Vesuvius in Eruption, with a view over the islands in the Bay of Naples circa 1776-80' by Joseph Wright of Derby. © Tate, London

Event
Late at Tate Britain : Sublime Environments - Friday 6 February 2009.

For further information see http://www.tate.org.uk

The Sublime Object

Full title: The Sublime Object: Nature, Art and Language
Duration: Launched 1 June 2007; duration: 36 months
Principle Investigator: Christine Riding
Project team members:Alison Smith; Phil Shaw; Peter de Bolla; Lydia Hamlett; Rikke Hansen,( Phd student) Leading Institution: Tate Britain, Tate Galleries
Other partnerships: London consortium; Cape Farewell
Project associate: Professor Annie Janowitz
Contact information:Email: Christine.Riding@tate.org.uk
Project web page: http://www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/majorprojects/sublimeobject.htm


Project summary

To call something ‘sublime' today is a perfectly normal means of praise. Yet the Sublime is a complex idea which takes on different meanings in different times and places. This research aims to gain a greater understanding of the ways in which perceptions of the sublime in the landscape - rural and urban, historic and contemporary, real and imagined - are shaped by cultural experiences.

For more details please go to the project summary document

Progress and Highlights

• The first conference was held on 19 th -20 th October, an extremely successful event.

• Meetings between internal staff have taken place in order to begin the cataloguing process and to agree on a schedule for updating the Sublime web page and for the upcoming launch of the Tate Sublime website.

• Communication has taken place with Cape Farewell over the partnership and links set up on both websites.

•Investigations have begun regarding the close links between sublime theory and the art and architecture of c1650-1720 which has revealed unexpectedly rich and hitherto unconsidered areas.

•The major ‘rediscovery' of Tate's huge sublime canvas ‘The Raising of Lazarus' (1822) by B R Haydon has been initiated and a short film has been made about if for our Tate Research website to be posted by the end of October 2008.

•The first colloquium on the Baroque Sublime in May 2008 was very successful with papers covering art, architecture, science and music.

•The second colloquium is planned and will take place in November 2008. Plans are underway for the third and fourth colloquium in 2009.