Centre for the Study of the Art and Antiques Market holds inaugural conference this month
Centre for the Study of the Art and Antiques Market holds inaugural conference this month
The Centre for the Study of the Art and Antiques Market is looking forward to hosting its inaugural academic conference later this month, Private Collecting and Public Display: Art Markets & Museums.
This two-day international conference investigates the relationships between ‘private’ collections of art (fine art, decorative art and antiquities) and the changing dynamics of their display in ‘public’ exhibitions and museums. This shift from ‘private’ to ‘public’ involves a complex dialectic of socio-cultural forces, together with an increasing engagement with the art market.
The conference aims to explore the relationship between the ‘private’ and ‘public’ spheres of the home and the museum, and to situate this within the scholarship of the histories of the art market and collecting.
The event is organised by PhD students from the Centre for the Study of the Art and Antiques Market (based in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies), along with Centre Director Dr Mark Westgarth. It promises to be an exciting and thought-provoking conference, showcasing new research from doctoral students, early career researchers, curators and established academics.
Organiser Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth said:
“This is a very exciting conference programme with seven themed panels exploring a variety of topics relating to the private collecting and public display of art from the eighteenth century onwards.
“Themes include: the birth of museums; interdependent relationships between dealers and collectors; notions of value and ‘museum quality’; current museum practices; controversial cases of deaccessioning when art moves from the museum back onto the art market; and the future of the art market.
“We have a fantastic line-up of international speakers, from institutions such as the Frick Collection, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and both Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
We are delighted to have Dr Susanna Avery-Quash, Senior Research Curator (History of Collecting) from the National Gallery in London, as our keynote lecturer. Dr Avery-Quash has been extremely supportive of this conference and is a champion of the Centre as a whole.
“As this is the inaugural conference of the research Centre, it has been fantastic to see such a warm response to the programme and conference places are selling well. It promises to be an illuminating couple of days.”
The conference takes place on 30 and 31 March 2017. All are welcome.
