15th Annual Eldredge Prize Awarded for Examination of Censorship in
20th-Century American Art
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has awarded the 2003 Charles C.
Eldredge Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in American Art to Richard
Meyer, associate professor of art history at the University of Southern
California. His recent book, Outlaw Representation: Censorship and
Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Oxford University Press,
2002), is recognized for its groundbreaking historical analysis of the
relationship between homosexuality and censorship in American art from 1934
through 2000.
The three jurors who awarded the $2,000 prize were: Wanda M. Corn, Robert
and Ruth Halperin Professor in art history at Stanford University; Sally
Promey, professor in the department of art history and archaeology,
University of Maryland; and Carol Troyen, John Moors Cabot Curator of
paintings for the art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
"We commend Meyer for the complexities of his arguments and for his
generous, often personalized, voice," the Eldredge Prize jurors wrote in
their decision. "While he makes it clear that he cares deeply about the
issues of free sexual choice and free speech, it is the brilliance of his
analysis that makes his scholarly advocacy so powerful. On several
occasions, he shares with his readers his own sense of vulnerability in
writing about explicit sexual imagery especially in an era that is itself
prone to censorship. We found his interpretations to be comprehensive and
multivalent, leaving plenty of room for readers to draw their own conclusions."
The jurors also commented that "this beautifully written book analyzes
difficult and controversial visual material with great care, sensitivity
and intelligence."
"Richard Meyer's outstanding book expands our knowledge of the dynamics at
work in 20th-century American visual culture," said Elizabeth Broun, the
museum's Margaret and Terry Stent Director. "The Smithsonian American Art
Museum has a long history of supporting new research and new ideas."
Outlaw Representation is a study of five different historical moments, from
the confiscation of a painting by the U.S. Navy in 1934 to the culture wars
over arts funding in the 1990s, when artists were censored and put under
public scrutiny for creating sexual imagery deemed indecent, immoral or
dangerous. The book focuses on particular artworks and the controversies
they aroused in the careers of Paul Cadmus, Andy Warhol, Robert
Mapplethorpe, David Wojnarowicz, Gran Fury (an AIDS activist collective)
and Holly Hughes. In each case Meyer grounds his analysis in meticulous
archival research, using newspaper coverage, personal and institutional
correspondence, interviews, documentary photographs and other archival and
visual data to work through the multi-layered cultural meanings inherent in
these history-making events.
Meyer received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley
in 1996. He is currently the acting chair of the department of art history
and an associate professor of modern and contemporary art at the University
of Southern California, where he teaches courses on 20th-century American
art and the history of photography. Meyer was the curator for "Paul
Cadmus: The Sailor Trilogy" at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1996
and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Getty Research Institute in
1998. He is the editor of Representing the Passions: Histories, Bodies,
Visions (Getty Research Institute, 2003).
The Charles C. Eldredge Prize, named in honor of the former director of the
museum (1982-1988), is sponsored by the American Art Forum, a patrons'
support organization. This annual award, initiated in 1989, seeks to
recognize originality and thoroughness of research, excellence of writing
and clarity of method. Single-author, book-length publications in the
field of American art history appearing within the three previous calendar
years are eligible. It is especially meant to honor those authors who
deepen or focus debates in the field or who broaden the discipline by
reaching beyond traditional boundaries. The deadline for 2004 nominations
is Dec. 1, 2003.
Recent Eldredge Prize recipients include:
--2002: Anthony W. Lee, Picturing Chinatown: Art and Orientalism in San
Francisco (University of California Press, 2001)
--2001: Jodi Hauptman, Joseph Cornell: Stargazing in the Cinema (Yale
University Press, 1999)
--2000: Wanda M. Corn, The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National
Identity, 1915-1935 (The University of California Press, 1999)
Further information about the Eldredge Prize and a complete list of past
winners is available on the museum's Web site at
http://AmericanArt.si.edu/study/opportunities-eldredge.html.
The museum's research programs include fellowships for pre- and
postdoctoral scholars, extensive photographic collections documenting
American art and artists, and unparalleled art research databases. An
active publications program of books, catalogs and the journal American Art
complements the museum's exhibitions and educational programs.
Eldredge Prize Lecture
On Thursday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m., Richard Meyer will present the annual
Eldredge Prize lecture, titled "Outlaws: Queer Art and Public Controversy
Since the Culture Wars," in the Grand Salon at the Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian American Art Museum, located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th
Street N.W. This event is free and open to the public but reservations are
required; call (202) 275-2313. For more information, call (202) 275-1557.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum collection began with gifts of art
donated to the federal government in 1829 and has evolved into the world's
most important American art holdings with approximately 40,000 artworks in
all media spanning more than three centuries.
While the renovation of the museum's historic building continues, American
Art offers a full program of exhibitions at its Renwick Gallery
(Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W.). For information about Renwick
Gallery activities, call (202) 357-2700 or visit the museum's award-winning
Web site at AmericanArt.si.edu.
Pat Lynagh
Reference Librarian
AA/PG Library
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
VB 2100, MRC 975
Washington, DC 20012-7012
(202) 275-1915
FAX (202) 275-1929
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