Painting Historian Accepts Art Tenure

A specialist in 18th and 19th century European painting has accepted a tenure offer from the Fine Arts Department, the professor said yesterday.

Norman Bryson, a professor of art history at the University of Rochester, said he will officially join the department next fall as a replacement for former Professor of Fine Arts T.J. Clark. Clark, known for his ground-breaking work in applying social theory to art, departed for Berkeley in the spring of 1988.

The department approved Bryson for tenure last spring, a bid he said he accepted ten days ago.

"He was the most powerful candidate--as an intellectual and as a person who could bring an interesting point of view to the department," said Fine Arts Chair Neil Levine of Bryson. "He's a fabulous teacher, a dynamic person, an engaging speaker."

Levine said the search for Clark's replacement took more than a year.

"He's very controversial--he's not your basic, traditional art historian," said Professor of Fine Arts Henri Zerner, a member of the search committee. "From my point of view, he was the most interesting."

Integrating Other Fields

Scholars said Bryson's work integrates the analytical methods of other fields in the humanities--such as semiotics, the science of sign and symbol.

"For a long time it seemed to me art history was staying out of the lively debates," Bryson said.

He added that in the last five years, art history has begun to question traditional assumptions about art, drawing on the strength of disciplines around it. "The kind of questions I work with are often more familiar in other disciplines like literature and film criticism."

In his three books, Bryson examined the contrast between visual narrative and image in 18th century French painting, addressed the issue of influences on artists and applied semotics to painting. A book on still-life painting will be published by the Harvard University Press in the spring, Bryson said.

Bryson said that at Harvard, he hopes to present students with a range of issues currently being addressed by art history, adding that he has been given "a really good budget" to attract outside speakers.

"I think it's very important that Harvard, with its tremendous student body, faculty and library resources takes part in the new kinds of art history that are evolving," Bryson said.

Bryson said he has also begun research on the representation of masculinity, before, during and after the French Revolution. "Feminist art history has supplied all sorts of methods to focus on women," said Bryson, adding he will use these methods to apply gender theory to men.

Professor Simon M. Schama--whose popular course Literature and Arts C-34, "Art and Revolution in Europe" features Bryson's book Word and Image--said he was pleased to have Bryson aboard.

"He's a wonderful appointment," said Schama. "We've all got a lot to learn from him."

Asked why he accepted the appointment, Bryson said, "I suppose meeting the people at Harvard and realizing the kind of conversations I would be having clinched it for me."