We are delighted to share the second issue of Lapis: The Journal of the Institute of Fine Arts, published at the Institute’s James B. Duke House. This issue renews our commitment to share the research of emerging scholars from the fields of art history, architecture, and art conservation. After successfully launching the journal in May of 2019, we are excited to present a new selection of thought-provoking articles that underscore the methodological, cultural, and geopolitical complexity of these disciplines.
The inaugural issue focused on modern and contemporary artists’ takes on pressing topics: primitivism, technological development, the ethics of performance, intermediality. In the second, the authors work in broader chronological and geographical frameworks. Mirroring the multiple historical trajectories and aesthetic functions of the stone after which Lapis is named, they draw on disparate backgrounds and perspectives to inform their research. The articles featured in this issue expand the disciplinary boundaries of our field, moving from thirteenth-century northern China to Peronist Argentina, passing through seventeenth-century Holland and Harlem Renaissance’s interpretations of Africa. In their texts, the authors use methodologies global in scope, yet embrace the regional and historical specificity of individual case studies.
The issue encompasses a range of media, featuring artifacts with complex material histories that intersect the realms of poetry, political activism, archeology, and domestic ritual. Ximena Kilroe (City College, City University of New York) examines James L. Wells’ illustrations for Nicholas Vachel Lindsay’s problematic poem “The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race;” Amelia F. Russo (The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) writes on the feminist subtext of Grete Stern’s photomontages; Le Lucien Sun (University of Chicago) analyzes funerary images of filial piety in northern China’s medieval tombs; and Joannah Wilmeding Otis (Georgetown University) focuses on Pieter de Hooch’s documentation of upper-class Dutchwomen attempting to embrace Calvinist anti-materialism in an age of intercontinental trade.
These stimulating articles build upon the productive conversations sparked by Lapis’ first issue and continue to champion early-career scholars’ contributions to the field. Crowning the journal’s first year of existence, they remind us of the manifold strategies through which art history can be reinvented and interpreted.
With this publication, the editorial board would like to extend its sincere gratitude to our authors and conributors; to Christine Poggi, Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director of the Institute of Fine Arts; Katherine E. Fleming, Provost and Professor of History at New York University; Jason Varone of the Institute of Fine arts; and Marina Isgro, June Paik Fellow at the Harvard Art Museums.
For any further information about Lapis, please contact the editors.
Sincerely,
Juan Gabriel Ramírez Bolívar, Francesca Ferrari, Adrienne Gendron, Emma Kimmel, and Peter Thompson
The Editorial Board, Lapis: The Journal of the Institute of Fine Arts
