Essay from the first monographic study of Sue Fuller's work released on the occasion of an exhibi... more Essay from the first monographic study of Sue Fuller's work released on the occasion of an exhibition at Luxembourg + Co., London in October 2022.
In Focus: Black Wall 1959 by Louise Nevelson, Apr 2016
Is Louise Nevelson's sculpture Black Wall (1959) one sculpture made from many parts, or should ea... more Is Louise Nevelson's sculpture Black Wall (1959) one sculpture made from many parts, or should each of its parts be understood as a sculpture in itself? It is clear that Nevelson carefully arranged the contents of each box, but to what extent did she control the arrangement of the work as a whole? Such seemingly simple questions open up a complex field of enquiry concerning the history and identity of Black Wall. This chapter addresses such fundamental questions about its status as an art object, reconstructing its complex early history and changing form.
Henry Moore: Sculptural Process and Public Identity, Tate, 2015
It is easy to dismiss the absorption of Henry Moore’s art into the sphere of investment and specu... more It is easy to dismiss the absorption of Henry Moore’s art into the sphere of investment and speculation as a matter that tells us little about his art. But such monetisation was not just something that happened after his works left the studio. The post-war values of business were entangled in the practices and processes of sculptors in this period around the world, and Moore was no exception. This paper focuses on Moore’s interconnected practices of standardisation and reproduction as they functioned as strategies for growth from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It also investigates the mechanisms of wealth accumulation and protection, including tax minimisation and estate planning, by which Moore’s wealth was consolidated, exploring how each of these practices left their mark on Moore’s art and how it came to be understood.
Book review of The Afterlife of Piet Mondrian by Nancy J. Troy,
Chicago, IL and London: Universi... more Book review of The Afterlife of Piet Mondrian by Nancy J. Troy,
Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013
Calder may rarely depict the conflicts of his time, but far from being disengaged from such event... more Calder may rarely depict the conflicts of his time, but far from being disengaged from such events, his art was inextricably involved in the negotiation of power in mid-to-late twentieth century America. This essay aims to shed new light on the art of Alexander Calder in relation to the socio-political contexts in which it was seen, and the political uses to which it was put. It uses period media materials and a range of secondary historical literature to examine the complex political positions occupied by Calder’s practice. Focussing on his prominent but less researched late career mobiles and stabiles, made from the 1950s until his death in 1976, it describes the politicised contexts in which such works were seen, and explores the contradictory ideologies that Calder’s abstraction could serve. Recruited to contradictory ends in the struggles of Vietnam and the Cold War, the uses of his art were more entangled in the ideological terrain of post-war America than Calder might have liked to imagine.
In the early 1950s, the mobile became a hugely popular design fad throughout the United States. D... more In the early 1950s, the mobile became a hugely popular design fad throughout the United States. Directly referencing the sculptures of Alexander Calder, mobiles were quickly absorbed into all manner of consumer products and commercial contexts, across home decoration, fashion, film and advertising. This essay reconstructs the rapid and spectacular absorption of the mobile into mass culture, and reconsiders the impact of the trend on Calder’s reputation. Within a broadly socio-historical framework, my account draws on mid-century approaches to art and mass culture, including relevant texts by Russell Lynes, Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg. Calder’s connections with the world of design, décor and do-it-yourself art exerted significant pressures on his reputation. These dynamics are, I argue, the origin of persistent concerns about the quality of Calder’s art, and their spectre undermines the recognition of his practice as a serious brand of modernism.
Recent histories of American art have strived to cross its boundaries and expand its limits. As m... more Recent histories of American art have strived to cross its boundaries and expand its limits. As migration and expatriatism have come to be understood among its defining characteristics, once carefully delineated edges between the national and the foreign seem increasingly porous. This shift corresponds with the dissolution of other kinds of borders. Artists have long transgressed the limits of artistic movement, medium specificity and other imposed restrictions, sometimes sneaking well outside the bounds of art itself. Historians of American art have also begun to more actively cross the disciplinary limits that once constrained the field.
This two-day conference brought together new scholarship exploring the edges and borders of American art before 1980, the varied acts of traversal and attempts at containment that have shaped its histories. Presented as the culmination of the three-year Tate Research project Refiguring American Art, the conference will bring together historians of art and visual culture engaging with American art in its global contexts. The conference embraced scholarship that attends to the boundaries of American art in the broadest visual, historical and conceptual terms, including the fractious politics by which borders of many kinds are crossed and controlled. How have such dynamics altered the way artists work, or the way particular works of art look? What has been the impact of such barriers on the canon, and the various revisions of its limits?
Artistic collaborations might make possible artworks unimaginable by an individual maker, but the... more Artistic collaborations might make possible artworks unimaginable by an individual maker, but they are also usually a messy business, strained by competing procedures and visions, and often wracked by interpersonal friction and inequality. The complexities of collaborative relationships and processes were the focus of this event, with participants exploring what kind of social, critical or theoretical concerns have shaped artistic partnerships, and how such projects have challenged the authority of the individual artist and the inviolability of the modernist medium. Alluding to the ‘special relationship’ between the United Kingdom and the United States, itself a contested and sometimes unequal union, the title of the workshop also gestured toward the geographical and political traversals made possible by collective artistic production, by which post-war artists have expressed affinities that transcend the nation.
Essay from the first monographic study of Sue Fuller's work released on the occasion of an exhibi... more Essay from the first monographic study of Sue Fuller's work released on the occasion of an exhibition at Luxembourg + Co., London in October 2022.
In Focus: Black Wall 1959 by Louise Nevelson, Apr 2016
Is Louise Nevelson's sculpture Black Wall (1959) one sculpture made from many parts, or should ea... more Is Louise Nevelson's sculpture Black Wall (1959) one sculpture made from many parts, or should each of its parts be understood as a sculpture in itself? It is clear that Nevelson carefully arranged the contents of each box, but to what extent did she control the arrangement of the work as a whole? Such seemingly simple questions open up a complex field of enquiry concerning the history and identity of Black Wall. This chapter addresses such fundamental questions about its status as an art object, reconstructing its complex early history and changing form.
Henry Moore: Sculptural Process and Public Identity, Tate, 2015
It is easy to dismiss the absorption of Henry Moore’s art into the sphere of investment and specu... more It is easy to dismiss the absorption of Henry Moore’s art into the sphere of investment and speculation as a matter that tells us little about his art. But such monetisation was not just something that happened after his works left the studio. The post-war values of business were entangled in the practices and processes of sculptors in this period around the world, and Moore was no exception. This paper focuses on Moore’s interconnected practices of standardisation and reproduction as they functioned as strategies for growth from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It also investigates the mechanisms of wealth accumulation and protection, including tax minimisation and estate planning, by which Moore’s wealth was consolidated, exploring how each of these practices left their mark on Moore’s art and how it came to be understood.
Book review of The Afterlife of Piet Mondrian by Nancy J. Troy,
Chicago, IL and London: Universi... more Book review of The Afterlife of Piet Mondrian by Nancy J. Troy,
Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013
Calder may rarely depict the conflicts of his time, but far from being disengaged from such event... more Calder may rarely depict the conflicts of his time, but far from being disengaged from such events, his art was inextricably involved in the negotiation of power in mid-to-late twentieth century America. This essay aims to shed new light on the art of Alexander Calder in relation to the socio-political contexts in which it was seen, and the political uses to which it was put. It uses period media materials and a range of secondary historical literature to examine the complex political positions occupied by Calder’s practice. Focussing on his prominent but less researched late career mobiles and stabiles, made from the 1950s until his death in 1976, it describes the politicised contexts in which such works were seen, and explores the contradictory ideologies that Calder’s abstraction could serve. Recruited to contradictory ends in the struggles of Vietnam and the Cold War, the uses of his art were more entangled in the ideological terrain of post-war America than Calder might have liked to imagine.
In the early 1950s, the mobile became a hugely popular design fad throughout the United States. D... more In the early 1950s, the mobile became a hugely popular design fad throughout the United States. Directly referencing the sculptures of Alexander Calder, mobiles were quickly absorbed into all manner of consumer products and commercial contexts, across home decoration, fashion, film and advertising. This essay reconstructs the rapid and spectacular absorption of the mobile into mass culture, and reconsiders the impact of the trend on Calder’s reputation. Within a broadly socio-historical framework, my account draws on mid-century approaches to art and mass culture, including relevant texts by Russell Lynes, Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg. Calder’s connections with the world of design, décor and do-it-yourself art exerted significant pressures on his reputation. These dynamics are, I argue, the origin of persistent concerns about the quality of Calder’s art, and their spectre undermines the recognition of his practice as a serious brand of modernism.
Recent histories of American art have strived to cross its boundaries and expand its limits. As m... more Recent histories of American art have strived to cross its boundaries and expand its limits. As migration and expatriatism have come to be understood among its defining characteristics, once carefully delineated edges between the national and the foreign seem increasingly porous. This shift corresponds with the dissolution of other kinds of borders. Artists have long transgressed the limits of artistic movement, medium specificity and other imposed restrictions, sometimes sneaking well outside the bounds of art itself. Historians of American art have also begun to more actively cross the disciplinary limits that once constrained the field.
This two-day conference brought together new scholarship exploring the edges and borders of American art before 1980, the varied acts of traversal and attempts at containment that have shaped its histories. Presented as the culmination of the three-year Tate Research project Refiguring American Art, the conference will bring together historians of art and visual culture engaging with American art in its global contexts. The conference embraced scholarship that attends to the boundaries of American art in the broadest visual, historical and conceptual terms, including the fractious politics by which borders of many kinds are crossed and controlled. How have such dynamics altered the way artists work, or the way particular works of art look? What has been the impact of such barriers on the canon, and the various revisions of its limits?
Artistic collaborations might make possible artworks unimaginable by an individual maker, but the... more Artistic collaborations might make possible artworks unimaginable by an individual maker, but they are also usually a messy business, strained by competing procedures and visions, and often wracked by interpersonal friction and inequality. The complexities of collaborative relationships and processes were the focus of this event, with participants exploring what kind of social, critical or theoretical concerns have shaped artistic partnerships, and how such projects have challenged the authority of the individual artist and the inviolability of the modernist medium. Alluding to the ‘special relationship’ between the United Kingdom and the United States, itself a contested and sometimes unequal union, the title of the workshop also gestured toward the geographical and political traversals made possible by collective artistic production, by which post-war artists have expressed affinities that transcend the nation.
The ‘invisible hand’ of the market, an idea first coined by enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith,... more The ‘invisible hand’ of the market, an idea first coined by enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith, has become a fundamental principle for advocates of free market capitalism. Smith’s famous turn of phrase disembodies the sensations of sight and touch, but by restoring their primacy in this workshop’s title, his metaphor acquires new possibilities for tracing the influence of the market on works of art. Far from neutral or natural creations, markets – like artworks – are forms that are always composed and manipulated according to the interests of their makers. This event brought together papers that explored the role of the market in the circulation and exchange of American art, and its visual and theoretical impact on the work of art itself. The workshop occurred as part of a series of independent but related events organised by Maggie Cao, Sophie Cras and Alex J. Taylor to explore economics as an emerging field of art historical inquiry.
In 1948, under the economic recovery programme known as the Marshall Plan, Europe was the recipie... more In 1948, under the economic recovery programme known as the Marshall Plan, Europe was the recipient of some $17 billion in aid from the United States. Ostensibly aimed at spurring economic growth, the initiative also sought to cement American political influence in the region, in line with the Truman administration’s wider policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism. In the decades ahead, and especially as the politics of the Cold War intensified, the cultural influence of the United States emerged as an increasingly visible and contested issue across Europe and the United Kingdom. Exhibitions provided one crucial medium for the advancement of this strategy and a forum to debate its legitimacy. Whether in response to large and high-profile touring shows, or to smaller displays at commercial galleries, the reception of post-war American art was frequently refracted through the prism of cultural imperialism and ‘Coca-colonisation’. Beyond art exhibitions, these were debates that found further visual expression in the wide range of fairs and trade events through which Cold War ideology was put on public display. This workshop brought together a range of papers that represent new research into exhibitions of American art and visual culture during the Cold War.
In recent years, artists and museums have repeatedly grappled with the ethical and ideological di... more In recent years, artists and museums have repeatedly grappled with the ethical and ideological dilemmas posed by sponsorship from oil companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other multinational corporations. But even before the rise of museum sponsorship in the 1970s, the intersections between cultural, political and corporate power represented sites of persistent volatility. This panel seeks papers that provide a historical perspective on these issues, exploring how artists and museums navigated the challenges posed by earlier forms of corporate art collecting and patronage. How did the investment of prominent prewar companies such as Abbott Laboratories and Standard Oil engage the public relations challenges of their business practices? How did such businesses shape the meanings of artworks they supported? To what extent did artists understand these imperatives, and incorporate varied degrees of critique and/ or compliance within the works they contributed to commercial settings? Such questions illustrate the complex entanglements of artistic aspiration, business strategy, and the construction of the public good. These histories reveal the contributions of agents beyond the artist to the making and meaning of corporate art, including art directors, advertising creatives, and public relations advisors. This panel will endeavor to reconstruct how the ideological and ethical dilemmas of corporate art projects are manifest both in the artworks themselves, and in the advertisements and exhibitions into which they were so often incorporated. We therefore seek papers on works of art, exhibitions, or material and visual culture that will illuminate the rich and contested histories of corporate collecting and patronage before 1970. Include the following in your paper proposal: 1. Full name 2. Affiliation 3. Email (use email listed on your CAA membership account) 4. CAA member ID# 5. Presentation Title 6. Presentation Abstract (250-word maximum) 7. Why your proposal is a good fit for the session (100-word maximum)
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Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013
Conference Presentations
This two-day conference brought together new scholarship exploring the edges and borders of American art before 1980, the varied acts of traversal and attempts at containment that have shaped its histories. Presented as the culmination of the three-year Tate Research project Refiguring American Art, the conference will bring together historians of art and visual culture engaging with American art in its global contexts. The conference embraced scholarship that attends to the boundaries of American art in the broadest visual, historical and conceptual terms, including the fractious politics by which borders of many kinds are crossed and controlled. How have such dynamics altered the way artists work, or the way particular works of art look? What has been the impact of such barriers on the canon, and the various revisions of its limits?
Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013
This two-day conference brought together new scholarship exploring the edges and borders of American art before 1980, the varied acts of traversal and attempts at containment that have shaped its histories. Presented as the culmination of the three-year Tate Research project Refiguring American Art, the conference will bring together historians of art and visual culture engaging with American art in its global contexts. The conference embraced scholarship that attends to the boundaries of American art in the broadest visual, historical and conceptual terms, including the fractious politics by which borders of many kinds are crossed and controlled. How have such dynamics altered the way artists work, or the way particular works of art look? What has been the impact of such barriers on the canon, and the various revisions of its limits?
This event brought together papers that explored the role of the market in the circulation and exchange of American art, and its visual and theoretical impact on the work of art itself. The workshop occurred as part of a series of independent but related events organised by Maggie Cao, Sophie Cras and Alex J. Taylor to explore economics as an emerging field of art historical inquiry.