Montreal 2011

CALL FOR PAPERS:

RSA Annual Meeting, 24-26 March 2011, Montreal

Panel: Early Modern Merchants as Collectors

Vincenzo Scamozzi, in his architectural treatise L'Idea dell architettura
universale (1615), described the new galleries for the display of
collections which were becoming a feature of Venetian palazzi. In doing so,
he included details about a select number of the best Venetian collections,
mostly belonging to patricians but also including those of two merchants,
one a native Italian and the other a foreigner from the Low Countries.

This is a relatively early recognition of the importance of merchants as
collectors. Art historians, however, have only relatively recently been
moving beyond their traditional consideration of the artist and the patron
as the principal protagonists in the history of collecting to include the
advisor and broker. As part of this process, merchants, who often acted as
agents for more aristocratic collectors, are now being regarded as
influential collectors in their own right.

This panel aims to present a number of case studies of merchants and their
collections in order to explore similarities among merchants who were also
collectors. It will explore such issues as the cultural premises under
which merchants conducted their businesses and collecting activities, the
economic dynamics of their activities in the art market, and their legacy to
later generations of collectors. Proposals for papers are not limited to
any geographical area or category of collecting, but must address one or
several specific merchants.

Proposals, of not more than 250 words and including their title, along with
a CV and contact details, should be sent to Christina Anderson at
cm.andersonusa.net no later than 10 May 2010.