Collecting Medieval Art: Past, Present and Future
SVA Theatre, New York
January 27, 2018
A symposium on the history of collecting medieval art, to be held in celebration of the exhibition ‘Of Earth and Heaven: Art from the Middle Ages’ [January 29–March 10, 2018] at Luhring Augustine in conjunction with Sam Fogg, the world’s leading dealer in medieval art, at the SVA Theatre.
Every surviving art treasure of the Middle Ages has a unique material history spanning centuries. These precious objects have been traded, preserved, restored, lent and loved. Some passed through many hands, others remained untouched and forgotten for generations before returning to the spotlight. These histories of collections and collectors yield valuable insights into the medieval jewels that brighten the private and public art collections of today.
This symposium will consider practices of collecting medieval art in a unique setting, within galleries displaying many of the finest masterpieces of Medieval and Renaissance art still in private hands. Surrounded by monumental works like sections of Canterbury Cathedral’s south transept window and miniature treasures like a thirteenth-century Limoges reliquary chasse, speakers will explore attitudes to collecting medieval art in the past, present and future.
The symposium is free to attend, but guests should RSVP to rsvp@luhringaugustine.com before Wednesday, December 20, 2017 to reserve a place. Email Imogen.Tedbury@courtauld.ac.uk for more information.
PROGRAM
9.30 am Doors open for registration and coffee
9.45am Welcome from Sam Fogg
10.00am Session 1: Collecting and Display
chaired by Dr Sarah Guérin, Assistant Professor, Department of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania
Dr Paul Williamson, FSA, Keeper Emeritus and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum: ‘Showing collections of medieval art: strategies of display, from private to public’
Dr Timothy B. Husband, Curator Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Collecting Medieval Art for The Cloisters: the three that got away’
11.30am Coffee
11.45pm Session 2: Collecting, Cultural Heritage and the Art Market
chaired by Dr Nicholas A. Herman, Curator of Manuscripts, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania Libraries
Dr Martina Bagnoli, Director of the Galleria Estense, Modena: ‘Dealers, Collectors and Curators: a productive relationship in 19th century Italy’
Dr Jack Hinton, Associate Curator, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Dr Amy Gillette, The Barnes Foundation: ‘“A study close at hand of these fine examples of Gothic decoration”: the collecting, interpretation and display of the Taylor collection of English medieval woodcarvings’
13.15 Lunch and chance to view the exhibition at Luhring Augustine
2.30pm Session 3: Collecting Medieval Art, Past and Present
Professor Susie Nash, Deborah Loeb Brice Professor of Renaissance Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art: ‘Collecting art at the Courts of France in the late-fourteenth century’
Sir Paul Ruddock, Trustee of the British Museum, Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, former Chair of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the most prominent of today’s collectors of medieval art, and Dr C. Griffith Mann, Michel David-Weill Curator in charge of the medieval collections at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters: ‘In Conversation: Collecting Medieval Art Today’
3.45pm Closing remarks from Dr C. Griffith Mann, Michel David-Weill, Curator in charge of the medieval collections at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters.
4pm Chance to view the exhibition at Luhring Augustine
Reference: CONF: Collecting Medieval Art (New York, 27 Jan 18). In: ArtHist.net, Dec 15, 2017. <https://arthist.net/archive/17003>.