Neil F McWilliam, Walter H. Annenberg Professor- Duke University

Neil F McWilliam, Walter H. Annenberg Professor

Specialization:

European Art 1780-1900, French Sculpture, History of Art Criticism

Research Interests:

Current projects:

The Aesthetics of Reaction: Tradition, Identity and the Visual Arts in France, c. 1900-1914, Emile Bernard: Correspondance choisie

Neil McWilliam received his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. His publications include Dreams of Happiness. Social Art & the French Left 1830-1850 (with a revised translation in French, 2007) and Monumental Intolerance, Jean Baffier, A Nationalist Sculptor in fin-de-siècle France and A Bibliography of Salon Criticism in Paris from the July Monarchy to the Second Republic 1831-1851 . His research focuses on the visual culture of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France, and in particular, on public sculpture, the Academy, art criticism, and the inter- relationship between aesthetics and political ideologies during the period. In recent years, McWilliam has published widely on the relationship between conservative politics and the arts in France, exploring the impact of nationalist groupings on artistic production, critical writing and art history in the decades before the First World War. His ongoing interest in the career of Symbolist painter Emile Bernard involves a particular focus on this artist's turn in the 1890s towards a strongly traditionalist artistic practice, and its ramifications for understanding the relationship between tradition and innovation in fin-de-siècle French art.
Contact Info:

Office Location: 101 East Duke Building
Office Phone: (919) 684-6081
Email Address: n.mcwilliam@duke.edu

Web Page:

Teaching (Fall 2009):

Visualst 160.01, Paris: 1850 - 1930 Synopsis
East duke 204a, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM
Arthist 340.01, Goya and david
East duke 204a, Th 02:50 PM-05:20 PM

Recent Publications (More Publications)

N. McWilliam. "Emile Bernard's Reactionary Idealism." Academics, Pompiers, Official Artists and the Avant-Garde: Defining Modern and Traditional in France 1900-1960. Edited by Natalie Adamson & Toby Norris. (Spring, 2010).
N. McWilliam, L. Harscoët-Maire, S. Linford. Emile Bernard: Correspondance choisie. 2011. [abs]
N. McWilliam. "Avant-Garde Anti-Modernism: Caricature and Cabaret Culture in Fin-de-siècle Montmartre." Caricature, Bilan et recherches. Edited by Ségolène Le Men. (2010).
N.F. McWilliam. "'Michel Melot et l'historiographie de Daumier'." L'Histoire sociale de l'art. Edited by Philippe Bordes. (2010).
N.F. McWilliam. "Emile Bernard as Mystical Catholic Artist." The Visual Culture of Piety and Propaganda in France 1880-1925. Edited by Maura Coughlin. (2010).