Dear Membership List
Apologies for cross posting.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

RIENZI’S BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM: A SENSE OF PROPORTION: ARCHITECT-DESIGNED OBJECTS, 1650–1950 Friday, 23- 24 Sept 2016
Call for papers deadline: 1st June 2016
Rienzi, the house museum for European decorative arts of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the biennial symposium, A Sense of Proportion: Architect- Designed Objects, 1650–1950, on September 23–24, 2016, focusing on objects that are the embodiments or extensions of an architect’s ideas or aesthetic.
For the symposium, scholars are asked to discuss objects made for particular spaces, objects used to explore new design sources, and objects intended to be part of an integrated space. In short, why do objects designed by architects look the way they do? An example is a recent acquisition, the elegant, nine-foot- long Dundas Sofa, designed by Robert Adam (1728–1792), renowned neoclassical architect of the 18th century, and made by Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779), the celebrated English furniture maker. It is from the only suite of furniture known to be a collaboration between these two masters and is on view at Rienzi.
Rienzi houses a significant collection of European paintings, sculpture, furniture, porcelain, and silver from the mid-17th through mid-19th centuries. Built in 1953 as a residence and opened to the public as a house museum in 1999, Rienzi evokes fine European houses of the 18th century with architecture reminiscent of the Italian Palladian style, surrounded by period European decorative arts and paintings.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Graduate and doctoral students as well as entry-level and mid-career professionals are invited to submit a 400-word abstract outlining a 20-minute presentation, along with a CV, by Wednesday, June 1, 2016, to [log in to unmask] Selected participants will be notified by July 15, 2016, and offered a $600 stipend for travel and lodging. All presentations will be given Saturday, September 24, 2016, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The keynote lecture will be held Friday evening, September 23, 2016, followed by a reception at Rienzi.
Possible themes of investigation may include, but are not limited to:
• Interiors
• Design
• Architecture • Dining
• Privacy
• Leisure Activities • Etiquette
• Gender
• Costume
• Travel
• Technology • Economics
For more information, go to http://www.mfah.org/visit/rienzi/rienzi-symposium-creatures-comfort/
Education programs at Rienzi receive generous funding from the Sterling-Turner Foundation; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Carroll Sterling and Harris Masterson III Endowment; and the Caroline Wiess Law Endowment for Rienzi.
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