New Titles
A selection of new titles from Michael Shamansky’s artbooks.com:
Nancy Keeler, Gardens in Perpetual Bloom: Botanical Illustration in Europe and America 1600-1850, exhibition catalogue (Boston: MFA, 2010), ISBN: 9780878467495, $24.95.
Originally developed as an aid to professional herbalists, botanical illustration quickly blossomed into an art form in its own right. The first flower books were intended as medicinal guides, or else illustrated volumes that catalogued the elaborate and extensive gardens of the well-to-do. But when Carl Linnaeus first classified the plant kingdom in 1735, the botanical book quickly took on a more scientific cast. By the nineteenth century, the flourishing of botanical publications reflected both the rapid rise of gardening as an amateur hobby and the desire of artists and decorators for new visual resources. Gardens in Perpetual Bloom: Botanical Illustration in Europe and America 1600–1850 traces the appreciation of flowers and their depiction, from the studious world of monks and princes to the era of the gardening enthusiast. The book’s 110 prints and drawings—which include masterful engravings by Georg Dionysus Ehret, the eighteenth century’s most accomplished botanical artist, and hand-colored prints by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the premier draftsman of flowers for Marie Antoinette and Josephine Bonaparte—are remarkable for their technical virtuosity, delicate tonalities, scientific accuracy and seemingly infinite variety. Gardens in Perpetual Bloom is both a valuable historical survey and an affordable, attractively designed volume of jewel-like beauty.
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William Eisler, Lustrous Images from the Enlightenment: The Medals of the Dassiers of Geneva (Milan: Skira, 2010), ISBN: 9788857205076, $60.
The Dassiers (Jean Dassier,1676-1763 and his two sons, Jacques-Antoine, 1715-1759 and Antoine, 1718-1780) were the only medalists of their time to have had the honour of being mentioned in the Encyclopédie by Diderot and D’Alembert, in which one can read that they “have rendered their names famous through their same talent: their fine medals after nature and several other works emerging from their burin prove that they are worthy of being counted amongst the most celebrated engravers”. The book examines the works that established the reputation of the Dassiers, starting with an elegant silver watch case by Jean Dassier for the Fabrique de Genève (Paris, Louvre), three series of small medals or tokens: The Metamorphoses by Ovid (1717; 60 pieces) and Illustrious men of the century of Louis XIV (1723-1724; 73 pieces) and, finally, The Church reformers (1725; 24 pieces). This last series was dedicated to William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, who offered the Dassiers his support in obtaining royal authorization to strike two major series, The Kings of England (1731-1732) and Famous Britons (1731-1738). Borrowing from the fame of his father throughout Europe, Jacques-Antoine, a former pupil of the École de Rome, threw himself into the creation of a new series dedicated to worthies in England, including savants, writers and politicians. At the peak of his career, he had the privilege of producing a portrait of Montesquieu, a work that is a milestone in the history of art (1753). This European reputation ensured that he was invited as engraver to the court of Russia, where he produced his last masterpiece, The founding of the University of Moscow (1754), decorated with an extremely bold portrait of the Empress Elizabeth. The death of Jacques-Antoine in 1759 and of his father four years later marked the end of a glorious artistic and commercial enterprise after 60 years of activity. This publication offers a summary and updating of the catalogue raisonné, The Dassiers of Geneva: 18th-century European medalists (Lausanne and Geneva, 2002-2005), the scientific point of reference for the subject. The new bilingual publication aims to offer direct access for a wider public of enthusiasts, historians and researchers.
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Werner Busch, Englishness: Beiträge zur englischen Kunst des 18. Jahrhunderts von Hogarth bis Romney (Munich: Beuscher Kunstverlag, 2010), ISBN: 9783422069565, $92.50.
Ten essays on British art in the 18th century offer precise observations and historic as well as art-theoretic roots.
Werner Busch hat sich als einer der wenigen deutschen Kunsthistoriker immer wieder mit der britischen Malerei und Graphik beschäftigt. Der Band, der anlässlich seines 65. Geburtstages erscheint, versammelt zehn Aufsätze Buschs zur englischen Kunst und spannt einen Bogen vom Beginn bis zum Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts. Neben Hogarth werden mit Joshua Reynolds, Joseph Wright of Derby, Thomas Gainsborough und George Romney die prominentesten englischen Künstler des 18. Jahrhunderts in den Blick genommen.
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Marcello Fantoni, George Gorse, and Maclolm Smuts, eds., The Politics of Space: European Courts ca. 1500-1750 (Rome: Bulzoni, 2009), ISBN: 9788878704190, $55.
Contents: Malcolm Smuts and George Gorse, “Introduction”; Marcello Fantoni, “The City of the Prince: Space and Power”; Jeroen Duindam, “Palace, City, Dominions: The Spatial Dimension of Habsburg Rule”; John Robert Christianson, “Terrestrial and Celestial Spaces of the Danish Court, 1550-1650”; Jesús Escobar, “A Forum for the Court of Philip IV: Architecture and Space in Seventeenth-Century Madrid”; John Beldon Scott, “Fashioning a Capital: The Politics of Urban Space in Early Modern Turin”; Linda A. Curcio-Nagy, “Commemorating the Conquest: Local Politics and Festival Statecraft in Early Colonial Mexico City”; Monique Chatenet, “The King’s Space: The Etiquette of Interviews at the French Court in the Sixteenth Century”; Patricia Waddy, “”Many Courts, Many Spaces”; Tracy Ehrlich, “Otium cum negotium: Villa Life at the Court of Paul V Borghese”; Nicola Courtright, “A New Place for Queens in Early Modern France”; Simon Thurley, “The Politics of Court Space in Early Stuart London”; Caroline M. Hibbard, “The Somerset House Chapel and the Topography of London Catholicism”; Anna Keay, “Charles II: Buildings, Politics and Power”; Magdalena S. Sánchez, “Privacy, Family, and Devotion at the Court of Philip II”. (“Europa delle Corti” Centro studi sulle società di antico regime, Biblioteca del Cinquecento, 142)
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Isabelle Michel-Evrard and Pierre Wachenheim, eds., La gravure: quelles problématiques pour les Temps modernes? (Bordeaux: William Blake & Co, 2009), ISBN: 9782911059261, $60.
Annales du Centre Ledoux,Universite Paris-I, Pantheon-Sorbonne, VII
Essays include: Anne Nadeau, “Charles Simmoneau : un graveur de l’entre-deux siècles. Un aperçu de la gravure d’interprétation de 1667 à 1727”; Jean-Gérald Castex, “Un seul graveur peut-il « interpréter » tous les peintres ? Etienne Fessard ou les paradoxes de la gravure d’interprétation dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle”; Antonia Nessi, “Fabriquer Venise. La production de vedute gravées au XVIIIe siècle”; Isabelle Michel-Evrard, “Les échos visuels et philosophiques de la gravure dans la peinture des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles”; etc.
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Linda Borean and Stefania Mason, eds., Il collezionismo d’arte a Venezia: Il Settecento (Venezia: Marsilio, Fondazione di Venezia, 2010), ISBN: 9788831799263, $65.
Includes: L. Borean “Dalla galleria al ‘museo’: un viaggio attraverso pitture, disegni e stampe nel collezionismo veneziano del Settecento,” C. Whistler “Venezia e l’Inghilterra: Artisti, collezionisti e mercato dell’arte 1700-1750,” E. Manikowska “I polacchi e la pittura veneziana,” S. Mason “Il caso Mocenigo di San Samuele,” etc.
The Art of Glass
Bernard Perrot (1640-1709): Secrets et chefs-d’oeuvre des verreries royales d’Orléans
Secrets and Transparencies: Bernard Perrot, Glass Artist, and His Production in Orléans
Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, 13 March — 27 June 2010
Découvrir le maître verrier le plus célèbre du siècle de Louis XIV, qui a contribué aux innovations techniques et artistiques du 17e siècle, c’est ce que propose le musée des Beaux-Arts en présentant une exposition consacrée à Bernardo Perrotto (1640-1709), né en Italie, immigré en France et naturalisé en 1666. Il crée la verrerie royale d’Orléans en 1668 rue Notre-Dame de Recouvrance. À l’opposé d’un inventeur isolé, Bernard Perrot, issu de la migration des verriers italiens depuis le 15e siècle, est le fruit de la longue tradition de l’art du verre pratiqué dans la péninsule.
À l’occasion du tricentenaire de son décès, l’exposition rassemble, pour la première fois, autour de la collection du Musée historique et archéologique de l’Orléanais, près de 200 pièces prêtées par des musées et des collectionneurs français et européens. Cette manifestation est l’occasion d’ouvrir un débat scientifique sur la production orléanaise du verre, à la lumière de découvertes historiques et d’analyses pratiquées par le Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France et le Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
Aujourd’hui, les études des spécialistes permettent de dévoiler au public le résultat de leurs recherches sur Perrot et l’histoire de la fabrication du verre au 17e siècle : de nouvelles données remettent en question d’anciennes attributions et révèlent les secrets de fabrication jalousement gardés sur la technique du verre plat coulé ou encore sur le fameux rouge des anciens perdu depuis le Moyen Âge, et dont Perrot obtient l’exclusivité de la fabrication. Ornement avec de simples filets rouges décorant des pièces, puis verre rouge teinté dans la masse, la production d’objets en verre se développe : grâce à ses innovations, la cathédrale d’Orléans est le premier monument à retrouver des vitraux rouges.
Il perfectionne aussi la porcelaine de verre et les émaux sur cuivre et, en 1687, invente le procédé du verre coulé pour réaliser divers objets, dont les grands médaillons représentant le roi et sans doute le duc d’Orléans. Sa production d’objets de luxe est souvent liée au raffinement des arts de la table : flacons, gobelets, vases, aiguières, chandeliers, surtouts de table, manches de couverts et atteint un luxe inégalé avec une table ornée d’un plateau en marqueterie de verre qui a fait partie des collections du roi.
Un colloque est organisé les 28 et 29 mai 2010, en collaboration avec l’Association française pour l’archéologie du verre:
- Vendredi 28 mai : Perrot et l’influence des verriers d’Altare et de Venise sur les productions françaises et européennes des 17e et 18e siècles.
- Samedi 29 mai : actualité de la recherche sur l’histoire et l’archéologie du verre, de la plus haute Antiquité aux périodes contemporaines, en France et à l’étranger.
CAA Member Directory Now Available
As noted at CAA News (15 March 2010),
The CAA Member Directory, now available online to current individual members, allows you to search for other members internationally. Search criteria include first and last name, organization or institution name, and city, state, and country. Those fields—as well as telephone numbers, email address, and website—are shown in your search results, unless an individual has opted to exclude certain details. To review and update your contact information, including that which appears in the Member Directory, please log into your CAA account. Next, click the “Contact Info” link on the left side to review your contact information. Instructions on the page will help you choose an address for the Member Directory. You may prevent any information from appearing in the directory at any time by unchecking the “Directory” box for all addresses on your record. If you have more than one valid address on your record, please choose which address to include in the directory. Organization and title will only be included with a business address. In addition, only your primary phone, email, and/or website address will be used regardless of which address you choose. You may also remove duplicate or outdated information.
Indian Portraiture in London
The Indian Portrait, 1560-1860
National Potrait Gallery, London, 11 March – 20 June 2010
"Kunwar Anop Singh of Devgarh Riding with a Falcon" Devgarh, Mewar, Rajasthan attributed to Bakhta, ca. 1776 © Museum Rietberg Zurich.
This exhibition, the first of its kind in the UK, tells the story of the Indian portrait over three centuries, exploring the fascinating ways in which Indian artists have approached the depiction of the human form and the changing role of portraiture in Indian history. Bringing together 60 stunning works from international collections, the exhibition will celebrate the beauty, power and humanity of these works of art. The exhibition begins with works from the Mughal Court, including some of the earliest realistic portraits made for the Emperors Humayun (r.1530–56) and Akbar (r.1556–1605) and the magnificent court portraits made for their successors Jahangir (r.1605–27) and Shah Jahan (r.1628–58), as well as studies of Mughal courtiers, holy men and servants. The distinctive regional styles from Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills are also shown alongside the European–influenced works produced by Indian artists under British rule. These paintings are a record of a rich and complex history, embracing influences from Iran and Europe as well as local Hindu and Muslim traditions, showing that the Indian portrait can stand shoulder to shoulder with outstanding examples of portraiture from around the world.
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Two-Day Conference: Portraiture in South Asia
National Portrait Gallery and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 21-22 May 2010
This conference will assess the character of portraiture, visual and literary representations of the individual in South Asia from 1500 to 1900. Though widespread in Europe, studies of portraiture in Asia are more unusual because of the common perception that it is largely a Western phenomenon. Speakers include Ebba Koch, Chris Pinney, J.P. Losty and Crispin Branfoot. First day at the National Portrait Gallery, second day at SOAS. Tickets: £50/£40 concessions and £20 students.
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Press coverage of the exhibition can be found at the London Times and the BBC. Kathryn Hadley provides a useful summary at History Today.
Eighteenth-Century Highlights from Amiens
De Fragonard à Hubert-Robert: Chefs-d’oeuvre du XVIIIe siècle des musées d’Amiens
Musée Départemental de l’Oise, Beauvais, 5 February — 14 June 2010
Le Conseil général de l’Oise et Amiens Métropole se sont associés pour organizer à Beauvais, au sein du Musée départemental de l’Oise, l’exposition d’une sélection de chefs-d’oeuvre du XVIIIe siècle appartenant aux collections des musées d’Amiens. Cette manifestation est le résultat d’une étroite collaboration entre les deux établissements. Elle illustre les liens nécessaires et fructueux qui unissent aujourd’hui ces deux musées picards, et intervient alors que le premier étage du Musée de Picardie, consacré en grande partie aux peintures, est fermé pour travaux jusqu’en 2012. Cette exposition offre l’opportunité de redécouvrir, dans un accrochage spécialement pensé et réalisé pour cet événement, quelques-unes des plus belles pièces des collections amiénoises ; elle donne aux visiteurs du Musée départemental de l’Oise l’occasion de voir, peut-être pour la première fois, des oeuvres de grande qualité, caractéristiques d’une période de création foisonnante.
La collection
Les oeuvres du XVIIIe siècle constituent l’une des grandes richesses des collections des musées d’Amiens. La plupart des tableaux exposés à Beauvais proviennent de la collection des frères Lavalard, donnée au musée en 1890 – les quelques 271 pièces concernées intégrèrent les lieux quatre ans plus tard. Originaires de Picardie, Olympe, Ernest et Émile Lavalard vécurent longtemps à Paris où ils fréquentèrent assidûment l’Hôtel Drouot. Ils y achetèrent entre 1850 et 1870 une très grande partie des tableaux qui constituèrent leur galerie. Boucher, Fragonard, Greuze, Vanloo, Hubert-Robert… : à une époque où l’école française du XVIIIe siècle n’était guère en vogue, la sûreté de leur gout – largement tributaire des conseils du docteur La Caze, célèbre amateur d’art qui fit quant à lui don de ses oeuvres au musée du Louvre en 1869 – leur permit de constituer une fort belle collection.
À une exception près – le Napolitain Giacomo del Po – tous les artistes représentés dans cette sélection sont français. Il n’est pas anodin de le préciser, tant l’origine géographique des artistes joue souvent un rôle décisif dans leur manière et dans le choix même des sujets illustrés. L’arrière-plan historique a en effet son importance : la mort de Louis XIV, en 1715, change profondément les modes de représentation dans la peinture française. Le temps est à la légèreté, les fastes versaillais laissent place à un art plus délicat. Les peintres commencent en outre à s’attacher davantage à la peinture de la vie quotidienne qui, sous leur pinceau, se pare d’une certaine poésie.
Toutefois, dans la continuité des siècles précédents, la hiérarchie des genres n’est guère contestée, qui place au sommet les sujets tirés de l’Histoire et de la fable, tandis que, dans un ordre de dignité décroissant, viennent ensuite le portrait, les animaux, les paysages et les natures mortes. La peinture de figures tirées de la vie quotidienne, ou peinture de genre, ne constitua que tardivement une catégorie distincte au sein de cette classification adoptée et défendue par l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.
Les sections de l’exposition
L’exposition se découpe en sept sections. À l’image de l’exposition, ces sections sont toutes de taille modeste, mais elles présentent toujours des oeuvres particulièrement emblématiques, au sein des collections des musées d’Amiens, des différentes facettes de la production picturale du XVIIIe siècle. Ce découpage permet de brosser un large panorama de l’art tout en contrastes de ce siècle : aux côtés des petits tableaux gracieux témoignant du climat de fête qui régnait pendant la Régence (1715-1723) voisinent des oeuvres religieuses plus austères mais tout aussi caractéristiques des modes de représentation de l’époque.
- Thème 1 : Paysages et fêtes, un art placé sous le signe de la légèreté où l’art brillant, théâtral et fantaisiste qui voit le jour sous la Régence est à l’honneur.
- Thème 2 : Le goût des collectionneurs : scènes de genre et natures mortes. Deux modes de représentation très emblématiques de la production picturale du XVIIIe siècle.
- Thème 3 : Fragonard, artiste singulier. Cette section présente un ensemble d’oeuvres de Fragonard significatif des différentes facettes de son talent.
- Thème 4 : un ensemble décoratif exceptionnel : les Chasses exotiques de Louis XV. Un des cycles les plus spectaculaires de la peinture décorative de la première moitié du XVIIIe siècle.
- Thème 5 : Le maintien du grand genre : peintures allégoriques et mythologiques, réalisées dans la continuité de l’art majestueux et solennel du XVIIe siècle.
- Thème 6 : Le renouveau de la peinture religieuse met l’accent sur le traitement nouveau de sujets éminemment traditionnels.
- Thème 7 : La nature au service du sentiment. Cette dernière section revêt des accents pré-romantiques, en illustrant le traitement nouveau de la nature au fil du siècle.
Trio of Shows on Queen Luise of Prussia
Luise: The Life and Legend of the Queen
Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, March 6 – May 30, 2010
Josef Grassi, "Queen Luise," 1802
Femininity – beauty – power: This combination has fascinated mankind for millennia. It is a mixture that was and is the basis of countless myths. On the threshold of the modern age, the myth of the Prussian Queen Luise (1776–1810) first originated through media-related means and it lives on to this day. The 200th anniversary of the death of the most popular woman in Prussia in 2010 is providing the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg) with an opportunity to trace one of the most obstinate legends of German history. Three exhibitions set at her personal, historical locations illuminate the most diverse aspects of Luise’s life and the legends surrounding her.
The exhibition at Charlottenburg is dedicated to various facets of Luise. Her beauty and grace, her naturalness and her harmonious family life turned her into a legend within her own lifetime. Her efforts towards decisive political reforms and her opposition to Napoleon made her into a symbol of hope during Prussia’s “difficult period” at the beginning of the 19th century. Following her early death at age 34, a legend developed around her, which is without precedent in Germany and which reached its climax in the Empire after 1871.
More than 200 paintings, sculptures and historical documents, including masterpieces by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Johann Gottfried Schadow and Christian Daniel Rauch, invite visitors to become more familiar with the life and legacy of the queen.
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Luise: The Queen’s Island World
Peacock Island, Park Buildings and the Dairy, Berlin, 1 May – 31 October 2010
The romantic Havel River island, regarded as one of Queen Luise of Prussia’s and her family’s favorite locations, was used to enjoy life in the great outdoors. In 2010, the park landscape designed by Peter Joseph Lenné will be the scene of an innovative exhibition project, where international artists, under the direction of the artist Michael Lukas (Munich), deal with the history, the atmosphere of the location and Queen Luise as a person. In addition to the Palace and the Dairy, in Luise’s Year in 2010, park buildings that were not accessible to the public will open their gates for the first time. Today, Peacock Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a protected landscape and a Habitats Directive of the EU.
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Luise: The Queen’s Clothes
Paretz Palace and Royal Coach House, 31 July – 31 October 2010
Queen Luise, famous for her beauty, was quite conscious of her charms. She knew how to underscore her physical advantages in a natural, sensuous and occasionally liberal way with graceful, Empire-style dresses inspired by the forms of antiquity. The exhibition at Paretz Palace, once the summer residence of the royal family, shows outfits and accessories that belonged to the queen, as well as a selection of her portraits and further artifacts in the form of sculptures, graphic folios and letters. The intimate surroundings of the royal living spaces with their precious wallpapers allow the fascination with Luise to come alive, while simultaneously spanning a panorama of that epoch’s fashions.
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Coverage in The Art Newspaper is quite positive:
Readers should not be put off by the press and marketing hype, with its inevitably crass journalistic references and comparisons to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the Empress Sisi von Habsburg, beauty contestants, “celebrities” and “icons.” This is a well researched exhibition about a minor historical figure on whom were projected so many aspirations and ideals as to make her more significant than her own life and deeds warrant.
For the full description, click here»
Cultural Intermediaries: Seminar Participants
The ISECS site includes a PDF file with the following list of participants for this year’s Seminar for Junior Scholars, to be held at Queen’s University in Belfast, 16-20 August. The theme is Cultural Intermediaries.
- Danna Agmon (University of Michigan), “Professional intermediaries in eighteenth-century French India”
- Vanessa Alayric (Université de Lille), “Cultural transfers of exotica: material exchanges between China and Europe through trade, mission and art”
- Angela Byrne (Royal Irish Academy), “Irish-born British diplomats in Russia, 1733-1767”
- Florence Catherine (Université de Nancy), “Albert von Haller (1708-1777), intermédiaires culturels dans les espaces français et germaniques au XVIIIe siècle”
- Mariana D’Ezio (University of Rome), “Cultural intermediaries across Europe: cultural and literary intersections between British and Italian Women writers and salonnières in the age of the Grand Tour (1700-1799)”
- Sébastien Drouin (École pratique des Hautes Études, Sorbonne Paris-IV), “Journalistes, érudits et informateurs au Refuge : les réseaux intellectuels de l’Histoire critique de la République des Lettres (1712-1718)”
- Olivera Jokic (City University of New York), “The Death of a Beautiful Moor Woman: Obstinate Clerks and the Form of Evidence in the British Colonial Archive”
- Eszter Kovács (Université de Szeged, Hongrie), “Une catégorie à part du “voyageur par état” : la réflexion de Diderot sur les missionnaires”
- Diego Lucci (American University in Bulgaria), “American Political and Social Life in Luigi Castiglioni’s Travels in the United States of North America”
- Katrina O’Loughlin (University of Western Australia), “‘A smaller compass’: body and text as cultural intermediaries in eighteenth-century women’s travel”
- Maria Petrova (State University for Humanities, Moscow), ‘The diplomats of Catherine II as cultural intermediaries: the case of the Princes Golitsyn”
- Natalie Rothman (University of Toronto), “Dragomans in the Republic of letters: cultural mediation and the making of the Levant”
- Frederik Thomasson (European Institute, Florence), “Cultural intermediaries: another way of addressing or circumventing the centre-periphery dichotomy?”
- Ellen R. Welch (University of North Carolina), “Intermediaries and the Media: Ambassadors and Emissaries in the French Periodical Press, 1672-1763”
- Laurence Williams (Magdalen College Oxford), “Mediating the Oriental City through the Arabian Nights: British Tours of Constantinople, 1719-1797”
The Netherlands, Part II
Tulip Prints and Drawings from the Rijksmuseum Collection
Rijksmuseum in partnership with Keukenhof, March 2010
Starting on 2 March, the Rijksmuseum will exhibit its most beautiful prints and drawings of tulips from the 17th and 18th centuries. Individual tulips, tulips in bouquets, in the garden, as the design for a silver ornament, and featured in allegorical scenes. The highlight of the presentation will be the tulip book created by Jacob Marrel between 1637 and 1639. Complete tulip books are extremely rare, and the Marrel is seldom exhibited in public.
Jacob Marrel’s tulip book was probably a kind of catalogue used by customers for ordering their tulip bulbs. The book, still in its original binding, contains around 80 pages depicting scores of tulips, predominantly in red and purple. In the 17th century, ‘variegated tulips’ were the most popular. These ‘flaming’ tulips were not one single colour, but had white or yellow as the base colour, with red or purple as a second colour. They were given
names such as Spinnekoop, Condé de Flandez, Bruit van Leide
and La Bella Sultana.
Keukenhof (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Tulip bulbs were a valuable commodity throughout the 17th century, and the bulb speculation business sometimes reached incredible heights, only to fully collapse again afterwards. Agneta Block’s flower book from around 1690 shows just how much this rich Baptist widow was prepared to pay for a single tulip bulb. She purchased a large country house in the region along the river Vecht, where she was an enthusiastic gardener and had a book made containing pictures of all of the plants in her garden. The tulip called Root en geel van Leyden (‘Red and yellow from Leiden’) alone cost 100 guilders, but an Anvers bulb beat the lot at 510 guilders. By way of comparison: the annual salary of a 17th-century schoolteacher was around 200
guilders. (more…)
A Fine Week to Be in the Netherlands, Too
The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF)
Maastricht, 12-21 March 2010
The annual European Fine Art Fair at Maastricht opened this past weekend and runs until Sunday. Writing for The New York Times (14 March 2010), Carol Vogel notes “gems” such as a “a 1796 portrait of Countess Tolstoy, the writer’s grandmother, by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun hanging in a closet at Robilant & Voena, dealers from London and Milan (price: about $4 million), or a Samuel Palmer landscape secreted in a small nook in the stand of the London dealer Lowell Libson.”
The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) website includes a terrific 644-page fair catalogue.
Call for Papers: Recycling Luxury
I just stumbled across this CFP this morning; unfortunately, the deadline for submissions is today. [Note: the due date has been extended to 12 April]
Recycling Luxury and Waste in the Long 18th Century: The ‘Afterlife of Used Things’ in Britain and France
Université Paris Diderot, 22-23 June 2010
Proposals due by 12 April 2010
The 2010 conference on the afterlife of used things in the long 18th century will expand on the 2009 ‘cycles of novelty’ symposium, which had explored some of the many aspects of recycling in particular in relation to art and literature. This year’s conference will focus on recycling in relation to social, economic and material practices in the long 18th century and will broaden its geographical boundaries to include France.
We invite participants to study the versatile practices of recycling and refashioning that shaped the eighteenth-century world of goods with particular emphasis on the double question of waste and luxury. Thus the refashioning of old objects into new desirable ones, the thriving second-hand market often fuelled by the luxury trades and the problem of “waste management” in societies characterized by increased opulence are among the questions that the conference will seek to explore. The management of resources (both natural and man-made), their scarcity and their uses will also be central to the conference and we welcome papers exploring the topography or geographical circulation of goods and resources involved by practices of recycling. We also hope to somewhat chart the processes of valuation/devaluation and re-evaluation through which both fashionable luxury objects and discarded material went through and invite contributors to submit papers focusing on the cultural uses and values of objects/materials along the various stages of this process.
Conference papers can be in English or in French. We are in contact with several publishers to get a selection of papers from this year’s and last year’s conferences published. This publication will be in English. Please send your proposals (max 300 words) to the organisers by 12th April 2010 at the following addresses:
ariane.fennetaux@univ-paris-diderot.fr
amelie.junqua@u-picardie.fr
Organisers:
Ariane Fennetaux, Université Paris-Diderot, Paris 7
Amélie Junqua, Université de Picardie Jules Verne
Sophie Vasset, Université Paris-Diderot, Paris 7
Enfilade 
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