Professor Clare Willsdon

  • Professor of the History of Western Art (History of Art)

telephone: 01413306331
email: Clare.Willsdon@glasgow.ac.uk

R307 Level 3, History of Art, 8 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QH

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9021-6291

Research interests

Office Hour: Email for appointment

Research Interests

  • European painting 1800-1940, with special interests in Impressionism (including its development in America), Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, the Fin-de-siècle, Vienna Secession
  • mural painting
  • contextual and thematic methodologies

My research on mural painting includes the first published nationwide survey and critical interpretation of 19th/20th-century mural painting in any country (Mural Painting in Britain 1840-1940), and work on European murals since 1800 including schemes at the Palace of Westminster, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Royal Exchange, Livery companies, and Bank of England, and important mural works in Paris, Vienna, Munich, Stockholm, Brussels etc. I am also a member of the international panel on new murals for the House of Lords. My research on Impressionism includes the pioneering study In the Gardens of Impressionism, and I am the Academic Advisor and catalogue author for a major exhibition in 2010-11 at the National Gallery of Scotland and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, on the evolution and influence of Impressionist garden painting. I have also made curatorial and catalogue contributions to the 'Gartenlust' ('Garden Pleasures') exhibition at the Belvedere, Vienna (2007), and the 'Renoir' exhibition at the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome (2008). 

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2019 | 2018 | 2016 | 2015 | 2013 | 2012 | 2010 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Number of items: 26.

2019

Willsdon, C. (2019) Les décors muraux en Grande-Bretagne. In: Andrieux, J.-Y., Chevallier, F. and Nevanlinna, A. K. (eds.) Idée nationale et architecture en Europe: volume 2, Fin XVIIIe-XXIe siècle. Series: Art and société. Presses universitaires de Rennes: Rennes, pp. 277-296. ISBN 9782753578302

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2019) "The lady of the garden, lawn and blackbird": Beatrix Whistler and horticulture. Women's History, 2(13), pp. 15-22.

2018

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2018) Review of "James McNeill Whistler and France: A Dialogue in Paint, Poetry, and Music" by Suzanne Singletary. caa.reviews, 2018(Nov 19), (doi: 10.3202/caa.reviews.2018.230)[Book Review]

de Montfort, P. and Willsdon, C. (2018) Whistler and Nature. Paul Holberton: London. ISBN 9781911300496

Willsdon, C. (2018) Nature on the margins: parks, gardens, and coasts in Whistler’s work of the 1880s and 90s. In: de Montfort, P. and Willsdon, C. (eds.) Whistler and Nature. Paul Holberton: London, pp. 77-111. ISBN 9781911300496

2016

Willsdon, C. (2016) Painting and photography. In: Payne, C. (ed.) In Focus: Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858 ?1858–60 by William Dyce. Tate Research Publication. ISBN 9781849765428

2015

Willsdon, C. (2015) Late impressionism. In: Greub, S. (ed.) Monet: Lost in Translation. Hirmer: München, pp. 198-227. ISBN 9783777424286

Willsdon, C. (2015) Impressionist gardens. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 76-85. ISBN 9781910350027

Willsdon, C. (2015) Making the modern garden. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 28-47. ISBN 9781910350027

Willsdon, C. and Beamer, R. (2015) Chronology. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 304-311. ISBN 9781910350027

2013

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2013) From Lochnagar to Leith: in Scotland with Haag, Fréchou, Signorini and Orlik, 1850–1900. Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, 18, pp. 57-64.

Ingram, D., Bisgrove, R. and Willsdon, C. (2013) The call of the wild: wild flowers in gardens and art: the Broadway connection. Ruskin Review and Bulletin, 9(1), pp. 42-51.

2012

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2012) Country Gardens: John Singer Sargent RA, Alfred Parsons RA and their Contemporaries. Broadway Arts Festival Trust: Broadway, UK. ISBN 9780957272507

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2012) Impressionist interiors. French Studies, 66(3), pp. 409-410. (doi: 10.1093/fs/kns147)[Book Review]

2010

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2010) Impressionist Gardens. National Galleries of Scotland: Edinburgh, UK. ISBN 9781906270285

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2010) Jardines Impresionistas. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: Madrid, Spain. ISBN 9788496233997

2008

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2008) Petali, profumi e brezze: i giardini di Renoir. In: Adler, K. (ed.) Renoir: La Maturità tra Classico e Moderno. Skira: Milano, Italy, pp. 107-119. ISBN 9788861306172

2007

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2007) Impressionistische Gartenmalerei und Weg in Monet's Garten. In: Husslein-Arco, A. (ed.) Gartenlust : der Garten in der Kunst; [Ausstellung Gartenlust. Der Garten in der Kunst, Belvedere Wien, 22. März bis 24. Juni 2007]. Christian Branstatter Verlag: Vienna, pp. 130-141. ISBN 9783850330527

2006

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2006) Image and Identity in Mural Painting in British Public Buildings, 1840-1940. In: Gowing, R. and Pender, R. (eds.) All Manner of Murals: the history, techniques and conservation of secular wall paintings: proceedings of the secular wall paintings symposia. Archetype Publications: London, pp. 89-101. ISBN 978 1 904982 11 1

2005

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2005) Aspects of Klimt's Landscapes and the Emblem Tradition. In: Harper, A.J., Hopel, I. and Sirc, S. (eds.) Emblematic Tendencies in the Art and Literature of the Twentieth Century. Series: Glasgow Emblem Studies, Vol. 10. Glasgow Emblem Studies, University of Glasgow: Glasgow, pp. 24-45. ISBN 0852618212

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2005) Les Jardins des Impressionistes. La Bibliothèque des Arts: Lausanne, Switzerland. ISBN 9782884531245

2004

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In den Gärten der Impressionisten. Belser Verlag: Stuttgart, Germany. ISBN 9783763024322

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In the Gardens of Impressionism. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-51147-0

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In the Gardens of Impressionism. Vendome Press: New York, USA. ISBN 9780865652323

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) The Ramsay Garden Murals and their Links with French Mural Painting. Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, 9, pp. 69-78.

2003

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2003) Promenades et Plantations: Impressionism, Conservation and Haussmann's reinvention of Paris. In: Fowle, F. and Thomson, R. (eds.) Soil and Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism, Environment. Ashgate Press: Aldershot, pp. 107-124. ISBN 0-7546 3685 2

This list was generated on Mon Aug 3 16:48:15 2020 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Book Reviews
Number of items: 26.

Articles

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2019) "The lady of the garden, lawn and blackbird": Beatrix Whistler and horticulture. Women's History, 2(13), pp. 15-22.

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2013) From Lochnagar to Leith: in Scotland with Haag, Fréchou, Signorini and Orlik, 1850–1900. Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, 18, pp. 57-64.

Ingram, D., Bisgrove, R. and Willsdon, C. (2013) The call of the wild: wild flowers in gardens and art: the Broadway connection. Ruskin Review and Bulletin, 9(1), pp. 42-51.

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) The Ramsay Garden Murals and their Links with French Mural Painting. Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, 9, pp. 69-78.

Books

de Montfort, P. and Willsdon, C. (2018) Whistler and Nature. Paul Holberton: London. ISBN 9781911300496

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2012) Country Gardens: John Singer Sargent RA, Alfred Parsons RA and their Contemporaries. Broadway Arts Festival Trust: Broadway, UK. ISBN 9780957272507

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2010) Impressionist Gardens. National Galleries of Scotland: Edinburgh, UK. ISBN 9781906270285

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2010) Jardines Impresionistas. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: Madrid, Spain. ISBN 9788496233997

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2005) Les Jardins des Impressionistes. La Bibliothèque des Arts: Lausanne, Switzerland. ISBN 9782884531245

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In den Gärten der Impressionisten. Belser Verlag: Stuttgart, Germany. ISBN 9783763024322

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In the Gardens of Impressionism. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-51147-0

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2004) In the Gardens of Impressionism. Vendome Press: New York, USA. ISBN 9780865652323

Book Sections

Willsdon, C. (2019) Les décors muraux en Grande-Bretagne. In: Andrieux, J.-Y., Chevallier, F. and Nevanlinna, A. K. (eds.) Idée nationale et architecture en Europe: volume 2, Fin XVIIIe-XXIe siècle. Series: Art and société. Presses universitaires de Rennes: Rennes, pp. 277-296. ISBN 9782753578302

Willsdon, C. (2018) Nature on the margins: parks, gardens, and coasts in Whistler’s work of the 1880s and 90s. In: de Montfort, P. and Willsdon, C. (eds.) Whistler and Nature. Paul Holberton: London, pp. 77-111. ISBN 9781911300496

Willsdon, C. (2016) Painting and photography. In: Payne, C. (ed.) In Focus: Pegwell Bay, Kent – a Recollection of October 5th 1858 ?1858–60 by William Dyce. Tate Research Publication. ISBN 9781849765428

Willsdon, C. (2015) Late impressionism. In: Greub, S. (ed.) Monet: Lost in Translation. Hirmer: München, pp. 198-227. ISBN 9783777424286

Willsdon, C. (2015) Impressionist gardens. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 76-85. ISBN 9781910350027

Willsdon, C. (2015) Making the modern garden. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 28-47. ISBN 9781910350027

Willsdon, C. and Beamer, R. (2015) Chronology. In: Don, M. and Dumas, A. (eds.) Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Royal Academy of Arts: London, pp. 304-311. ISBN 9781910350027

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2008) Petali, profumi e brezze: i giardini di Renoir. In: Adler, K. (ed.) Renoir: La Maturità tra Classico e Moderno. Skira: Milano, Italy, pp. 107-119. ISBN 9788861306172

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2007) Impressionistische Gartenmalerei und Weg in Monet's Garten. In: Husslein-Arco, A. (ed.) Gartenlust : der Garten in der Kunst; [Ausstellung Gartenlust. Der Garten in der Kunst, Belvedere Wien, 22. März bis 24. Juni 2007]. Christian Branstatter Verlag: Vienna, pp. 130-141. ISBN 9783850330527

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2006) Image and Identity in Mural Painting in British Public Buildings, 1840-1940. In: Gowing, R. and Pender, R. (eds.) All Manner of Murals: the history, techniques and conservation of secular wall paintings: proceedings of the secular wall paintings symposia. Archetype Publications: London, pp. 89-101. ISBN 978 1 904982 11 1

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2005) Aspects of Klimt's Landscapes and the Emblem Tradition. In: Harper, A.J., Hopel, I. and Sirc, S. (eds.) Emblematic Tendencies in the Art and Literature of the Twentieth Century. Series: Glasgow Emblem Studies, Vol. 10. Glasgow Emblem Studies, University of Glasgow: Glasgow, pp. 24-45. ISBN 0852618212

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2003) Promenades et Plantations: Impressionism, Conservation and Haussmann's reinvention of Paris. In: Fowle, F. and Thomson, R. (eds.) Soil and Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism, Environment. Ashgate Press: Aldershot, pp. 107-124. ISBN 0-7546 3685 2

Book Reviews

Willsdon, C. A.P. (2018) Review of "James McNeill Whistler and France: A Dialogue in Paint, Poetry, and Music" by Suzanne Singletary. caa.reviews, 2018(Nov 19), (doi: 10.3202/caa.reviews.2018.230)[Book Review]

Willsdon, C.A.P. (2012) Impressionist interiors. French Studies, 66(3), pp. 409-410. (doi: 10.1093/fs/kns147)[Book Review]

This list was generated on Mon Aug 3 16:48:15 2020 BST.

Supervision

I welcome applications from students interested in undertaking postgraduate research in areas relating to my research interests. See also 'Advisory Work'

  • Astrom, Kristina
    Liminal Space as Transitional Phenomena in Mallarmé: Inter-art relations from Mallarmé and Whistler to the contemporary scene
  • Bailey, Lucy
    Walter Fawkes 1769-1825: A Patron of the Arts
  • McAuley, Rosemary Therese
    Portraying His Faith: The Christian Art of William Hole(1846-1917)R.E., R.S.A. -Artistic and Theological Perspectives

Teaching

Specialist option courses (not all are offered each year): 

  • 'Whistler, Impressionism and European Avant-Gardes' (MLitt)
  • 'Impressionism: Innovation and Invention, 1874-1926' (MLitt)
  • 'Early Impressionism, 1850-1876' (Senior Honours)
  • 'Symbolism and Secession' (Junior Honours)
  • '19th-Century Issues' (MLitt core course)
  • 'Historiography of Art History' and 'Methodology of Art History' (Junior Honours)
  • 19th Century (Level 1)

Additional information

Administration

  • Convenor, SCCA Postgraduate Committee
  • Convenor, Senior Honours
  • Elected Representative of College of Arts on Senate
  • Glasgow School of Art Annual Programme Monitoring Board
  • Glasgow University/Glasgow School of Art Joint Liaison Committee
  • College of Arts Undergraduate Studies Committee and Board of Studies

External Responsibilities

  • Honorary Curator, Glasgow Life
  • External Examiner, Part I History of Art Tripos, University of Cambridge (2005 to date)
  • Assessor for Postdoctoral Awards, Irish Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council, 2000
  • Member, International Assessment Board for Postgraduate awards, Irish Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council, 2001 and 2006-8

Conference Papers

Major conference and seminar papers in the last 4 years include:

  • 'The Ramsay Garden Murals' (Sir Patrick Geddes and France, Edinburgh, 2004)
  • 'The Victorian Murals at the Royal Exchange' (City Merchants and the Arts, Corporation of London, 2004)
  • 'Mural Painting in British Public Buildings' (Modern Traditions in Secular Wall Painting, UK Institute for Conservation/English Heritage, 2005)
  • 'Besnard's murals for the Ecole de Pharmacie, Paris' (Early Third Republic seminar, University of Edinburgh, 2005)
  • 'Renoir's Garden Paintings' (Renoir Symposium, National Gallery, London, 2007)
  • 'Impressionism in Berlin' (Early Third Republic seminar, University of Edinburgh, 2006)
  • 'Brangwyn's Murals of Industry and Labour' (Brangwyn, Leeds City Art Gallery, 2006)
  • 'Renoir's Paintings of Gardens in Paris' (Renoir Study Day, National Gallery, London, 2007)

Invited lectures in the last 4 years include:

  • 'Caillebotte et les jardins des impressionistes' (Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, 2005)
  • 'In the Gardens of Impressionism', 'Manet and Menzel in the Impressionist Garden', and 'Renoir's Images of Parks and Gardens' (all National Gallery, London, 2004-8)
  • 'In the Gardens of Impressionism' (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh; Wallace Collection, London; Contemporary Art Society for Wales, Cardiff, 2005-6).

Other lectures and conference papers

  • Papers at Association of Art Historians annual conferences, on British mural painting (1984, 1985, 1986), and on 'National and Colonial Landscapes in Murals at the Conseil d'Etat, Bourse de Commerce and Gare de Lyon in  Paris, 1880-1926' (2001)
  • 'Baudelaire's 'Le Voyage' and the Middle-Eastern Photography of Maxime Du Camp', Romantic Geographies international conference, University of Glasgow, 1994
  • 'Picturing London: the Murals at the Royal Exchange', Gresham College Quatercentenary lecture, 1997
  • 'Brangwyn's British Empire Murals for the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords', Rethinking Englishness: the Englishness of English Art conference, University of York, 1997
  • 'Klimt and the Vienna Secession', lecture to Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, Glasgow, 1999
  • 'Reform and Revival: the East Corridor Murals at the Palace of Westminster, 1906-10', plus related seminar at Palace of Westminster, Comité international d'histoire de l'art Time Congress, London 2000
  • 'Mural Painting in Scotland 1840-1940 within its European Context', research seminar paper at Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, 2000
  • 'Public and Social Image and Identity: Victorian Mural Painting', Locating the Victorians international conference, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2001
  • '"Promenades et Plantations": Impressionism, Conservation, and Haussmann's Reinvention of Paris', Soil and Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism, Environment international conference, University of Edinburgh, 2001
  • 'Parisian Murals', Parisian Cultural Topographies conference, University of Glasgow, 2003
  • Lectures on Impressionist garden painting to local interest groups including Friends of Stirling Art Gallery and of Glasgow Museums and Art Gallery, 2005-8

Awards

  • Mary Ann Leighton Senior Scholarship; Raemakers' Prize (Girton College, Cambridge, 1980)
  • University of Cambridge Research Maintenance Award (1981-83)
  • Historians of British Art 2002-3 international prize for Mural Painting in Britain 1840-1940: Image and Meaning, Oxford University Press, 2000 ('the best book published on British art, architecture and culture' in the single-author, post 1800 category, with reference to 'the significance and originality of the subject as well as methodological approach, breadth and depth of research and sources, quality of writing, and, of course, quality of production')

Nominations for national awards

  • for Sir Banister Fletcher 'Best Book in the Arts in Britain' award, 2005-6 (In the Gardens of Impressionism, Thames & Hudson, 2004)
  • for National Library of Scotland/Saltire Society 'Research Book of the Year' award 2005 (In the Gardens of Impressionism, Thames & Hudson, 2004)

 

Advisory work

  • member of international seminar panel established 2008 by the House of Lords Works of Art Committee in connection with the first mural commission for the Houses of Parliament since 1925
  • advisor to Centre international d'art mural, Saint-Savin, France, on E.U. 'Raphael' research project on external murals, 2000
  • periodic advisor on murals and their conservation in churches, private care, and abroad;  and to national and private organisations including Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments, English Heritage, Mercers' and Skinners' Companies, Trustees of the Madresfield Estate, Survey of London
  • consulted by the Kunsthaus, Zürich, on Monet for its 'Monets Garten' exhibition, 2005, and by private individuals in Britain, USA, Australia, Belgium, South Africa, etc on murals and preliminary designs for murals; paintings of the Celtic Renaissance; the provenance and identification of Impressionist paintings; art-historical archives of the period 1800 to date, etc.
  • I have given advice to centres including Shizuoka Prefectural Museum, Japan and to national and local organisations and private individuals on the life and work of Sir Frank Brangwyn.

Broadcasts

  • Periodic contributor to BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Scotland, and STV programmes/reports on the arts.

 


Clare Willsdon