Evaluating Your Collection explores the fourteen essential skills that are necessary to assess objects within the world of antiques and collectibles. The book offers an insider’s look into Winterthur’s first director, Charles F. Montgomery’s approaches to examining and rating objects. The author and compiler, Dwight P. Lanmon, uses Montgomery’s system to articulate the importance of having a trained eye and of understanding the object’s place within its period of creation. The releasing of the book was 21 years after the Montgomery’s death, whose fourteen points of connoisseurship would transform the way that curators, collectors, and conservators identify whether an object is fake or genuine. Lanmon’s information is based on Montgomery’s 1961 …show more content…
His writing style is simple; he provides a well-organized book that has ample amount of examples that make it easy to comprehend the fourteen points presented. In addition, Lanmon’s book acknowledging the each point with in-depth analysis and includes various pictures to illustrate the importance of learning to see decorative art objects empirically. The fourteen points of connoisseurship are applicable to any collecting field and the criteria used is Overall Appearance, Form, Ornament, Materials, Finish, Color, Craft Techniques, Trade Practices, Function, Style, Attribution, History of Ownership, Condition, and Evaluation (15). Depending on the object being assessed, some of the criteria will be more relevant than others and have significant value in deciding the authenticity of the item. While the relative importance of evaluating the Form, Craft Techniques and History of Ownership of an object is essential for connoisseurs, thus helping to judge the cultural value to the …show more content…
Connoisseurs must seek out documentation or written evidence of past ownership in order to find the logical relationships of the object before it enters the market (85). A solid, well-proven history of ownership can increase the cultural value of an object because this can help confirm the authenticity through supporting data, primary or secondary (85). The history of ownership allows for connoisseurs to not only trace reliable records to prove the contextual evidence of the object’s origins, but also helps in finding the exact materials made to construct the object and reveals the trading practices that provide evidence for its former history with physical documentation. Furthermore, history of ownership is essential in giving valuable, first-hand evidence of the object’s authenticity. It’s hard not to appreciate Lanmon’s straightforward style, however, the book is for beginners and general readers who are curious about the art of collecting, therefore not for serious intermediate or experts whose knowledge of collecting is above basic skills. Nevertheless, the book is well structured and thoughtful in its execution. As antique & collectible books go, Evaluating Your Collection is impactful in its detailing
If the above mentioned paintings do not sound intriguing, the Frick’s remarkable holdings also include works by David, Goya, Renoir, Bruegel, and Velasquez. However, its collection is not limited to paintings only as significant sculptures like Bernini’s “Head of an Angel” from 1655 and Clodion’s ”Zephyrus and Flora” from 1799 can be found there as well. Along with these sculptures, an extensive collection of Italian bronzes and eighteenth century furniture combine to create a museum which although is small in size compared to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, makes up for it with an extensive collection of carefully selected pieces from some of the world’s most renowned artists.
Many works of art can be considered artifacts that hold volumes of information regarding the culture of the people that created them and the historical context in which they lived.
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
In addition to the notably simplistic design, the collection itself provides access to a remarkable breadth and depth of both classic and contempora...
As the tour of the museum began, it was easily noticed that all of the objects on display were placed behind thick glass cases. Many plaques inside of the case provide the visitor with information about the specific case that is being looked at. In most cases the plaques didn’t so much provide an elaboration on the pieces, but rather expand upon the historical context of the pieces. Also, the plaques shed light onto muc...
However, the artefacts brought to England from Benin in 1897 were an anomaly. The craftsmanship and sophistication were such that some were reminiscent of the beautiful figures in the Hofkiche, Innsbruck 1502-1563 (plate 3.1.12. Visited...
Baxandall specified his discussion about the problem by supposing that the displays of the gallery were permanent and conservative, which means that the main artifact served for inspection laid in the center of the galley around with additional elements. He also assumed that the viewers were educational members of a developed society, who both enjoyed the expected interesting object view and the functional purpose of the artifacts. After illustrating the assumption, he raised up the main question that different viewers with different cultural background may have different ideas about the artifact. This complicating position was not only the result from the viewers, but also from the object itself and the arrangers of the exhibition. The assumption is strong and will be discussed later.
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
Characteristics of Art Deco are not easily defined because the term Art Deco describes a lot of styles ranging from ancient arts and French’s decorative arts to the modern arts. It can be described as the artifacts’ body including inspired works by the past cultures and Avant-grade arts but not copied from high style traditions and history. All these started at the first appearance of Art Deco at World’s Fair Paris in 1925 and has greatly influenced and inspired Art Deco (Arwas, et al., 1996). This term Art Deco is derived from the French word “Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes”
When comparing two relatively similar artistic objects from the same culture, there will invariably be similarities and differences between the two pieces. This is the case when analyzing a Dou Vessel from late 5th to early 4th century BCE China as well as a Zun Vessel from 13th century BCE. Both objects have similar purposes as well as certain aspects of design. However, they differ on other points of design and are also dramatically different in size. The parallels and distinctions of the two pieces are reflective of the cultural disparities and different methods of manufacturing during the two eras of creation.
The metropolitan museum is the largest art museum in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. Upon going to the museum I found myself wondering how I can choose three artifacts out of nearly a million different relics. After spending countless hours roaming the three story museum and looking at the vast amount of artifacts I found myself overwhelmed with inspiration to write this analysis. The only dilemma was how one can narrow down the selection to three relics out of hundreds of thousands. After sometime I picked the three relics that I found interesting, spiritual, and showed a significance in modern and ancient history. The three relicts I will discuss in this essay are the following; Family Tree, Emperor’s Twelve-Symbol Robe, and lastly Mans Shirt, these three artifacts show in my opinion how god, the spirit and the universe all reflect upon the individual wearing the clothing/stories painted upon the person.
In this article, David Grann examines the work of Peter Paul Biro in an art authentication in a delightful heading “The Mark of a Masterpiece” (Grann 1). Notably, Biro had a claim that he has innovatively designed a camera that is above any available camera. This brings to the understanding that this character is using his own professionalism and ideas to achieve what he wants to. As a fact, he scooped a dozen of fortune, including DARPA, NASA, several universities, and R. and D fortune from numerous departments of about five hundred technology companies all of which are from his own effort. Therefore, we can speculate that Grann was a genius who used the same gift towards his success. Moreover, at his thirty years, he smartly developed a suitable computer science that would process high definitive data. In fact, he had mastery of both DNA analysis, and fingerprint forensics alongside a comprehensive understanding of both art conservation and art history (Grann 2). With his professionalism, Grann contributed in the world of art. He once said everyone would only seek to see what he or she wants to see from portraits or painting; a view that is shared by other authors. Therefore, conclusively we can say that Biro’s ideology as described by the author; as a single genius compounds his human idiosyncrasy that is within his awareness and exploitation ability that is characteristic of the elites of the world of art. The artistic works are compounded in individual’s professionalism and understanding, which also determines their understanding and interpretation of such work and this, has been controversially demonstrated by different authors and moviemakers as they address same school.
In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains that fifteenth-century Italian art is a “deposit” resulting from the commercial interaction between the artist and the purchaser, who he refers to as a client. These works, as such, are “fossils of economic life,” and money, and they play an important role in the history of art. In our current perception of the relationship between the artist and art, “painters paint what they think is best, and then look around for a buyer” . However in the past, especially during the Renaissance period, the customers determined the content and form of paintings, as it was them who commissioned the work before it was created. He states that the artists and clients were interconnected and a legal agreement was drawn up specifying subject matter, payment scheme and the quality and quantity of colors, which would influence the artist’s painting style. Baxandall not only looks at the explanation of the style of painting that reflects a society, but also engages in the visual skills and habits that develop out of daily life. The author examines the situations between the painter and client within the commercial, religious, perceptual, and social institutions, centrally focusing on markets, materials, visual practices, and the concept of the Renaissance period, which saw art as an institution. Baxandall notes that Renaissance paintings also relate to the clients’ motives through such ways as possession, self-commemoration, civic consciousness, and self-advertisement. The author considers works of a wide variety of artistic painters, for instance, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, and numerous others. He defines and exemplifies fiftee...
The attempt to base a standard for assessing the value of works of art upon sentiment (the feeling of pleasure or displeasure) was famously made by David Hume in his essay "Of the Standard of Taste." Hume's attempt is generally regarded as fundamentally important in the project of explaining the nature of value judgements in the arts by means of an empirical, rather than a priori, relation. Recently, Hume's argument has been strongly criticized by Malcolm Budd in his book Values of Art. Budd contends that Hume utterly fails to show how any given value judgement in the arts can be more warranted or appropriate than any other if aesthetic judgements are determined by sentiment. This is a remarkable charge, since Hume explicitly sets out to introduce an aesthetic standard for "confirming one sentiment and condemning another." I examine Budd's arguments and conclude that Hume's position-and the empiricist tradition that it inaugurated-can withstand them.
...ver thrift study edition. mineola, new york, ny: Dover publications, 1995. 226., . . Print.