Some of you may already know me from my old blog (I'm officially labelling it 'old'), Pre-Raphaelite Reflections. I started it during my BA in June 2013, and wrote content for it semi-regularly for four years. During this time I studied for my MA at York (2014-15) and started my PhD at Oxford Brookes (September 2016). Doctoral research, of course, takes up a lot of time and energy, and the blog fell by the wayside. My last post was in October 2017; it discussed the progress I had so far made on my doctoral research into the life, art and writings of Frederic George Stephens (to whom I affectionately refer as 'FGS'). Now that so much time has passed, and I have moved on academically, I have decided to put my old blog to rest, although I will certainly leave it up there for readers to (hopefully!) enjoy.
'Pre-Raphaelite Reflections' did result in a few nice things. At some point I started a Facebook page to accompany it, which is still running – although, like the blog, I rarely update this any more. At the time of writing it has accrued nearly 2,700 likes, which isn't bad.
I also had the pleasant surprise of one of my blog posts on Stephens being cited in the catalogue for the Tate loan exhibition Love & Desire which was held at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, in 2018-19. Stephens's painting The proposal – which I personally think is quite fabulous – was sent to Australia, complete with a shiny new catalogue entry which referenced my blog post in the footnotes. You can see it online here. Admittedly, my completed thesis has rendered the information given in the footnote (and in my original blog post) quite useless. Still, it was so satisfying to see my work on Stephens being acknowledged.
I digress.
What, then, will this new blog be?
I passed my viva in November last year, and am currently in the process of submitting the final version of my thesis to Oxford Brookes.
As I navigate the postdoctoral landscape – 'What now?', 'Where do I go?', 'What do I publish?', 'How do I get funding?', 'Do I pursue a different career path in museums?' – I still think of art and literature. Pre-Raphaelitism is a continuous presence, a source of endless curiosity. But other cultural influences have entered my life. My boyfriend, whom I met in 2017 near the beginning of my PhD, is Brazilian and an art historian like myself. Through him I have 'discovered' the art of Brazil, a broad and fascinating subject which has received virtually no attention in Eurocentric accounts of art history. I would like to explore these topics in greater detail.
Really, this will be a general art history/literary research blog, with occasional personal posts added into the mix. A sort of blogging fresh start. I hope you enjoy reading it!
'Pre-Raphaelite Reflections' did result in a few nice things. At some point I started a Facebook page to accompany it, which is still running – although, like the blog, I rarely update this any more. At the time of writing it has accrued nearly 2,700 likes, which isn't bad.
I also had the pleasant surprise of one of my blog posts on Stephens being cited in the catalogue for the Tate loan exhibition Love & Desire which was held at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, in 2018-19. Stephens's painting The proposal – which I personally think is quite fabulous – was sent to Australia, complete with a shiny new catalogue entry which referenced my blog post in the footnotes. You can see it online here. Admittedly, my completed thesis has rendered the information given in the footnote (and in my original blog post) quite useless. Still, it was so satisfying to see my work on Stephens being acknowledged.
 |
| F. G. Stephens's The proposal (The Marquis and Griselda), 1850-1, on display in the exhibition Love & Desire at the National Gallery of Australia. Photo: Facebook. |
I digress.
What, then, will this new blog be?
I passed my viva in November last year, and am currently in the process of submitting the final version of my thesis to Oxford Brookes.
As I navigate the postdoctoral landscape – 'What now?', 'Where do I go?', 'What do I publish?', 'How do I get funding?', 'Do I pursue a different career path in museums?' – I still think of art and literature. Pre-Raphaelitism is a continuous presence, a source of endless curiosity. But other cultural influences have entered my life. My boyfriend, whom I met in 2017 near the beginning of my PhD, is Brazilian and an art historian like myself. Through him I have 'discovered' the art of Brazil, a broad and fascinating subject which has received virtually no attention in Eurocentric accounts of art history. I would like to explore these topics in greater detail.
Really, this will be a general art history/literary research blog, with occasional personal posts added into the mix. A sort of blogging fresh start. I hope you enjoy reading it!
No comments:
Post a Comment