Subject: CFP: Session at ASECS (St. Louis, 19-21 Mar 20)

American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies, St. Louis, MO, USA, March 19 – 21, 2020
Deadline: Sep 15, 2019

Do-Overs: Repetition and Revision in the Long Eighteenth Century

François-André Vincent’s painting Arria and Paetus (1784), now in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum, provides an occasion to revisit the significance of repetition in the long eighteenth century. As is well known, the practice of creating copies was not only a standard part of academic training, it was also a means of enhancing professional reputations and commercial success. A related but distinct phenomenon was the creation of variants. Vincent’s Arria and Paetus exemplifies this phenomenon. The painting in Saint Louis was exhibited at the 1785 Salon near a likewise fully finished but utterly different conception of the scene, also by Vincent. Both paintings represent the same encounter between the defeated Roman general and his wife, intent on mutual suicide to preserve the family’s honor. Whether the variants were presented at the Salon together to show the artist’s range, to illustrate a particular narrative theory, to create a quasi-cinematic visual effect, or were merely artifacts of artistic indecision remains uncertain. What is certain is that Vincent’s interest in repetition and variation is not unique. To gain a better understanding of this and other instances of authorial variation, it is necessary first to consider this phenomenon as a practice, as a mode of cultural expression and interchange. Toward this end, this session will address repetition and revision with priority given to papers that discuss variants in the visual arts.

Those interested in participating should send an abstract and CV by September 15 to session chair Elizabeth Mansfield: ecm289@psu.edu

Reference / Quellennachweis:
CFP: Session at ASECS (St. Louis, 19-21 Mar 20). In: ArtHist.net, Jul 15, 2019