The Role of Art & Antique Dealers An Added Value
Around this time, a number of important marchands merciers (decorative art dealers) also developed, such as Lazare Duvaux, Simon-Philippe Poirier and Dominique Daguerre. Daguerre was important in linking the French and British markets, acting simultaneously as the agent for Wedgwood in Paris and the Sèvres factory in London.
The rise of the British market was also aided by the increasing popularity of art publishing and print selling. The passing of the Engraving Copyright Act in 1735 (often called the Hogarth Act) extended intellectual-property law from literature to the visual arts, and proved to be a vital step in maintaining artistic quality within London’s nascent market. This sector was promoted by dealers such as William Hogarth, Arthur Pond, John Boydell and others.
Another important factor in the development of the London market was the formation of academies and societies of artists, beginning with portrait artist Sir Godfrey Kneller’s Academy in 1711 and culminating in the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. The French Revolution also caused some downturn in the French art market to the benefit of London dealers, with names such as William Buchanan, John Smith, Thomas Agnew, Paul Colnaghi and Giovanni Battista Torres all opening for business in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
During the 18th century auctions also had become a regular part of the Paris and London art
trade. Auctions in France had to be conducted by an official called a commisseur-priseur, a law that survived until 2000 when EU regulations forced it to open to competition in line with the rest of Europe. In Britain, the first picture auction occurred in London in 1682. James Christie founded Christie’s in 1766, and Sotheby’s started auctioning books in 1744, only diversifying into art and antiques much later in the 1900s, while Bonham’s and Phillips also opened in 1793 and 1796 respectively. These auction houses benefitted greatly from the French Revolution as works from many great French collections were sold off in Britain, damaging Paris’s position as the leader of the European art trade and leading to increased supply on the London market.
The British art market expanded during the second half of the 18th century, and dealers were
pivotal in escalating the importance and prices of Modern and Contemporary art. Prominent dealers such as Ernest Gambart actively promoted Contemporary artists both by holding large commercial exhibitions of their works which were open, on paying an entry fee, to wealthier collectors, and also by marketing engravings and reproductions of their works to a wider public.
A number of factors over the late 1800s, including the birth of the important Impressionist era and the decline of English patronage, led to a geographic shift in the art market from London to Paris, particularly for the avant-garde, and Paris enjoyed the position as cultural capital for a period. Early promoters of the avant-garde included dealers such as John Arrowsmith and more mainstream figures in the French Contemporary art market including publisher Théodore Vibert, print dealer and publisher Alfred Cadart, and Adolphe Goupil, who was one the first French dealers to enter the market in the US.
Historical & Future Perspectives 11
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