Call for proposals
Picturing Paradise in 19th Century British and American Art: Past, Lost, Regained

A Symposium organized by James Romaine and Rachel Smith
for the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art (ASCHA)

Paradise is a persistent and varied theme in 19th century American and
British art. It is often visualized through local, exotic, and even
imagined landscapes, gardens, and plants. Drawing from both the first
and last chapters of the Bible (Genesis and Revelation, respectively),
as well as literary sources such as Dante and Milton, artists
interpreted "paradise" in different contexts. Some described the
paradise of the past (the Garden of Eden), the present (the paradise
"lost" after the Fall), or the paradise to be "regained "in the future
(as the destination of the blessed soul). During a period of increasing
industrialization and urbanization in the 19th century, foliated and
landscape imagery found particular resonance as a means of drawing on a
past and/or projecting a future paradise to address present concerns as
various societies, groups, and individuals pursued explorations of
spiritual and social perfection.

While the aspiration for paradise is common among a host of world
religions, it is particularly prevalent in Christianity and in images
influenced by that faith and philosophy produced by individual artists.
Although the sublime and pastoral are often contrasted, both of these
orientations are potential paths to paradise. Bridging such diverse
movements as the Hudson River School and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,
this use of garden imagery in the 19th century expresses a hope for
personal and collective harmony.

The keynote address for "Picturing Paradise" will be delivered by Roger
Crum, Professor of art history at the University of Dayton. A
specialist in the art of Renaissance Florence with a corollary interest
in the diverse influence of Italy on the subsequent history of art,
Crum's address is entitled "Paradise Lost, Eden Remade, and Italy
Brought Home as Substance, Sign, and Souvenir." His remarks will focus
on the idea and ideal of Italy—while not shying from the tarnished
realities of a "Paradise lost"—in the complex intersection of Italy and
the Anglo-American experience of intellectuals and artists, art lovers
and art lubbers from the Grand Tour of the 18th century to the grand
tour bus of the modern moment.

For the symposium itself 20-minute papers are sought that address this
topic in the visual and material culture of either the United States or
Great Britain focused on the 19th century. Papers may address how an
artist or group imagined and/or interpreted paradise through plant,
garden, and/or landscape imagery and how this representation related to
the artist's personal, social, and/or spiritual contexts. We are also
interested in topics that approach this subject from a more thematic or
conceptual framework.

Proposals of no more than 300 words should be submitted, with a cover
letter and 2 page C.V. by September 1, 2015 to Dr. Rachel Hostetter
Smith rcsmithtayloru.edu and Dr. James Romaine drjamesromainegmail.com

The symposium is co-sponsored by the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts
and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. where it
will be held on February 2, 2016, one day prior to the CAA's annual
conference.