Journal of the History of Collections - current issue

Introduction: The art collector--between philanthropy and self-glorification

Rovers, E. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:11 PDT

Collecting for posterity: Two Dutch art collectors in the nineteenth century and their bequests to the nation

Krul, W. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:11 PDT

In the first half of the nineteenth century, collecting Old Masters was the most prestigious form of art collecting in the Netherlands, both because of the international fame of these artists and because of their status as national icons. Around mid-century, however, some Dutch collectors began to focus on contemporary European art. This paper will consider this shift in the context of changes in taste and the problem of national identity at that time. The banker Adriaan van der Hoop (1778–1854) and the coal merchant Carel Fodor (1801–60), both of whom left their collections to the city of Amsterdam, will be discussed as examples of this changing fashion.

'Splendid patriotism': Richard Wallace and the construction of the Wallace Collection

Lasic, B. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:11 PDT

This article examines the transformation of the Wallace Collection, London, from private collection to national museum and the consecutive phases of its passage from the private to the public sphere. Set against the background of the late Victorian exhibitionary field, it argues that the collection's arrival in Britain in 1871 prompted a new era with the emphasis placed upon the collection's increased visibility and accessibility to a wider audience. It further examines the motives underlying the bequest of the Wallace Collection to the British nation and the tensions inherent in the transformation of a dynastic site into a national museum. Analysis of the methods of display and admission policies applied at the Wallace Collection also demonstrates that the museum was cast as an exemplar of high culture that materialized the collecting practices of three generations of connoisseurs but also spectacularized their art de vivre.

Collectors and why they collect: Isabella Stewart Gardner and her museum of art

Matthews, R. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:11 PDT

Isabella Stewart Gardner had the words ‘c’est mon plaisir’ carved into the brickwork above the front door of her museum as a statement of her intention in forming her collection. Although superficially this may have been true, in this paper it is argued that subconsciously Gardner collected in response to losses experienced throughout her life. This theme is traced through her collecting of designer dresses by Charles Frederick Worth, costumes that allowed her to reinvent herself after the death of her only child, and through her collection of rare books that marked a time of intellectual development and renewal. It is argued that her losses led her to surround herself with painters, writers and musicians, thus forming a collection of young artists. The purchase of her first Old Master was influenced by the loss of her son, and the creation of her museum inextricably linked to the death of her husband.

The Musee Gustave Moreau: Collecting life and work as proof of a genius's contribution to art

Liefooghe, M. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:11 PDT

When the Parisian painter Gustave Moreau died in 1898, he bequeathed his house and its consciously arranged collections to the French state on condition that the collection's integral character be maintained. Opened in 1904 as the Musée Gustave Moreau, the house made public the life and oeuvre of a painter whose seclusion had become legendary during his lifetime. Tied to Moreau's habit of collecting and reworking his own work, the format of a personal monographic museum emerged only in the last resort as a modification of an earlier planned retrospective exhibition. It is argued that Moreau's enterprise should be interpreted in connection with the art-historiographic paradigm of life and work rather than with any museographic format. Moreau's strategic bequest envisioned the presentation of his work as a lifetime achievement, the posthumous evaluation of which would ultimately prove him a genius and recognize his contribution to the history of art.

Bremen - Berlin - Weimar: Cooperation between German art collectors and museum directors c. 1900

Wimmer, D. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

In late nineteenth-century Germany, museum friends’ associations and the cultural élite of the industrial centres of Germany supported public art collections, most of which were incorporated into municipal or federal agencies and governed by administrative experts such as Wilhelm von Bode (1845–1929) in Berlin and Gustav Pauli (1866–1938) in Bremen. The majority of German art collectors around 1900 relied not only on the expertise but also on the guidance of these museum directors as ‘public authorities’. This paper will explore how different individual and political preconditions, collecting strategies and forms of art mediation in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German art collecting in Bremen, Berlin and Weimar affected the interaction between museum directors, commercial agents and individuals of the old and new social élites, motivated by a form of philanthropic social and cultural accountability as well as by the pursuit of an established social position.

Karl Ernst Osthaus, Folkwang and the 'Hagener Impuls': Transcending the walls of the museum

Schulte, B. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

The term ‘Hagener Impuls’ characterizes two decades in the history of the city of Hagen, when the city was a place of important developments in the arts. Between 1900 and 1921 Karl Ernst Osthaus tried to realize his vision ‘to make beauty once again the dominant force in life’ by several means – as museum founder, patron, agent and organizer in the field of the arts. Osthaus's initiative went beyond merely establishing the Folkwang Museum. The purpose of his ‘cultural mission’ was to improve the social situation in Hagen, an industrial town and Osthaus's birthplace. He placed his faith in art as a means of restructuring social life and set about attracting outstanding artists to Hagen, procuring them commissions, founding an artists’ colony, workshops and a teaching institute. He was particularly interested in architecture and town planning, since these provided the framework for implementing his utopian idea of society as a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’.

The art dealer and collector as visionary: Discovering Vincent van Gogh in Wilhelmine Germany 1900-1914

Grodzinski, V. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

The Berlin Jewish art dealer Paul Cassirer was the main instigator of the creation of a commercial market for Vincent van Gogh in Wilhelmine Germany. The narrative is set against the artist's controversial reception in the Netherlands and in Republican France, and follows his art's progress to Imperial Germany, where it was also received with considerable opposition, culminating in the Vinnen Protest of 1911. By contrast, the country also witnessed the enthusiastic acceptance of Van Gogh's work among liberal museum directors and Cassirer's client-collectors, a small but dedicated circle of modernist art patrons. The paper concludes that Wilhelmine patrons of Van Gogh were leaders of the European visual avant-garde, and by welcoming radical new art, they accepted its ideological component, which became an inspiration in their search for identity and modernity. This was especially the case among German Jewish patrons, who made up a disproportionately high percentage of Van Gogh patrons before 1914.

'I want this collection to be my monument': Henry Clay Frick and the formation of The Frick Collection

Quodbach, E. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), a pioneer in the Pittsburgh coke and steel industries and an enormously successful financier, amassed one of the most magnificent collections of Old Master paintings of America's Gilded Age. The Frick Collection, housed in Frick's mansion in New York City, was bequeathed to the public in 1919 and opened in 1935 as a museum. In this paper, the author explores Frick's tastes and acquisitions, and considers his aspirations, not only as a leading collector in the early twentieth century but also as the founder of The Frick Collection, which he intended to be his ‘monument’

Monument to an industrialist's wife: Helene Kroller-Muller's motives for collecting

Rovers, E. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

With her collection of modern art, the German-Dutch collector Helene Kröller-Müller (1869–1939) founded one of the first museums of modern art in Europe. It seems that the passion with which she collected sprang not so much from her love of art as from a personal pursuit of self-definition and recognition. This pursuit led Kröller-Müller to assemble an extraordinary collection of modern art that included almost 100 paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853–90). It also led to Kröller-Müller's decision to make her collection accessible to the public, to found a museum of modern art and ultimately to leave this museum to the state of The Netherlands. In this way Kröller-Müller contributed to the reception of modern art in Europe.

Collecting connoisseurs and building to house a collection: The intriguing case of Dora Gordine (1895-1991)

Black, J. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

The essay will explore how sculptor Dora Gordine (1895-1991) proved not only skilled in persuading collectors to buy her work, but also in befriending many of the leading European collectors and connoisseurs of her oeuvre. Such friendships conferred upon her a much-needed respectability, for many who knew her well remained unsure as to the exact details of her origins and past life in Eastern Europe. Marriage to the Hon. Richard Hare, allowed Gordine to build for herself, between 1935 and 1936, Dorich House – a miniature Art Deco stately home which served as a highly effective showcase for her work and then later (post World War II) for an impressive collection of nineteenth-century Russian and ancient Oriental objets d’art.

Collecting then and now: The English and some other collectors

Herrmann, F. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:06:12 PDT

This paper sets out to show the generosity of spirit, particularly from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, with which collectors in England enriched the country's museums. This was by piecemeal donations, as well as by the endowment of newly founded establishments, housing entire collections. As far as one can judge today, it was much more often a case of philanthropy than self-gratification. With a few major exceptions, it continued on a much reduced scale in recent times. The mood has changed among some giants of collecting, often those with exceptional commercial talents, for whom self-glorifying philanthropy—and tax advantages—are often the order of the day. This has been particularly true in America, where an extraordinary shift to collecting ‘contemporary’ art has until very recently dominated the scene. Self-glorification was certainly part of that pattern.