Ed Lilley studied as an undergraduate at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the University of London and remained there as a postgraduate, writing a thesis on The Iconography of Napoleon. He joined the History of Art Department at Bristol in 1977 and has since pursued research in various aspects of French culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Ed's published work has particularly concentrated on the intersections of visual and verbal culture in France. It comprises a number of studies of art criticism but also includes articles discussing poetry about art, as well as a study of the titles of paintings. A current research focus is on the role of caricatures and humorous prints as indicators of a society's taste for art.

Research interests

In general terms, French painting of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and French art criticism of the same period. Ed Lilley would particularly welcome research proposals that link image and text, whether through a consideration of art criticism or by other means. He would also welcome investigations that seek to situate art as an active agent in the historical process.

Publications

• 'Real light on Impressionism? An overlooked review from 1879', Burlington Magazine, May 2007, pp.326-9
• ''Education, Class and the Boudoir', French Studies Bulletin, Winter 2002, pp. 8-10.
• 'David and Britain', French Studies Bulletin, Spring 2001, pp. 7-12.
• 'Art, Fashion, and the Nude: A Nineteenth-Century Realignment', Fashion Theory, March 2001, pp. 57-77.
• 'Lost Works of Art: the problem and a case study', Art History, September 2000, pp. 396-416.
• 'The Name of the Boudoir', Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, June 1994, pp. 193-198.
• 'How far can you go?: Manet's use of titles', Word & Image, April/June 1994, pp. 163-169.
• 'The "fortune critique" of Joseph-Marie Vien's 'Ermite endormi" at the 1753 Salon', Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 1992, pp. 1499-1502.
• 'Manet's "Modernity" and "Effet de neige à Petit-Montrouge"', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, September 1991, pp. 107-110.
• 'Two Notes on Manet: I. "Olympia"; II. "Le Suicide", Burlington Magazine, April 1990, pp.166-169.
• 'Renoir's Preface to Cennino Cennini', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, March 1990, pp.122-128.
• 'Stendhal critique d'art. Le Salon de 1810', Stendhal Club, January 1989, pp. 123-130.
• 'French Art and French Pride in Casimir Delavigne's "Messéniennes"', French Studies Bulletin, Winter 1988/9, pp. 9-15.
• 'On the fringe of the exhibition: a consideration of some aspects of the catalogues of the Paris "Salons"', British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Spring 1987, pp. 1-12.
• 'Zola and Pissarro: a coincidence', Burlington Magazine, January 1987, pp. 24-25.
• Consular Portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte', Gazette de Beaux-Arts, November 1985, pp. 143-156.