Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Where Connoisseurship Comes From

January 7, 2016 by Marion Maneker

04

This post on The New Republic republished from elsewhere discusses are forgery but includes a pocket background on the history of connoisseurship:

The practice of connoisseurship originates with an Italian physician named Giovanni Morelli, who began publishing essays in German in the 1870s under a Russian name, Ivan Lemorlieff, proposing intuition-based connoisseurship.

Earlier methods had emphasized looking at iconography (study of the meaning of images). Instead, Morelli proposed a system that gave budding connoisseurs a rational, scientific way to make attributions. Focusing on overlooked details like the rendering of ears and hands, the technique placed great reliance on the expert’s capacity to read minute clues in order to extrapolate larger meanings.

His technique of observing neglected features would influence Sigmund Freud as he developed a methodology for interpreting dreams, along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, a detective who solved crimes by looking for clues—like the unique shape of each human ear.

Update: To this Bendor Grosvenor responds on Twitter:

 

Oh no it doesn’t. People have been debating who painted what for centuries. Eg, Charles I asked Van Dyck re Titian. https://t.co/2rGoqlFaWz

— Dr Bendor Grosvenor (@arthistorynews) January 7, 2016

The Secret to All Great Art Forgeries  (New Republic)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Madoura Sale = $8.08mMadoura Sale = $8.08m
  • Indians AdvanceIndians Advance
  • Dear Occupy Museums, Stop Watching Bravo’s Work of Art
  • Bonhams to Offer Dramatic Red-Backed Soulages Painting in March London SaleBonhams to Offer Dramatic Red-Backed Soulages Painting in March London Sale
  • You Don’t Have to Buy Into the Market to Cash In On ItYou Don’t Have to Buy Into the Market to Cash In On It
  • Phillips New Now = $2.85mPhillips New Now = $2.85m

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • Mark Rothko, Tamara de Lempicka, Mickalene Thomas to Star in Phillips London Evening Sale
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • Basquiat's Last Girlfriend
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor