Publications by Michaela Watrelot
The Society for the History of Collecting
Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 2020, 2020
Rudolphe Kann (1844–1905) was a prominent art collector of the late 19th Century, who in the span... more Rudolphe Kann (1844–1905) was a prominent art collector of the late 19th Century, who in the span of over twenty-five years, built one of the most significant private art collections in Europe. This paper is predominantly based on the thorough analysis of previously unpublished correspondence between Rudolphe Kann and his trusted advisor Wilhelm Bode, spanning between the years 1887 and 1905, preserved at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Zentralarchiv. My contribution focuses on exploring Kann’s collecting practices, Bode’s role as an advisor, taking into account his position as the director of Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum and clarifying the kinds of benefits he sought in return for his advisory services. Furthermore this contribution outlines the circumstances of the sale of Kann’s collection to company Duveen in 1907, presented from the perspective of Wilhelm Bode, illustrating the process of negotiating the sale’s conditions and further exploring Bode’s relationships with the members of the Kann family and with Joseph Duveen, highlighting all acquisition Bode managed to include in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum following the sale.
Object provenance is often approached as a linear chain of ownership. Recent increasing interest... more Object provenance is often approached as a linear chain of ownership. Recent increasing interest and research in art market studies—the dealers, mediators, advisors, taste makers, etc.—indicate the transaction of art and decorative art is anything but linear. This volume takes as its point of departure two of the most active agents of the late 19C: the German Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929) and the Florentine Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), whose immensely successful careers depended upon vast and intricate social and professional networks which heavily overlapped. Both men were responsible for placing thousands of objects in public and private collections throughout Europe and America. Although both Bardini and Bode distinguished themselves in terms of sheer quantity of transactions and expertise, they also defined themselves by the high quality of the objects and the sophistication of their mutual global network. On the basis of archival material, the essays in this volume examine the minutiae of the behind-the-scene aspects of object transaction within their broader context. In doing so, they offer alternative areas of inquiry for the mapping of objects as they were exchanged over time and place.
Conference Presentations by Michaela Watrelot
Nevidíme, co nevíme. Sborník mezinárodní konference studentů doktorských programů, 26. Dubna 2018, Praha, Katolická teologická fakulta, Univerzita Karlova., 2018
V mojom príspevku sa zameriam na načrtnutie okolností predaja umeleckej zbierky Rudolfa Kanna z p... more V mojom príspevku sa zameriam na načrtnutie okolností predaja umeleckej zbierky Rudolfa Kanna z pohľadu vtedajšieho riaditeľa Berlínskych múzeí a uznávaného znalca umenia starých majstrov, Wilhelma von Bodeho.
Papers by Michaela Watrelot
Wilhelm von Bode and the American Art Market
BRILL eBooks, Nov 28, 2022
Wilhelm von Bode a medzinárodný trh s umením: nepublikovaná korešpondencia s Rudolphom Kann a Jos... more Wilhelm von Bode a medzinárodný trh s umením: nepublikovaná korešpondencia s Rudolphom Kann a Josephom Duveenom. Predkladaná dizertačná práca sa zaoberá problematikou Európskeho a Amerického medzinárodného trhu s umením a ich vzájomných vplyvov na prelome 19.a 20. storočia, prezentovaných z pohľadu Wilhelma von Bodeho, svetovo uznávaného znalca umenia a vtedajšieho riaditeľa Berlínskych múzeí a to primárne skrze optiku jeho vzťahu so súkromným zberateľom Rudolphom Kannom a dílerom Josephom Duveenom. Svojho času bola zbierka Rudolpha Kanna jednou z najvýznamnejších súkromných zbierok v Európe avšak nikdy jej nebola venovaná v odborných kruhoch systematická pozornosť. Predkladaná práca preto predstavuje najkomplexnejšiu snahu o rekonštrukciu zbierky od čias vydania Bodeho katalógu z roku 1907. Wilhelm Bode sa aktívne podieľal na jej budovaní, o čom svedčí aj veľké množstvo doposiaľ nepublikovanej korešpondencie medzi Bodem a Kannom, ktorá tvorila základ odborného výskumu k predkladane...
Wilhelm von Bode and the International Art Market: the Unpublished Correspondence with Rudolphe K... more Wilhelm von Bode and the International Art Market: the Unpublished Correspondence with Rudolphe Kann and Joseph Duveen This dissertation explores changing trends in the European and American art market in the late 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuries, in particular their influences, presented from the perspective of Wilhelm von Bode, renowned connoisseur and, at the time, director general of the Berlin Museums and explored predominantly through his relationship with the private collector Rudolphe Kann and art dealer Joseph Duveen. At the time, the collection of Rudolphe Kann was considered to be one of the most refined among the European private collections, yet it hasn’t received much attention by contemporary scholars. This dissertation therefore offers the most systematic review of Kann’s collection since 1907, the year when Bode compiled the revised catalogue. Wilhelm Bode was actively involved in building the Kann collection, as shown by the extensive numbers of pri...
Object provenance is often approached as a linear chain of ownership. Recent increasing interest ... more Object provenance is often approached as a linear chain of ownership. Recent increasing interest and research in art market studies—the dealers, mediators, advisors, taste makers, etc.—indicate the transaction of art and decorative art is anything but linear. This volume takes as its point of departure two of the most active agents of the late 19C: the German Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929) and the Florentine Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), whose immensely successful careers depended upon vast and intricate social and professional networks which heavily overlapped. Both men were responsible for placing thousands of objects in public and private collections throughout Europe and America. Although both Bardini and Bode distinguished themselves in terms of sheer quantity of transactions and expertise, they also defined themselves by the high quality of the objects and the sophistication of their mutual global network. On the basis of archival material, the essays in this volume examine the minutiae of the behind-the-scene aspects of object transaction within their broader context. In doing so, they offer alternative areas of inquiry for the mapping of objects as they were exchanged over time and place.
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Publications by Michaela Watrelot
Conference Presentations by Michaela Watrelot
Papers by Michaela Watrelot