Still lifes are often considered a minor genre or a plain subject of study; in fact, the genre is not as static and silent as we think. In the nineteenth century, the genre revealed the intimate bonds that united several Impressionist painters. As discreet witnesses to the daily life of these artists, still lifes can […]
The Things of Friendship Read More »
‘Reviving the Archive’ Symposium
September 19, 2019
The Wildenstein Plattner Institute—in partnership with the Freie Universität Berlin, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), and the Museum Barberini in Potsdam—sponsored a symposium on the current state of art historical archives in Europe. Reviving the Archive: Material Records in the Digital Age brought together a diverse group of art historians, scholars, archivists, and curators for a day of panels and talks to address the demand for greater accessibility to archival materials. The surfeit of historically-valuable archival material which remains isolated and under restricted access is striking. The impetus for change is even more urgent in light of the increasing scrutiny on the provenance of individual works of art; facilitating access to information needs to be prioritized amongst the stewards of archival materials.
WPI’s Symposium ‘Reviving the Archive’ at the Museum Barberini Read More »
The Catalogue Raisonné: Archives and Documentation in the Digital Age
July 10, 2019
The Wildenstein Plattner Institute had the pleasure of participating in the landmark colloquium, “The Catalogue Raisonné: Archives and Documentation in the Digital Age,” held at The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan. During the day’s proceedings, our team members showcased highlights from our newly-digitized archives and demonstrated the capabilities of our interactive cataloguing and archiving tool, CAT. We were honored to discuss our work in this prestigious forum, where the preservation of cultural heritage was of chief importance.
The Catalogue Raisonné: Archives and Documentation in the Digital Age Read More »
Almost 150 years ago, Théodore Duret (1838-1927), a defender of the Impressionists, went on a world tour with Henry Cernuschi.1 It was on this fateful tour, from 1871 to 1872, that Duret encountered the arts of Japan. Of the first stops in London and the United States, Duret left no written record of his travels.
Théodore Duret in Japan Read More »
The Reception of the Riviera Paintings As we discovered previously, Monet’s encounter with the Mediterranean coast was torn between a fascination for its lush vegetation and the difficulty to render the atmosphere of the Riviera. Upon returning to Giverny in late April 1884, Monet felt apprehensive of his paintings’ critical reception, but in fact was
Claude Monet’s Encounter with the Mediterranean – Part 2 Read More »
In December 1883, Claude Monet left Giverny and traveled to the French and Italian Rivieras for one week with his friend and fellow Impressionist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Following Monet’s military service in Algeria twenty years earlier, he had become an avid traveler. Monet realized a number of works during visits to England in 1870 and the
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