An international conference on auricular style frames will take place in the Wallace Collection in London on 5 and 6 October 2016. The conference is organized by Gerry Alabone, Lead Frames Conservator at the City of London’s Guildhall Art Gallery and Tate, and Lynn Roberts, Founder of The Frame Blog, in association with the Institute of Conservation (Gilding & Decorative Surfaces Group).
Information from the organizer, 18 January 2016
This two-day international conference will be the first dedicated to the Auricular style, centring on one of its most significant manifestations, the picture frame. The conference aims to stimulate awareness & study of this important but neglected style by bringing together research in fine & decorative art histories. It will consider the origins & development of the style in different materials, together with its dissemination between European centres. The conference will explore how other areas of the decorative & applied arts fed into the creation of picture frames, & were in their turn nourished through the influence of these sculptural objects.
Fourteen speakers are anticipated, & currently include Karen Hearn (University College London), Jacob Simon (National Portrait Gallery), Hubert Baija (Rijksmuseum), Daniela Roberts (University of Würzburg), Allison Stielau (McGill University) & Ada de Wit (Radboud University / Wallace Collection). Displays to run simultaneously with the conference are planned with the Guildhall Art Gallery, & Ham House, London.
Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, connections between countries (Italy, France, Bohemia, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany & Scandinavia); the Van Vianens; Fontainebleau; the grotesque; ‘Medici’ frames; the influence of prints; Auricular settings; craftsmanship; the style’s decline & its revivals. Poster presentations exhibited during the conference will be edited with the papers & published, fully illustrated, for free download on Auricular Style: Frames, which it is hoped will become a hub for future related research.
Enquiries & submissions (300-400 word abstracts as Word documents) to alabone.g@gmail.com
Deadline for submissions: 29 January 2016
Registration free for speakers & poster contributors. Agreed travel & accommodation expenses reimbursed for speakers.
