Books by Kristel Smentek
reviewed in Apollo, The Art Newspaper, Burlington Magazine, French Studies, H-France, Journal of ... more reviewed in Apollo, The Art Newspaper, Burlington Magazine, French Studies, H-France, Journal of the History of Collections, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, Journal of Art Historiography, Print Quarterly, History of Humanities
Edited volumes by Kristel Smentek
A New York Times 2022 Best Art Book of the Year
Articles by Kristel Smentek
Thresholds 47: Repeat, ed. Sarah Rifky and Walker Downey. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2019
Eighteenth-Century Art Worlds: Local and Global Geographies of Art, ed. Stacey Sloboda and Michael Yonan. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019
With over 450 pages, this large volume contains 24 articles by authors who put the diversity and ... more With over 450 pages, this large volume contains 24 articles by authors who put the diversity and range of Heineken's work into a new light. Mainly known for his contribution to the history of engraving, Carl Heinrich von Heineken (1707-1791) was the most influential connoisseur, collector, and scholar living and working at the Dresden court in the mid-eighteenth century. An intimate friend of the Saxon Prime Minister Heinrich von Brühl, he built the count's library as well as his art collections before he become director of the print cabinet of Elector Friedrich August II of Saxony in 1746. In a few years, he managed to complete and rearrange the royal-electoral collection of prints and drawings shaping it into one of the most important European print cabinets. Following the Seven Years' War and Brühl's death, Heineken's involvement with the royal-elector collections aroused suspicions. In 1763, he was accused of having embezzled public funds and legal actions were taken against him. Although he was proved not guilty, he lost his position as director of the print cabinet and retired to his manor in Altdöbern in Lower Lusathia. In his seclusion from the Dresden court, he continued to dedicate himself to art historical research, corresponded with influential scholars throughout Europe and wrote several fundamental treatises about the history of engraving.
One of the more remarkable aspects of eighteenth-century European art is the proliferation of vas... more One of the more remarkable aspects of eighteenth-century European art is the proliferation of vases, both as physical objects and design ideas. From the illustrated volume dedicated to them in Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach's historical survey of architecture, Entwurff einer historischen Architectur (1721), to the near ubiquitous presence of porcelain and hardstone vessels in elite eighteenth-century collections, to their mobilization by caricaturists in the latter half of the century, vases were ever present referents in eighteenth-century European culture. Indeed, it has been claimed that the eighteenth century was seized by a veritable "vasomanie."[1]
In 1766 a set of chinoiserie tapestries produced by the Beauvais manufactory was presented to the... more In 1766 a set of chinoiserie tapestries produced by the Beauvais manufactory was presented to the Qianlong emperor on behalf of the French administration. Chinoiserie has conventionally been understood as a frivolous or superficial European response to China's material culture; viewed from this perspective, the tapestries would seem to be a most unsuitable gift for the emperor. Yet Qianlong not only received the hangings, but he had a European-style palace built to house them. This article examines the circumstances surrounding the French offering, the Chinese priests who brought the gift from France to Beijing, and the meanings the tapestries could communicate in a diplomatic context marked not by official contact between the French and the Qing, but through an informal diplomacy negotiated through objects.
Cosponsored by the Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, and the Freer Galler... more Cosponsored by the Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, and the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Ars Orientalis solicits scholarly manuscripts on the art and archaeology of Asia, including the ancient Near East and the Islamic world. Fostering a broad range of themes and approaches, articles of interest to scholars in diverse fields or disciplines are particularly sought, as are suggestions for occasional thematic issues and reviews of important books in Western or Asian languages. Brief research notes and responses to articles in previous issues of Ars Orientalis will also be considered. Submissions must be in English, with all non-English quotations normally provided in translation.
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Books by Kristel Smentek
Edited volumes by Kristel Smentek
Articles by Kristel Smentek