Male Bonds in Nineteenth-Century Art

Male bonds were omnipresent in nineteenth-century European artistic scenes, impacting the creation, presentation, and reception of art in decisive ways. Men’s lives and careers bore the marks of their relations with other men. Yet, such male bonds are seldom acknowledged for what they are: gendered and historically determined social constructs. This volume shines a critical light on male homosociality in the arts of the long nineteenth century by combining art history with the insights of gender and queer history. From this interdisciplinary perspective, the case studies presented in this volume examine men’s relationships in a variety of contexts, which range from the Hungarian Reform Age to the Belgian fin de siecle. As a whole, the book offers a historicizing survey of the male bonds that underpinned nineteenth-century art and a thought-provoking reflection on its theoretical and methodological implications.

Contributing authors: Eva Bicskei (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Brigid Boyle (Rutgers University), Anthea Callen (University of Nottingham and Australian National University), Thijs Dekeukeleire (independent scholar), Henk de Smaele (University of Antwerp), Sean Kramer (University of Michigan), Crawford Alexander Mann III (Smithsonian American Art Museum), Mary Manning (independent scholar), Thomas Moser (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Rachel Sloan (Courtauld Gallery), Patrik Steorn (Thielska Galleriet, Stockholm), Marjan Sterckx (Ghent University), Tom Verschaffel (KU Leuven)