October 29, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS LECTURE BY LESLIE GEDDES ON READING COASTLINES
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Tuesday, November 18 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program hosts a talk by Leslie Geddes (Tulane University / Clark Fellow) that examines how early modern cartographers taught others to see coastlines and read their contours in maps. The talk takes place in the Manton Research Center auditorium.
This talk makes Italian hydrography distinct by focusing on how early modern printed atlases shed light on the vast conceptual gulf between articulating known terrain versus cartographic imaginings of remote seas. More than collections of maps, atlases such as Robert Dudley’s Arcano del Mare (“The Secrets of the Sea”) (Florence, 1646–47) incorporate volvelles and other paper instruments built into the book for the reader’s experimentation and delectation. As manipulable objects, atlases served as a training ground for readers to learn principles of navigation and to read maps effectively. Atlases set the parameters for apprehending cartographic knowledge. The implications are nothing short of the limits of firsthand knowledge of the aquatic environment and its cartographic representation.
Leslie Geddes is the Jessie J. Poesch Assistant Professor of Art History at Tulane University. She is the author of Watermarks: Leonardo da Vinci and the Mastery of Nature (Princeton University Press, 2020). Her research focuses on how early modern artists studied and depicted the natural landscape. At the Clark, she will work on her second book, which examines how printed maritime atlases confronted the struggle to represent the ineffable.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of nearly 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free to all from January through March and is $22 for adults, $20 for adults age 65+, $10 for adults ages 18-25, and $10 for college students with a valid student ID from April through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members and all visitors under age 18. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and the EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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