Quo vadis Provenance Research? Primary Sources and Archival Collections in Post-Unitarian Italy

Research projects dealing with the Italian post-unitary period up to the recent years still face the significant challenge of not only having to locate archival sources, but also of finding a way to access and consult them. The workshop aims to put this issue up for discussion and wishes to promote an open dialogue between international scholars and representatives of research institutions. The focus lies not only on traditional art historical sources such as specified libraries, photographic collections, private estates or institutional archives. It is also intended to include historical and political archives. The aim is to connect various sources and methods of archival work related to the field of provenance research and to identify potential improvements in the provision and the use of archival material (including digital data) in Italy and abroad.

2nd Annual Workshop organized by the Working group Italy of the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. in cooperation with the Photographic Collection of the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History. 

The workshop is generously financed by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

Program

Day 1 (26/9/2024)

13:30
Greetings
Welcome remarks: Katharina Hüls-Valenti (Universität Mainz) & Johannes Röll (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome)

14:00 - 16:00
Photographic collections and their value in provenance research
Chair: Tatjana Bartsch (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome)

Alessandra Giovenco (British School at Rome)| Janet Wade (Macquarie University, Sydney), Photographs, Amulets and Books from Post-unitarian Italy: Agnes and Dora Bulwer’s Legacy to the British School at Rome

Marta Binazzi (I Tatti – The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies | Università degli Studi di Firenze), The Berenson Photo Archive as a tool for provenance research. Mapping the network around the Asian and Islamic art photographic collection.

Elisa Bassetto (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna), Tra arte antica e avanguardia: la collezione Coray nella fototeca di Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti

Francesca Mambelli (Fondazione Federico Zeri – Università di Bologna), Cui prodest provenance data? Strumenti e progetti di valorizzazione della Fondazione Zeri

16:00 - 16:30: Coffee break

16:30 - 18:00
Circulating objects: retracing provenance through dealers’ estates and art market records
Chair: Christian Fuhrmeister (Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich)

Giada Policicchio (Kunsthistorisches Institut, Florence), Riscoprire le fonti di una collezione perduta. La raccolta barocca di Angelo Cecconi a Firenze

Ilaria Trafficante (Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples), Edward Perry Warren e la Lewes House Collection. Il ruolo delle fonti archivistiche nella ricostruzione delle provenienze

Federica De Giambattista (Università Sapienza di Roma), Da Venezia a Berlino: opere d’arte bizantine e medievali vendute a Wilhelm Bode per il Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum dal conte Alvise Bernardino Barozzi

18:30
Keynote Lecture
Lucy Wasensteiner (Junior Professor for Art Historical Provenance Research, University of Bonn), Quo vadis Provenance Research? Reflections on the past and thoughts on the future

Day 2 (27/9/2024)

9:00 - 11:00
Museums and their collecting history: Antiquities, Colonial objects and Asian Art
Chair: Thomas Fröhlich (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome)

Elisa Bernard (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca), Afterlives of Antiquities. The History of the Modern Collecting of Ancient Art in Post-Unitarian Italy’s Museums

Agnese Pergola | Antonella Ferraro | Chiara Giobbe (Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome), Gli Archivi del Museo Nazionale Romano: un progetto di gestione integrata della documentazione storica

Anna Antonini | Carolina Orsini (Comune di Milano - Museo delle Culture MUDEC), Scavare negli archivi, ricostruire storie per una gestione etica del patrimonio proveniente da Asia, Africa America e Oceania: il caso del MUDEC di Milano

Giulia Pra Floriani (Universität Heidelberg), Collecting Artworks for Italian “Orientalists:” Provenance research and the Museum of the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East (1933-1957)

11:00 - 11:30: Coffee break

11:30 - 13:30
Contextualizing provenances: Art, Politics and Protagonists
Chair: Lutz Klinkhammer (Deutsches Historisches Institut in Rom)

Joanna Smalcerz (University of Warsaw), The Art Trade and Policymaking: Researching the Political Clout of Art Dealers in Post-Unification Italy

Flaminia Ferlito (IMT - School for Advanced Studies Lucca), Il patrimonio artistico delle corporazioni religiose del Fondo per il Culto. Musealizzazione e mercato artistico tra Italia e Stati Uniti

Susanna Arangio (Università di Ferrara), La collezione Susmel tra fondi archivistici e il MAGI '900

Gaia Fiorentino (Museo Ebraico di Roma| Università di Siena), La figura di Isaia Levi nelle carte degli Archivi Vaticani

13:30 - 14:30: Lunch break

14:30 - 16:00
Restituting the past: Archival findings on Nazi and Fascist looting in Italy
Chair: Bianca Gaudenzi (Freie Universität Bozen | Deutsches Historisches Institut in Rom)

Marco Cavietti | Maria Idria Gurgo di Castelmenardo (Ministero della Cultura, Rome), Le carte dell’Ufficio diretto da Rodolfo Siviero. Fonti per lo studio della provenienza del patrimonio culturale

Alessandra Barbuto | Micaela Procaccia (Ministero della Cultura, Rome), Ricerche sulla provenienza dei beni culturali sottratti in Italia agli ebrei tra il 1938 e il 1945

Elena Cagiano de Azevedo (Ministero della Cultura, Rome), Investigating Ludwig Pollak’s Legacy: A Digital and Documentary Approach

16:00 - 17:00 Final Discussion

Please follow the workshop also online through our VIMEO CHANNEL:  https://vimeo.com/event/4469488

Scientific Organization: Katharina Hüls-Valenti (Universität Mainz), Johannes Röll (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome), Tatjana Bartsch (Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome), Alice Cazzola (Universität Heidelberg | Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz), Madeleine Schneider (Technische Universität Berlin)