, critics and the audience. It is the
explicit intention of the organizers to step beyond the well-known
generalizations of art history, like artistic styles or schools,
avant-garde and arrière-garde, modern and traditional. It offers a
platform that brings together young and established scholars, both
historians and art historians, who are studying the period 1850-1914. In
addition, the conference will include a visit to the Rijksmuseum for an
in situ discussion of the relationship between arts and politics in the
Dutch context.


PROGRAM

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Location: Van Gogh Museum, Auditorium
(Museumplein, entrance: Paulus Potterstraat 7, Amsterdam)

13.00–13.30 Registration

13.30–13.35 Welcome

13.35–13.50
Introduction by Camelia Errouane (University of Groningen)

13.50–14.35
Keynote lecture by
Michelle Facos (Indiana University Bloomington)
Patriotism, Empathy, and the Politicization of Art

14.35–14.55
Discussion

14.55–15.15 Break


Session 1: The Influence of Politics on the Reception of Art
15.15–17.00

Bart Pushaw (Tallinn University)
Artistic Alliances and Revolutionary Rivalries in the Baltic Art World,
1890-1914

Joes Segal (Utrecht University)
The Politicization of Art in the German Empire, 1900-1914

Marie Cambefort (Royal Holloway)
'Das Unbehagen in der Kultur': The Reception of Art at the Venice
Biennale, 1909-1914

17.00–19.00 Excursion: tba


Friday, 18 April 2014

Location: Rijksmuseum, Auditorium
(Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam)

Day chair: Wessel Krul (University of Groningen)

9.00–9.30 Coffee/tea

Session 2: Artists and their Political Strategies
9.30–11.10

Tom Verschaffel (Leuven University)
Between Politics, the Public and two Capitals: The Strategies and the
Network of the Stevens Family

Laura Prins (Van Gogh Museum)
Politics of Printmaking in the Early Third Republic, 1870-1914

Marlies van der Riet (University of Amsterdam)
Artists into Politics: The National Monument and The Hague's Theatre
Debate, 1863-1913

11.10 – 11.40 Break


Session 3: Political Motivations and the (Dis)appearance of Artworks
11.40–13.20

Geneviève Lacambre (independent scholar)
Gustave Moreau and the Republic

Alison McQueen (McMaster University)
Discourses of French Colonial Dominance through Public Sculpture: The
Monument to Maréchal Bugeaud in Algiers, 1852-1858

Sandra Leandro (New University of Lisbon, University of Évora)
Politics in a Phantom Museum: The Industrial and Commercial Museum of
Oporto

13.20–14.50 Lunch break and visit Rijksmuseum


Session 4: The Intentions of Commissioners
14.50–16.30

Jenny Reynaerts (Rijksmuseum)
Heritage, Museumfication and the Political Past: The Decorations in the
Rijksmuseum Front Hall and Gallery of Honour

Giovanna Capitelli (University of Calabria)
Against Secularization – Towards Anti-Modernity: Pius IX and the
Esposizione romana relative all'arte cristiana e al culto cattolico of
1870

Karen Vannieuwenhuyze (University of Antwerp)
The Antwerp Municipality and the (Ab)use of Sculptures, Statues and
Memorials in the Urban Political Space

16.30–17.00
Final reflections by Wessel Krul (University of Groningen)

17.00–18.00 Drinks


Organized by:
Camelia Errouane (University of Groningen)
Laura Prins (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

To register for this event, please mail to infoknhg.nl

Registration fee (includes refreshments and lunch): € 40. Reduced prices
for students (€ 20), KNHG members (€ 30) and KNHG student members (€ 15).