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CALL FOR PAPERS/CONFERENCE PLANNING UPDATE
VRA AT CIHA, AMSTERDAM, SEPTEMBER 1-8, 1996

        The Visual Resources Association will meet in conjunction
with the Comite International d'Histoire de l'Art (CIHA) during
its XXIXth International Congress of the History of Art from
September 1-8, 1996, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  The
Congress theme for 1996 is "Memory and Oblivion."  Proposals are
requested for papers to be presented during VRA Satellite Meeting
sessions on Saturday, September 7, that explore the visual
dimension of the Congress theme through the three panels outlined
here.  You are invited to participate in the CIHA/VRA Satellite
Meeting by delivering a paper (from 20 to 30 minutes in length)
or by recommending speakers and projects appropriate to the
program themes.  Paper proposals should include a one-page
abstract and a brief statement outlining your interest and
expertise in the topic, and SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE APPROPRIATE
SESSION MODERATOR NO LATER THAN MARCH 1, 1996:

Panel I:  "At the Visual Border of Memory and Oblivion."
        Moderators:  James M. Bower, Getty Art History Information
        Program, 401 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1100, Santa Monica,
        CA  90401-1455, [log in to unmask]; Claire L. Lyons, Getty
        Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, 401 Wilshire
        Boulevard, Suite 700, Santa Monica, CA  90401-1455,
        [log in to unmask]
Abstract:  Papers in this session will consider the functions of
visual surrogates for original art objects.  Reproductive
engravings, encyclopedic print and drawing collections assembled
to form "paper museums," and plaster casts of sculpture and
architectural fragments have long been used to replicate
artifacts of aesthetic and historical significance.  Central to
the development of interpretive methodologies, they serve as
visual repertories of iconography or chronology and provide
instructive comparisons for consumers and producers of art and
art history.  The dissemination of such image corpora, from early
print cabinets and documentary photography to lantern and 35-
millimeter slides and the digital images of today, offers
important keys to the formation and reception of artistic canons.
Panelists will consider such questions as the fugitive nature of
reproductive media; the ambiguous status of reproductions as
"realistic" representations or decontextualized fragments; the
use of surrogates in defining intellectual categories and in
structuring catalogs; the pedagogical applications of visual archives;
asymmetries between direct observation, textual
description, and illustration; and the roles of images in
establishing, sustaining, recovering, and replacing cultural
memory.

Panel II:  "Recovering Self-Portraits by Women Artists."
        Moderator:  Alicia Craig Faxon, 415 North Lane, Bristol,
        RI  02809.
Abstract:  Of the self-portraits in visual collections and
databases, how many are by women artists?  When searching for
books of artists' self-portraits, what does one find of women
represented there?  Books of artists' self-portraits often reveal
none, or few, such as the eleven women among Goldscheider's _500
Self-Portraits_.  Are there indeed only a small number of self-
portraits of women, or are there many that have been forgotten or
omitted from the sources that constitute the art-historical
canon?  Preliminary research has discovered at least 200 painted
self-portraits of well- and lesser-known women artists from the
Renaissance onwards.  Few of these appear in slide sets, digital
image archives, or in representations of museum collections.
Papers in this session will address issues raised by these works,
including:  differences in men's portraits of women and women
artists' portrayals of themselves; the roles in which women
artists show themselves, the groups with which women artists
identify themselves; and the stylistic conventions women self-
portraitists follow.  Papers will consider who these women were,
and how we can recover their images and histories, for what we
see as valuable and worth remembering in the present shapes what
is conserved and rescued from the past.

Panel III:  "Faces and Names:  Standards and Interfaces for
Navigating Visual Databases."
        Moderator:  David L. Austin, University of Illinois at
        Chicago, Architecture and Art Library, M/C 234, Box 8198,
        Chicago, IL  60680, [log in to unmask]
Abstract:  The use of photographic reproduction as _aides
memoire_ for research and study of art and architectue has been available
to the art historian and student since the mid-nineteenth
century.  Black and white photographs, lantern slides and color
transparencies became common tools found in both studios and
classrooms.  The reality of digital representations and the
ability of the World Wide Web to provide global access to visual
databases have added a new dimension to our resources.  How can
we be sure of findng the right image for our purposes with so
many resources available to us today?  Papers in this session
will discuss standards necessary to accomplish the task of
providing effective and efficient access to digital imagery, and
suggest ways to help us navigate through a potential flood of
visual information.

        Also anticipated for inclusion in the conference schedule is
the workshop "Writing Effective Job Descriptions."  Leaders:  Kim
Kopatz, University of Rochester; D. Jo Schaffer, State University
of New York at Cortland; Christina Updike, James Madison
University; Margaret Webster, Cornell University.  Outline:
This workshop will focus on the writing of effective and
accurate job descriptions for visual resources professionals.  Topics
will include elements of job descriptions, evaluation and organization
of responsibilities, and usage of appropriate terminology.  The
session will provide an international forum for discussion of issues in
the status, ranking, and employment circumstances of visual resources
professionals.  It will benefit those who are establishing a new
position within their visual resources unit, who are realigning
their unit within their institution, or who are considering a position
review or promotion.  If you are interested in participating in
this workshop, please contact Margaret Webster, Slide Librarian, College
of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Cornell University, B-56 Sibley
Hall, Ithaca, ny  14853, (607) 255-3300, fax (607) 255-1900,
[log in to unmask]

        In addition to the sessions and workshop listed above, the
VRA/CIHA Liaison Committee is planning tours of local collections
of interest to visual resources professionals, and a major social
event which will bring together colleagues from around the world.
Please plan on attending VRA at CIHA in Amsterdam!  If you would
like to receive further information as it becomes available and
are not already on CIHA's mailing list, please contact the
VRA/CIHA Liaison Committee Co-chair.

Jenni M. Rodda, VRA/CIHA Liaison Committee Co-chair
Curator, Visual Resources Collections
Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street
New York, NY  10021-0178
(212) 772-5872, fax (212) 772-5807, [log in to unmask]

**First posting, 2 January 1996.**