“Early American Portraiture and the Value of Flesh”

Addressing works in the collections and exhibitions of the Georgia Museum of Art as well as related works elsewhere, this talk explains how and why early American portraiture has served as a means to negotiate racial identities in both the past and the present. Elder is assistant professor of art history at American University, where she specializes in North American art from the colonial period to the present, including African American art and the history of photography. Her current research and courses examine the mutually constitutive relationship between art and race throughout modern American history. This lecture is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

The 2023 Emerging Scholars Symposium will showcase research by current graduate students and other emerging scholars related to themes of rethinking and reimagining the history of Euro-American, Native American and African American art and material culture through new perspectives. The symposium accompanies the exhibition “Object Lessons in American Art: Selections from the Princeton University Art Museum,” on view February 4 – May 14, 2023, at the Georgia Museum of Art. “Object Lessons” features four centuries of objects from the Princeton University Museum that challenge and explore the traditions and perspectives of American history, society, art, and culture. This symposium is presented in partnership with UGA’s Association of Graduate Art Students. For a full schedule, visit https://georgiamuseum.org/rethinking-america/.