International two-day symposium on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ANKK

The symposium will take place at the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague. The event is jointly organised by the RKD and the ANKK (German organisation for the Study of Netherlandish Art and Culture / Arbeitskreis Niederländische Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte e.V.). It marks the 10th anniversary of the ANKK as well as the conclusion of the RKD project on 'Nachwirkung' of Dutch and Flemish art in Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Silesia. The basis of this project is the pioneering publication by Horst Gerson (1907-1978), Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Amsterdam 1983, ed. princ. Haarlem 1942), in which the circulation and imitation of Dutch paintings in Europe are processed by country.

From the 17th century on, Germany was a major market for Dutch and Flemish paintings, drawings and prints of the Golden Age. Although this market remains important until the present day, its peak was during the 18th century: Netherlandish art was passionately collected at the numerous courts and in the towns which were centres of commercial activity. As a result, there is more Netherlandish art to be found in Germany today than in any other country.

In this conference several case studies will be presented on key figures of the collection history of Germany, Austria and Bohemia. There will be a focus on networks and the negotiations of collectors, art dealers and agents. With the growth of the collections of Netherlandish art in Germany, connoisseurship and academic discourse developed accordingly: Germany is the cradle of the art history of Dutch and Flemish painting. Last but not least, the focus on Netherlandish art had a significant impact on German artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, who competed with artists from the Netherlands, who had been working in times gone by.

Friday 19 October 2018

9.15–10.45 Section 2: Networks and Negotiations I
• Patrick Larsen (RKD, Associate Researcher)
Jürgen Ovens (1623-1678) as an Art Agent for the Dukes of Gottorf
• Gero Seelig (Staatliches Museum Schwerin)
Building a Princely Art Collection: a Showcase Example from Mecklenburg
• Thomas Döring (Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig)
Prints for Princes. Peter Schenk (1660-1711) as a Printmaker, Publisher and Art Dealer between Amsterdam and Leipzig

11.15–12.15 Section 3: Networks and Negotiations II
• Justus Lange (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel)
Praising and Pricing: Landgrave Wilhelm VIII. of Hessen Kassel (1682-1780)
• Catherine Philips (Norwich)
'Patriotic' Taste: Count Charles Cobenzl (1712-1770) and the Promotion of Flemish Art

13.45–15.15 Section 4: Collecting, Connoisseurship and Academic Discourse
• Stefan Bartilla (Prag)
Dr. Josef Hoser (1770-1848), Sammler, Liebhaber und Forscher
• Ingrid Vermeulen (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam)
A Paper Picture Galley in the Dresden Print Room (c. 1728-1750). Transnational German School Concepts and the Western-European Rivalry of Art
• Anne-Katrin Sors (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
The Emergence of the Academic Discipline Art History from the Art Collection at Göttingen University

15.45–17.15 Section 5: Artists, Collectors and the 'Nachwirkung' of Netherlandish Art
• Lilian Ruhe (Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen)
Rembrandt between Danube and Elbe. Christian Seybold (1695-1768) and his Self-Portrait with the 'Wienerisches Diarium' dated May 26th 1745
• Stefanie Rehm (Universität Kassel)
Rembrandt or Wouwerman? An Anecdote by J.H.W. Tischbein between Connoisseurship and Literary Topos
• Julia Ellinghaus (Wuppertal/Historisches Museum Frankfurt)
How small do you want it? Dutch and Flemish Paintings in the Miniature Cabinet of the Frankfurt baker Johann Valentin Prehn (1749-1821)
• Claudia Hofstee (RKD)
Netherlandish Old Masters as a Driving Force: Felix Wrschowetz (1654-1720) as a patron of Bohemian counterpart pictures