Cantor Arts Center

Studio, Shop, Cabinet, Gallery: Spaces for Experiencing Art in Europe, 1600-1800

Even before public and private art museums proliferated in Europe during the 19th century, artists illustrated the sites where art was made, exhibited, and sold. They reacted to the popularity of emerging public venues for art, and the excitement these sites generated about seeing, discussing, and collecting art. Beyond the familiar and visually rich subject of the artist’s studio, artists explored the academy’s exhibition spaces and classrooms, the auction house, commercial galleries, and the collector’s cabinet. Some draftsmen faithfully rendered these spaces, recording the details and interactions of an art world that was rapidly expanding and becoming increasingly international. In contrast, others used these places as the premise for a fantasy picture or a symbolic meditation on the greater significance of art production and appreciation.

The emergence of more new spaces for art had broad economic and social implications. Consequently, within this genre of images, great attention was paid to depictions of both artists and collectors. The images featured here consistently present artists as worthy of respect, emphasizing that they worked with their minds and not just with their skilled hands. They often appear dressed like wealthy gentleman, not lowly workers sullied by paint, printer’s ink, or dust. Connoisseurs are depicted as worldly brokers of cultural influence—or satirized as fools who squint at details rather than appreciate the entire work as the artist had intended.

Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, PhD, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator, and Director of the Curatorial Fellowship Program

Showing 1 to 15 of 15 Records

A collector examining a drawing

Artist unknown
Brown wash over graphite on paper
18th C. England
1980.13

Key to "The Royal Academy of Arts"

Artist unknown
Engraving
18th C. England
1975.142.2

Study for the subscription ticket for an engraving after John Singleton Copley's "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar, 14th September 1782"

Francesco Bartolozzi
Pen and ink with brush and wash, over graphite on paper
18th C. England
1983.260

The Engraver and the Etcher

Abraham Bosse
Engraving and etching
17th C. France
1994.17

Trade Card of Henri-Louis Basan

Pierre-Philippe Choffard
Etching
18th C. France
1969.72

The Connoisseur and Tired Boy

Philip Dawe
Mezzotint
18th C. England
2013.2

The Royal Academy of Arts

Richard Earlom
Mezzotint
18th C. Great Britain (England)
1975.142.1

Image of Catalog of the various curiosities in the Cabinet of the late Mr. Quentin Lorangère (Catalogue raisonné des diverses curiosités du cabinet de feu M. Quentin de Lorangère)

Catalog of the various curiosities in the Cabinet of the late Mr. Quentin Lorangère (Catalogue raisonné des diverses curiosités du cabinet de feu M. Quentin de Lorangère)

Edmé François Gersaint
Illustrated book with etching
18th C. France Illustrated Book
1986.99

A Peep at Christies; -or-Tally-ho, and his Nimeny-pimmeney taking the Morning Lounge

James Gillray
Colored etching and aquatint
18th C. England
1979.10

The Life Class of the Vienna Academy

Johann Jacobé
Mezzotint
18th C. Austria
1986.277

A Catalogue of Plates

Arnold de Jode
Etching and typeface
17th C. Flanders (now Belgium)
1988.123

Exhibition in the Louvre in 1787 (Exposition au Salon du Louvre en 1787)

Pietro Antonio Martini
Etching and engraving
18th C. Italy
1975.35

Members of the Society of Dilettanti

William Say
Mezzotint
18th C. England
1979.54

Members of the Society of Dilettanti

Charles Turner
Mezzotint
18th C. England
1979.53

Portrait of Jacob Moelaert

Nicolaas Verkolje
Mezzotint
17th C. the Netherlands
1976.142

Your current search criteria is: Portfolio is "Studio, Shop, Cabinet, Gallery: Spaces for Experiencing Art in Europe, 1600-1800".

Last updated: 02/28/2021

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced.

The Cantor Arts Center encourages the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. Some images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights.

To purchase a high-resolution digital image for publication, request a high-resolution digital image for study, or request permission to use an image from our website of works in the Cantor Arts Center’s collection, please contact cantor_rightsandrepro@stanford.edu

Studio, Shop, Cabinet, Gallery: Spaces for Experiencing Art in Europe, 1600-1800

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A collector examining a drawing

Key to "The Royal Academy of Arts"

Study for the subscription ticket for an engraving after John Singleton Copley's "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar, 14th September 1782"

The Engraver and the Etcher

Trade Card of Henri-Louis Basan

The Connoisseur and Tired Boy

The Royal Academy of Arts

Catalog of the various curiosities in the Cabinet of the late Mr. Quentin Lorangère (Catalogue raisonné des diverses curiosités du cabinet de feu M. Quentin de Lorangère)

A Peep at Christies; -or-Tally-ho, and his Nimeny-pimmeney taking the Morning Lounge

The Life Class of the Vienna Academy

A Catalogue of Plates

Exhibition in the Louvre in 1787 (Exposition au Salon du Louvre en 1787)

Members of the Society of Dilettanti

Members of the Society of Dilettanti

Portrait of Jacob Moelaert

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