The Splendor of Europe:Art Markets in Antwerp, Amsterdam and London

Sophia WangMiddlebury CollegeStudent SymposiumSpring 2010

Then and Now: What Constitutes an Art Market?

Work of art + Seller + BuyerMiddle Ages – Artist (craftsperson) + Patron (church)Development and expansion of art marketAntwerp –> Amsterdam –> LondonIn this precise order (!)

Antwerp: A Cultural and Economic Interface from the

14th Century

Modern urban diamond, rich and layered pastBoom in the 14th centuryLuxury goods market flourishedImagine: a sixteenth-century Manhattan

Seeds of Market Sown

Rising demand met by increasing numbers of artistsIncreasing mass productionConcentration of laborDecrease in pricesIncrease in demand

Pand: the first open marketSpecialized marketsHeld in warehouses, commercial exchanges or courtyardsOur Lady’s Pand: art pand built by church (pictured below)

1640s: Decline of Antwerp

Seminal Treaty of Münster (pictured above)The Scheldt closed; everyone takes off and goesMake way for Amsterdam

Amsterdam: Cultural and Economic Interface of the 17th

CenturyThe Dutch Golden Age: Intellectual and Financial ProsperityA Republic in Monarchical TimesArtists, Dealers, Public

Top left: Rijksmuseum, housing a large collection of Dutch Golden Age art.Bottom left: Keizersgracht canal.

Rembrandt:Artistic Genius, Financial

Failure?

On the right: self-portrait (1661), oil on canvas.On the left: The Night Watch (1642), oil on canvas.

Background as a Miller’s SonFortune’s Fool: A Poor Manager of FinancesThe Dutch Art Market: Shark-infested WatersCollecting Mania

Pictured above: Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer, (1653), oil on canvas.

London: The Late Bloomer

On the right: Portrait of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1629-30), by Peter Paul Rubens.On the left: Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles (1646), oil on canvas, by Anthony van Dyck.

Despite the astonishing richness of the collections assembled at the court of Charles I and the homes of certain courtiers, London art markets were relatively backwater before the 18th century.

Royal and Fabulously Rich Patrons: Taste for the Antique

Charles I of England (1600-49): patron of the artsThomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646): collector of marbles and antiquitiesDeath of the King: Death of Art?

Growth and Development of the London Art Market

Dutch MigrationLegal Restrictions LoosenedThe Auction: a “fashionable” sales mechanismGoods BarteredBudding Auction Houses

What Is an Art Market?

Art cannot be defined …Can an art market be defined?What does it encompass?