This session will explore the social implications of intimacy in the production, reception, and circulation of early modern art. Among the questions that could be addressed are: How did artists deploy particular media or exploit the material qualities of their works to craft advantageous intimacies with their desired constituents? To what ends did patrons ask artists to portray socially intimate relationships? In what ways did the display or circulation of works help to shape intimacy, whether through forging or fissuring bonds? Could depicted gestures or acts of familiarity slip out of containment to challenge the boundaries of social intimacy? What are the implications of viewing art in intimate architectural spaces? Proposals that explore social tensions in early modern intimacies as defined through representation and reception are particularly welcome.

Deadline for submission: Monday, February 8, 2016. Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and a CV with contact information to Andrea Pearson at pearson@american.edu.

Andrea Pearson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Art History ǀ Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Art History
Art Department, Katzen 233
American University

4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20016