New Book | Collective Wisdom: Collecting in the Early Modern Academy
From Brepols:
Anna Marie Roos, Vera Keller, eds., Collective Wisdom: Collecting in the Early Modern Academy (Brepols, 2022), 325 pages, ISBN: 978-2503588063, €85.
Collective Wisdom analyses the connections between early modern scholarly societies and to what extent these networks shaped the formation of early museums and the categorisation of knowledge.
This volume analyses how and why members of scholarly societies such as the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Leopoldina collected specimens of the natural world, art, and archaeology in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These scholarly societies, founded before knowledge became subspecialised, had many common members. We focus upon how their exploration of natural philosophy, antiquarianism, and medicine were reflected in collecting practice, the organisation of specimens and how knowledge was classified and disseminated. The overall shift from curiosity cabinets with objects playfully crossing the domains of art and nature, to their well-ordered Enlightenment museums is well known. Collective Wisdom analyses the process through which this transformation occurred, and the role of members of these academies in developing new techniques of classifying and organising objects and new uses of these objects for experimental and pedagogical purposes.
Anna Marie Roos, FLS FSA is the Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Lincoln (UK). Vera Keller is Professor of History at the University of Oregon.
C O N T E N T S
Vera Keller and Anna Marie Roos — Introduction
Kelly J. Whitmer — Putting Play to Work: Collections of Realia and Useful Play in Early Modern Educational Reform Efforts
Chantal Grell — Tito Livio Burattini, a Seventeenth-Century Engineer and Egyptologist
Georgiana Hedesan — University Reform and Medical Alchemy in Ole Worm’s Museum Wormianum (1655)
Fabien Krämer — The Curiosi as Collectores: The Publications of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum, c. 1652–1706
Vera Keller — Vernacular Knowledge, Learned Medicine, and Social Technologies in the Leopoldina, 1670–1700, or, How to Publish on Sirens, Dragons, and Basilisks
Philip Beeley — ‘The Antiquity, Excellence, and use of Musick’: Wallis, Wanley, and the Reception of Ancient Greek Music in Late Seventeenth-Century Oxford
Julia A. Schmidt-Funke — Urban Fabric and Knowledge of Nature: Physicians as Naturalists in Early Modern Commercial Towns
Kim Sloan — Sloane’s Antiquities: Providing a ‘Body of History’ through Beads, Bottles, Brasses and Busts
Dustin Frazier Wood — Antiquarian Science and Scientific Antiquarianism at the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society
Anna Marie Roos — The First Egyptian Society
Louisiane Ferlier — Collective Wisdom in the Digital Age: Digitizing Early Modern Collections at the Royal Society
Thematic Route | Women as Art Promoters and Patrons at the Prado
This thematic route is one tangible result of a symposium held in March of this year, which focused on the period 1451 to 1633; a second symposium addressing the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is scheduled for 6–7 March 2023 (see the note at the end of this posting and a separate posting).
El Prado en femenino
The Female Perspective: The Role of Women as Promoters and Patrons of the Arts at the Prado
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 14 December 2022 — 9 April 2023
Developed with Noelia García Pérez
In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture’s Institute for Women, from today (14 December 2022) until 9 April 2023 the Museo Nacional del Prado is offering a new perspective on its permanent collection through a thematic route devised with the academic supervision of Noelia García Pérez, associate professor of art history at the University of Murcia. The result is a fresh viewpoint and one that encourages us to focus on the role of women as promoters and patrons of the arts.
Among all European museums, the Prado is probably the one in which women have played the most decisive role with regard to its configuration, either as collectors and promoters or through their key contribution to its foundation and existence. Works such as Van der Weyden’s Descent from the Cross, Titian’s Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg, the superb bronze sculptures of Philip II and Mary of Hungary commissioned from Pompeo and Leone Leoni, and The Holy Family with Saints by Rubens would not be present in the Prado’s collection without women’s involvement.
The works included in this thematic route are associated with women who were not only notable for their activities as patrons but also in the promotion of the artists who worked in their service. One particularly notable example is that of Isabel Clara Eugenia (1566–1633). The Prado houses dozens of works directly resulting from her patronage, in addition to the fact that the Museum’s close connections with Rubens is particularly allied to the promotion and dissemination of his career on the part of the Archduchess, who was governor of the Southern Netherlands. This explains why the Prado houses the largest collection of works by Rubens in the world.
The Female Perspective reflects the first edition of the symposium Key Women in the Creation of the Prado’s Collections: From Isabella I of Castile to Isabel Clara Eugenia (Protagonistas femeninas en la formación de las colecciones del Prado: De Isabel I de Castilla a Isabel Clara Eugenia), which took place in March this year and will be followed by Key Women in the Creation of the Prado’s Collections, Part II: From Elisabeth of France to Mariana of Neuburg (Protagonistas femeninas en la formación de las colecciones del Museo del Prado II: De Isabel de Borbón a Mariana de Neoburgo), to be held on 6 and 7 March 2023.
The full press release is available here»
The Female Perspective: Women Art Patrons of the Museo del Prado (Madrid: Prado, 2022), 160 pages, €10.
Symposium | Women in the Creation of the Prado’s Collections, Part II
From The Prado:
Key Women in the Creation of the Prado’s Collections, Part II: From Elisabeth of France to Mariana of Neuburg
Protagonistas femeninas en la formación de las colecciones del Museo del Prado II: De Isabel de Borbón a Mariana de Neoburgo
Museo del Prado, Madrid, 6-7 March 2023
El Museo del Prado posee dos peculiaridades que lo convierten en un modelo paradigmático para explorar, recuperar y difundir el destacado papel desempeñado por las mujeres en el ámbito del patronazgo artístico. La primera de ellas, vinculada a su creación y consolidación, nos remite a ejemplos tan significativos como el de su fundadora, Isabel de Braganza, o el de Isabel II, quien logró mantener unidas las obras que integraban el Real Museo de Pintura. La segunda de estas peculiaridades alude a la estrecha vinculación que existe entre la formación de sus colecciones y las mujeres de las casas reales europeas. Reinas, princesas, regentes y gobernadoras que, como quedó de manifiesto en la primera edición del simposio Protagonistas femeninas, celebrado en 2022, contribuyeron poderosamente, por haber aportado algunas de sus obras más valiosas, a enriquecer las colecciones que tenemos la fortuna de poder admirar aún hoy.
Para la segunda edición de este encuentro científico, cuya celebración hacemos coincidir con las vísperas del Día Internacional de la Mujer, el Museo del Prado reúne a un destacado elenco de investigadores internacionales que analizarán la promoción y agencia artística desarrollada por nuevas Protagonistas femeninas, esta vez por mujeres de una época encuadrada entre las vidas de Isabel de Borbón (1603–1644) y la de Mariana de Neoburgo (1667–1740).
En las diferentes sesiones teóricas y mesas redondas planteadas se examinarán, entre otras cuestiones, el concepto de reginalidad o queenship en la cultura visual de la Edad Moderna, la construcción de la imagen de poder femenina, la instrumentalización de arte al servicio de intereses políticos o devocionales y el papel que las mujeres desempeñaron como mediadoras artísticas y culturales, creando redes femeninas con importantes repercusiones en lo relativo al intercambio de obras y promoción de artistas.
Estas sesiones teóricas se verán complementadas con una propuesta de carácter práctico: la presentación y posterior visita al itinerario expositivo El Prado en femenino. Promotoras artísticas de las colecciones del Museo (1451–1633). Un recorrido a través de la colección permanente que nos invita a explorar nuevas narrativas, a conocer los relatos originales y sorprendentes que subyacen tras las obras comisionadas por mujeres de tan considerable repercusión histórica como María de Hungría, Juana de Austria o Isabel Clara Eugenia.
6 M A R Z O 2 0 2 3
9.00 Recogida de acreditaciones
Sesión 1. Mujeres y patronazgo artístico en el contexto de la cultura visual del Barroco
9.30 Presentación del simposio. Las mujeres de las Casas Reales (1602–1740) y la formación de las colecciones del Museo del Prado — Javier Arnaldo (Museo Nacional del Prado) y Noelia García Pérez (Universidad de Murcia)
10.00 Early Modern Women’s Patronage in a Global Context — Merry E. Wiesner (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
10.45 Descanso-Café
11.30 Queenship in Early Modern World: Display, Ceremonial, Portraiture and Patronage — Elena Woodacre (University of Winchester)
12.15 Presentación del Itinerario expositivo El Prado en femenino: Promotoras artísticas de las colecciones del Museo (1541–1633) — Miguel Falomir Faus (Museo Nacional del Prado), Victor Cageao Santacruz (Museo Nacional del Prado), y Noelia García Pérez (Universidad de Murcia)
13.00 Visita libre al Itinerario
Sesión 2. Promotoras artísticas en el Museo del Prado (1602–1740)
16.30 Legado histórico-político de cuatro reinas de España en el siglo XVII (1621–1700): Proyectos realizados e inacabados — Silvia Mitchell (Purdue University)
17.30 Mesa redonda: De Isabel de Borbón a Mariana de Neoburgo: arte, política y devoción al servicio de la Casa de Austria
Modera: Mía Rodríguez Salgado (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
• Ezequiel Borgognoni (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)
• Gloria Martínez Leiva (Investigadora independiente)
• Cecilia Paolini (Università degli Studi di Teramo)
• Álvaro Pascual Chenel (Universidad de Valladolid)
7 M A R Z O 2 0 2 3
Sesión 3. Líneas de investigación y nuevas perspectivas de estudio
9.00 Starting the Conversation with Pictures: How Art Collecting Gave Women a Voice — Sheila Barker (University of Penssylvania/ Studio Incamminati)
9.45 Retratos y poder femenino en la cultura visual del Barroco: La construcción de la imagen Mariana de Austria
Modera: Mía Rodríguez Salgado (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
• Mercedes Llorente Molina (Universidad Jaume I)
• Patricia Manzano Rodríguez (Durham University)
10.45 Descanso-Café
11.15 Arte y devoción femenina en las colecciones del Museo del Prado en el contexto de la Contrarreforma — Benito Navarrete (Universidad de Alcalá)
12.00 Mesa redonda: Las mujeres de la Casa de Austria en las cortes europeas del Barroco
Modera: Kathleen Wilson Chevalier (American University, París)
• Katrin Keller (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
• Mathieu De Vinha (Centre de recherche du château de Versailles)
Sesión 4: Cristina de Suecia, reina, filósofa y patrona de las artes
15.30 Christina of Sweeden: Art Patron and Collector — Theresa Kutasz Christensen (Baltimore Museum of Art)
16.15 Mesa redonda: La huella de Cristina de Suecia en las colecciones del Museo del Prado
Modera: Manuel Arias (Museo Nacional del Prado)
• Beatrice Cacciotti (Università degli Studi di Roma)
• Miguel Ángel Elvira Barba (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
• Mercedes Simal López (Universidad de Jaén)
UK’s National Trust Launches the Cultural Heritage Magazine
Published between 2006 and 2022, the National Trust’s Arts, Buildings, and Collections Bulletin (ABC Bulletin) was replaced this fall by the Cultural Heritage Magazine. Recent issues of ABC Bulletin can still be downloaded here, and earlier issues can be requested by emailing the ABC Bulletin team. The first issue of Cultural Heritage Magazine includes the following note of welcome from NT Director-General, Hilary McGrady:
Building on the success of the National Trust Arts, Buildings & Collections (ABC) Bulletin, the Cultural Heritage Magazine will be the place to explore the work of the Trust’s cultural heritage teams in depth, with a broad range across curation, conservation, research, and beyond. It will also share shorter features, including interviews and photo essays, aimed at giving a deeper insight into the work being undertaken on cultural heritage within the Trust. In addition to the opening ‘Briefing’ pages, which share news of forthcoming cultural heritage events and publications, there are also regular sections on new acquisitions to the Trust’s collections, loans to major new exhibitions (in the spring issue), and research and conservation project round-ups. The magazine will be published twice a year, in spring and autumn, and is available to download from the Trust website. You can also ask to be added to the mailing list to receive it direct to your inbox by emailing chm@nationaltrust.org.uk. . . .
The full welcome is available here»
Front cover: Giant Leaf Verdure, ca.1540–50, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, NT 1129595 (Photo: National Trust Images/Leah Band).
New Book | Appropriation and Invention
Published by Hirmer and distributed by The University of Chicago Press:
Jorge Rivas Pérez, ed., Appropriation and Invention: Three Centuries of Art in Spanish America (Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2023), 296 pages, ISBN: 978-3777439686, $50. With contributions by O. I. Acosta Luna, Luisa E. Alcalá, E. Arroyo Lemus, Carla Aymes, Michael A. Brown, James M. Cordova, Gustavo Curiel, C. Fernández Salvador, Raphael Fonseca, Philippe Halbert, Ricardo Kusunoki, Natalia Majluf, F. M. Neff, J. Rodríguez Nóbrega, Sofia Sanabrais, and L. E. Wuffarden Revilla.
A bilingual guide to the Denver Art Museum’s permanent collection of Latin American art, covering masterpieces from three centuries of art in Spanish America.
Drawing from the renowned collection of Latin American Art at the Denver Art Museum, this bilingual catalog examines the processes of appropriation and invention in the arts of Spanish America from the 1520s to the 1820s. The book highlights Latin American masterpieces, including paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts, made shortly after the conquest and before the independence movements. Arranged regionally, the book’s essays explore how artists found artistic freedom under colonial authority. The book shows that while still pleasing clients, many artists of Indigenous and African descent also reclaimed and reshaped the arts for themselves and their new colonial realities. Essays that consider modern and contemporary trends round out the volume.
Jorge F. Rivas Pérez is the Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art at the Denver Art Museum. He is the co-editor of Revisión: A New Look at Arts in the Americas.
Online Catalogue | The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, French Paintings
From The Nelson-Atkins:
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
French Paintings Catalogue
Learn more about the remarkable French paintings and pastels at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. View the entire collection online, delve into recent scholarly insights and technical discoveries, or read about the history of collecting French art in Kansas City. Art historians and conservators provide fresh perspectives on the French collection, and comprehensive research sheds new light on the provenance (ownership history), exhibition history, and publication history of each work. Whether you are seeking a quick overview or deep dive, the French Paintings Catalogue is the perfect place to explore and learn more.
The French Paintings Catalogue is generously supported by The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities, Adelaide Cobb Ward in honor of Donald J. Hall’s retirement, The Mellon Endowment for Scientific Research, The National Endowment for the Arts, The James Sight Fund, and The Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
C O N T E N T S
Publication Installments
Director’s Foreword — Julián Zugazagoitia
Preface and Acknowledgments — Aimee Marcereau DeGalan
Timeline — Meghan L. Gray and Glynnis Stevenson
The Collecting of French Paintings in Kansas City — Aimee Marcereau DeGalan
Conservation Introductory Essay — Mary Schafer, Rachel Freeman, and John Twilley
Notes to Reader
Seventeenth Century, 1600–1699
Eighteenth Century and Pre-Revolution, 1700–1789
Neoclassicism and Romanticism, 1790–1860
Nineteenth Century, Realism, Barbizon, 1830–1890
Impressionism, 1860–1900s
Post-Impressionism, 1886–1900s
A Modern World, 1900–1945
Appendix I: Other Works in the Bloch Collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Appendix II: Other French Works in the Collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Glossary
About
Contributors
Photograph Credits
Anne Helmreich Named Director of the Archives of American Art
From the press release (15 December 2022) . . .
Anne Helmreich, the incoming director of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art (Photo by Loli Kantor).
Anne Helmreich has been named the director of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, effective 27 February 2023. Helmreich is currently the associate director of grants programming at the Getty Foundation and brings 35 years of experience in higher education and arts administration to this new role.
The Archives of American Art fosters advanced research by accumulating and disseminating primary sources that document more than 200 years of the nation’s artists and art communities. Helmreich will oversee its Washington, D.C., headquarters and research center, New York City research center, and Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery. She will also oversee its collections development, exhibitions, and publications, including the Archives of American Art Journal, the longest-running scholarly journal in the field of American art. Additionally, Helmreich will lead the Archives’ digitization program and the stewardship of its holdings consisting of some 30 million items and an oral-history collection of more than 2,500 audio and video interviews, the largest accumulation of in-depth, first-person accounts of the American art world.
“Anne understands how effective and impactful art can be in recording and expressing the American story,” said Kevin Gover, the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Museums and Culture. “Her track record as a successful administrator, educator and user of the Archives of American Art made her the obvious choice to conserve this vital collection and to make its holdings even more accessible to the art world and beyond.”
As associate director of grants programming at the Getty Foundation, Helmreich supports individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Through strategic grant initiatives, it strengthens art history as a global discipline, promotes the interdisciplinary practice of conservation, increases access to museum and archival collections and develops current and future leaders in the visual arts.
She also represents the Getty Foundation in the LA Arts Recovery Fund, which supports small to mid-sized arts organizations in Los Angeles.
Helmreich has been awarded over two dozen grants, published two books, edited five collections, written 19 book chapters, published 20 scholarly papers, and contributed to over half a dozen exhibition catalogs. At the Archives of American Art, Helmreich aims to expand its digital offerings, foster an inclusive and diverse culture that represents the many communities and histories that make up the United States and establish the Archives as America’s preeminent storyteller for the arts.
“I am very excited to help move the Archives of American Art into the future by making it more accessible to more researchers from all backgrounds and by expanding public engagement,” Helmreich said. “The Archives’ unique collections have helped generations of art historians record and study American art, and by digitizing and diversifying our collections and our programming for new audiences, we will continue to reflect the history and future of America through this important lens.”
Previously, Helmreich served as the inaugural co-chair of the Getty DEAI Council, the associate director of digital initiatives at the Getty Research Institute, the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University, and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and associate professor of art history at Case Western Reserve University. Helmreich holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College, a Master of Arts in art history from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in art history from Northwestern University.
Liza Kirwin, deputy director of the Archives of American Art, has served as interim director.
Mei Mei Rado Joins Bard Graduate Center as Assistant Professor
From the BGC press release (11 November 2022). . .
Bard Graduate Center (BGC) announces the appointment of Assistant Professor Dr. Mei Mei Rado, who will begin teaching at BGC on 1 January 2023. Drawing on her specialties in textiles, dress, and decorative arts in both China and France, Dr. Rado’s research and teaching at BGC will focus on the history of East Asian and European textiles and dress in broader transcultural contexts, featuring deep object-based knowledge and a global perspective. Dr. Rado’s expertise complements the interdisciplinary research of Bard Graduate Center’s faculty and will help expand BGC’s programs in textile and fashion history, Chinese art and material culture, and European decorative arts and design history.
“Dr. Rado brings extraordinary intellectual energy and seriousness to the study of dress, textiles, and fashion,” said Peter N. Miller, Dean of Bard Graduate Center. “She also firmly establishes East Asia as a center of curricular and research strength. But her interest in cross-cultural communication adds still further depth to something BGC does very well.”
Mei Mei Rado stated, “One of my goals is to champion BGC’s diverse, interdisciplinary research and teaching. I look forward to collaborating with faculty in different fields and approaching textiles and dress from multiple academic angles and cultural perspectives. BGC’s unique exhibition program also enables me to continue and expand my curatorial practice. I am grateful to BGC Director and Founder Susan Weber and Dean Peter Miller for this opportunity, and I’m honored to continue the legacy of BGC Professor Emerita Michele Majer, who has trained generations of textile and fashion scholars, including myself.”
Dr. Rado has lectured and published on 1920s French textiles and fashion, chinoiserie and Japonisme fashion, twentieth-century Chinese textiles and fashion, eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Qing court arts, and interior draperies in eighteenth-century France. Her forthcoming book The Empire’s New Cloth: Western Textiles at the Eighteenth-Century Qing Court investigates European silks and tapestries that entered the Chinese court and Qing imperial productions inspired by European models. It recounts a multipolar story from both cultural ends, showing how objects, styles, and images traveled in multiple directions replete with reinvented meanings.
Before joining BGC, Dr. Rado was the Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at LACMA. She also held fellowship positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, and the Palace Museum, Beijing. Dr. Rado earned her B.A.at Nanjing University, her M.A.at the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. from Bard Graduate Center.
Call for Fellowship Applications | Center for Netherlandish Art, 2023–24
From CNA:
Center for Netherlandish Art Fellowships, 2023–24
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Applications due by 15 January 2023
The CNA’s call for 2023–24 academic year fellowship applications is now open. Apply for a fellowship through the MFA’s job portal here. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until 15 January 2023. Candidates are encouraged to apply early.
CNA fellowships provide opportunities for talented individuals at different stages of their careers—from recent MA graduates to emerging scholars at the postdoctoral level—to conduct independent research connected to the MFA’s collection of Netherlandish art. This may include preparation for submission of a PhD proposal, dissertation research and writing, and preparing a publication, among other research activities. To encourage creative thinking and new scholarship, the program is open to individuals in all professional and academic fields. Fellows are drawn from a highly competitive international application pool and receive a workspace in the CNA Library. Compensation includes a salary and travel allowance, as well as a generous benefits package.
Fellows are fully incorporated into the work of the MFA and may consult on projects related to their research. They also share their research through the CNA’s and MFA’s public programs and online platforms to benefit a range of audiences.
Call for Papers | Community/Collaboration in Dutch and Flemish Art
From the Call for Papers:
Community and Collaboration in Dutch and Flemish Art, 1560–1800
Center for Netherlandish Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 12 May 2023
Organized by Rachel Kase and Sarah Mallory
Proposals due by 1 February 2023
The Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) seeks 20-minute papers from emerging scholars that critically and creatively engage with the theme of Community and Collaboration in Dutch and Flemish Art in the long 17th century (ca. 1560–1800), with a particular interest in topics that explore new methods or histories.
Topics might include but are not limited to:
• Visualizations of artists’ studios and other spaces of cooperation
• Physical and psychological isolation and exile within and beyond the Dutch Republic and Flanders
• Artists as community leaders
• The role of gender and gender identity in community
A total of three papers will be selected for presentation during the 2023 CNA Colloquium, scheduled for Friday, 12 May 2023. This daylong event offers a platform for selected emerging scholars to share original research with the international community of experts in the field. The program will be held in a hybrid format, allowing for both in-person and virtual participation. Further event details will be shared closer to the event date.
We invite contributions from MA students, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers with less than five years of working experience. Individuals of all nationalities may apply. As we amplify our efforts toward becoming truly inclusive, ensuring that diversity and equity are lived values, we actively encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to submit proposals.
Please submit a title and abstract (500 words maximum) and a CV in one single PDF file to cna@mfa.org, with ‘Call for Papers’ included in the email’s subject line. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis through February 1, 2023. Selected participants will be notified by 17 February 2023. Selected candidates will have the opportunity to workshop their papers during a rehearsal presentation one week prior to the event.
Scholarship and museum exhibitions have long recognized the artistic achievements of individual artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Rubens, but in the 17th-century Netherlands collaboration, partnership, and studio practices fueled artistic creativity and production. Studio practices, such as those described by Rembrandt’s pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten, could also reinforce and reflect power and hierarchy. Likewise, Rubens and his pupil Anthony van Dyck together shaped—and re-shaped—visual convention for aristocratic portraiture. Artists reached outside the studio to engage with collaborators in other professions, forming partnerships that resulted in various types of printed, visual, and performing arts. Artist studios, guilds, chambers of rhetoric, marketplaces, universities, churches, and private homes—to name a few places—also served as sites of artistic mentorship, teaching, and innovation.
On the other hand, long periods of travel and infrequent correspondence made it difficult to forge lines of communication or connection. Though many artists were active in creative and commercial centers, some were not. Some may have experienced uncomfortable isolation—phases of boredom and restlessness, social confinement, or geographic remoteness—not dissimilar to the experience that many people had early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The work of Frans Post and Albert Eckhout demonstrates some ways in which Dutch artists attempted to represent ideas of community and isolation beyond the Republic, while Dutch and Flemish artists such as the Bamboccianti and Bentvueghels sought the companionship of their countrymen even while pursuing new ideas and experiences in Rome. Gender, political beliefs, religious affiliations, and other aspects of personal identity also informed artistic collaboration and a sense of community; as much as some artists were embraced for their abilities and beliefs, others were exiled. From Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Jan Steen’s crowded and lively scenes of taverns and domestic life, to the isolation seen in Rembrandt’s later self-portraits—works of art from this period show a spectrum of collaboration and community throughout the period.
Organized by Rachel Kase and Sarah Mallory, with support from the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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