Introduction and Acknowledgments

Brosens, Koenraad

Save Cite Share

Free

Introduction and Acknowledgments

Koenraad Brosens

European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago

IT is with an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction that we put forth this volume, the first scholarly catalogue ever undertaken of the Art Institutes collection of European tapestries. In comparison to the vast numbers of such works held in national collections and distributed among countless museums and institutions worldwide, the Chicago assemblage of tapestries is relatively modest in size....

Author

Koenraad Brosens

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23560

Introduction and Acknowledgments

Christa C. Mayer Thurman

It is with an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction that we put forth this volume, the first scholarly catalogue ever undertaken of the Art Institute's collection of European tapestries. In comparison to the vast numbers of such works held in national collections and distributed among countless museums and institutions worldwide, the Chicago assemblage of tapestries is relatively modest in size. But the museum’s holdings, which grew somewhat miraculously over the past one hundred years, nonetheless include wonderful examples of the art of tapestry weaving and manufacturing. Formed largely through gifts to the Art Institute from donors who themselves never aspired to build comprehensive representations of the art form, the collection still manages to offer many splendid works whose publication here will, we believe, please scholars and art historians who have long sought a catalogue of these largely unknown and underpublished pieces, as well as arouse new interest among the Art Institute’s members, patrons, and visitors. The anticipated opening of the museums Modern Wing in 2009 and the ensuing reinstallation of the permanent collection throughout the other galleries hold forth the possibility that the tapestries presented in this volume may, at long last, begin to be exhibited in spaces suitable for displaying these often immense works of art. Newly conserved—as a result of an extensive thirteen-year undertaking described in this volume these remarkable pieces deserve to be integrated with related works of art. The showcasing of these tapestries would then be a fitting tribute to the donors who were principally responsible for building the museums collection, those present-day supporters of the Art Institute who have made possible the conservation of the works and this publication, and the individual scholars whose contributions to this volume have opened up the story of these tapestries for visitors and readers alike.

Although many people consider tapestries a component of the decorative arts, tapestry research, like the study of paintings, the field to which it is most closely related in subject matter and scale, presents a complex topic. Yet art historians have by and large touched upon it only occasionally and arbitrarily, preferring—when they do turn to the topic—to concern themselves only with the style of the pieces and the sources of their designs. Quite a different approach has been reflected in the work of textile historians, curators, and conservators, because they typically choose to emphasize fabric structures, looms, weavers, and manufacturers. Commerce, economics, and the market are yet other subjects that some studies have taken up. Unfortunately, the adoption of one approach seems frequently to have precluded the inclusion of others. In this volume an effort has been made to draw upon many different approaches and to address various topics.

As the manufacturing of tapestries was a European phenomenon, the expertise in this field can be principally traced to Europe, where the study of these textiles has long been pursued as a scholarly discipline. Only infrequently has serious study of the medium been an option for those attending American universities. On the rare occasion when a student surfaced with a desire to write a dissertation on a tapestry-related topic under the guidance of an art historian, it was inevitable that a critical advisor and reader be selected from the international roster of tapestry scholars. The European individuals who belong to this small and specialized group are thus in high demand. Even rarer are those who have had extensive contact with actual tapestry collections. In recent times Guy Delmarcel has been an exemplar of this select group. Since 1003 he has been professor emeritus of the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, but before that he succeeded the distinguished Jean-Paul Asselberghs (1935–1973) as Curator of Tapestries and Textiles at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. A part-time position Delmarcel assumed in 1973 turned into full-time employment from 1975 to 1990. His career took a turn in 1990, however, when he transferred to the Katholieke Universiteit, where he taught art history and the decorative arts, including the vast subject of tapestry, until his retirement in 2003. He thus brings together not only the expertise gained from having curated a tapestry collection but also the experience of teaching students, linking historical knowledge with his curatorial hands-on practice. To this day Guy Delmarcel continues just as passionately and relentlessly with his research. Familiar with and concerned for decades about the unpublished Chicago collection, he was the logical choice to serve as external reader for this volume and to contribute its foreword. The Art Institute and this curator owe him great thanks.

While teaching in Leuven, Delmarcel passed on his passion for tapestry to a number of those who sat at his feet. His tireless search for primary documents and his ability to sift them for nuggets of information, coupled with his remarkable facility with languages, enabled him to correct errors and misunderstandings that had long limited the comprehension and appreciation of tapestries in many countries. Fortunately, his approach took hold in a younger generation of scholars. One of his last and most outstanding students is Koenraad Brosens, who wrote his dissertation under Delmarcel in Leuven and is presently both a postdoctoral fellow for the Belgian Scientific Research Fund (F.W.O.-Vlaanderen) and a Visiting Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven. ’The Art Institute was fortunate that just at the time when the publication of its tapestry collection could finally be undertaken this bright young scholar appeared on the horizon. Through an arrangement with the Belgian Scientific Research Fund and the university, Koenraad Brosens was able to assume the responsibility of principal author of this volume. As the largest component of the Chicago collection is of Northern European origin, Brosens’s appointment was ideal for the “Chicago Tapestry Project.” Taking a collection that was haphazardly catalogued or miscatalogued, he mined archives in Belgium and Paris as he pursued connections between Flanders and France and brought forth much new information. His monumental contributions to this catalogue are evident throughout, and I am immensely indebted to Koen for enabling the Art Institute to realize a dream that this curator has nurtured for decades.

But as the Art Institute’s collection includes examples of tapestry weaving from other times and places, Guy Delmarcel, Koen Brosens, and I decided to invite other tapestry scholars with particular expertise to participate in this project, so that their scholarship could be incorporated in this volume. Thus, Pascal-Francois Bertrand, Professeur d’Histoire de I’Art Moderno, Université de Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3, France; Charissa Bremer-David, Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Elizabeth Cleland, Leo and Julia Forchheimer Research Fellow, Antonio Ratti Textile Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Nello Forti Grazzini, independent scholar, Milan, joined the team during the project’s last years. Their contributions speak for themselves, and I am profoundly grateful to each of them.

Yet finding the right scholars for this publication was only part of the challenge, for this long-awaited venture was closely tied to a costly and absolutely essential conservation program involving the works in the Art Institute’s collection. After a twenty-five-year search, this effort culminated in the selection of what I believe was the right laboratory, the De Wit Royal Manufacturers in Mechelen, Belgium, operated under the direction of Yvan Maes De Wit. This aspect of the overall project began with my introduction to the director in the early 1990s. I followed up by taking one tapestry to Mechelen as a trial piece in 1995. The treatment of this tapestry proved to be a great success, and I liked and admired the De Wit approach to conservation and the complete, in-house system the firm had developed. Little by little, as funding was raised piecemeal, tapping support from individuals and groups of different sorts, we have over the last thirteen years achieved something extraordinary: the cleaning, conservation. and relining of seventy-eight of the tapestries presented in this book. The leadership of the Committee on Textiles—under Chairman of the Board of Trustees and, at the time, Chairman of the Committee John H. Bryan—was invaluable. Armen Minasian, a member of the Committee, suggested we start with one piece, hoping, even confident, that other Textile Committee members and other museum groups would follow suit and pledge their support. Ultimately, a subcommittee charged with the task of enlisting others to “adopt a tapestry” was formed with Shirley Welsh Ryan (who succeeded John H. Bryan as Chairman of the Committee), Joseph W. Fell, and Armen Minasian. In the end, a number of individuals and organizations underwrote the conservation treatment of the tapestries presented in this volume. They are acknowledged under the appropriate entries in the catalogue proper, but for their financial assistance I here wish to express our sincere thanks to Nathalie W. Alberts, Neville Bryan, Joseph W. Fell, Barbara Franke, Donna McKinney, Armen Minasian, Janis Notz, Shirley Welsh Ryan, Alice Welsh Skilling, and Nicole Williams, as well as to the following organizations: the Antiquarian Society of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Rosemarie and Dean Buntrock Foundation; the Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Fatz Foundation; the Malott Family Foundation in loving memory of Elizabeth Hubert Malott; the City of Oudenaarde, Belgium; the Textile Society of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Textile Society Trip Fund; and the James Tigerman Estate. In addition, the Community Associates generously provided a special grant to cover the cost of the expensive color separations used in the production of this book.

All the pieces that required conservation underwent the treatment process in Belgium. The accomplishments of Yvan Maes De Wit and his team of technicians have been remarkable, for they were able to resolve many tricky problems and challenges that the Art Institute’s collection presented them. We acknowledge their expertise and are most grateful for the care the collection received in Mechelen over many years. In addition to Yvan Maes De Wit, I wish to thank the other members of his staff, led by Veerle De Wachter, head of the workshop: An Volckaert and Paul Michielssen, academic advisors; as well as Els Danckaers, Lien De Puysseleyr, Patricia Jonckers. Maria Peeters, Olga Solovova, Ann Van Beveren, Véronique Van den Abbeele, Nelly Van den Brande, Bie Van Gastel, Sandra Vanhille, Sabine Verdickt, Ingrid Van Kelst, Paula Smets, and Mariëtte Wyckmans. Yvan Maes De Wit has also graciously contributed an essay to this book in which he describes in detail the treatment of the Art Institute’s tapestries in Mechelen (see pp. 21–29). Thanks are also due to Alain and Nathalie Speltdoorn of Brussels, who performed the post-conservation photography.

In 2004 a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided the Art Institute the essential funding for the publication of this volume, ensuring that Koenraad Brosens and the additional authors could participate. That same year the museum authorized the Department of Textiles to hire Odile Joassin, Associate Research Assistant, for four years. Odile pursued her responsibilities admirably and tirelessly throughout the preparation of entries and the planning of the accompanying exhibition. She made valuable contributions through her provenance and curatorial research, and acted as liaison to all the authors involved in this publication. She was indeed a vital member of the “Chicago Tapestry Project.”

The Getty Visiting Research Scholar Program presented me with an uninterrupted three-month residency in 2004 at the J. Paul Getty Museum to devote myself to this undertaking. During that time, much support and assistance was provided by Charissa Bremer-David of the Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Located at the Getty are the major components of the French and Company photographic archives and ledger books, which proved to be critical for this project, along with the museum’s own special collections, including an extraordinary database on tapestries and microfilm copies of the collection records of William Randolph Hearst and of the noted fine art dealership Duveen Brothers, as well as almost 100,000 auction catalogs, and various resources for provenance research, along with photographic documentation pertaining to historic tapestries. Among those who assisted me while at the Getty, I want to thank in particular Wim De Wit, Head, Special Collections and Visual Resources; Martha Steele, Special Collections Cataloger; Sabine Schlosser, Scholar Program Associate; and especially Karen Guntermann, Research Assistant. Additional thanks go to Charles Salas, Head, Research and Education; Deborah Gribbon, Director of the Getty Museum at the time; and the late Thomas Crow, who was then Director of the Getty Research Institute. Furthermore, I was ably assisted in my examination of French and Company material in 1995 by Onica Busuioceanu, former Senior Special Collections Cataloger at the Getty Research Institute, when the Getty Archives were at their previous location in Santa Monica.

Of related significance were the tapestry files at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, made available through Curator Shelley Bennett; the tapestry files at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, made available through Sharon Takeda, Senior Curator and Department Head, Costumes and Textiles; and the collection records at the Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California, made available through Curator Jana Seely. I am also grateful to Thomas P. Campbell, Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Supervising Curator, Antonio Ratti Textile Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and to Ian Wardropper, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Chairman, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who made available additional French and Company photographic albums, as well as the Edith A. Standen Tapestry Research Files at the Metropolitan Museum, and the tapestry database of the Ratti Center.

At the Art Institute my endeavors have been supported by Jack P. Brown, Executive Director of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries; Bart Ryckbosch, Archivist; and the staff of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries; and by my colleagues Martha Wolff, Eleanor Wood Prince Curator of European Paintings before 1750, Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture; Suzanne McCullagh, Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Martha Tedeschi, Curator of Prints and Drawings, both in the Department of Prints and Drawings; and Richard F. Townsend, Chair, Department of African and Amerindian Art; along with former colleagues Robert E. Mars, Edward W. Horner, Jr., and Patricia Woodworth, who were most supportive in their respective capacities during the time they worked at the Art Institute. Further thanks go to those in the Office of the President and Director, specifically to Dorothy Schroeder, Vice President for Exhibitions and Museum Administration, and Meredith Mack, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer; and to those in the museums legal department: Julie Getzels, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, and Maria Simon, Associate General Counsel.

I am also indebted to members of the Publications Department, led by Susan F. Rossen, Executive Director. First and foremost, my thanks are extended to Assistant Editor for Scholarly Publications Amy R. Peltz, who was principally responsible for this substantial volume. She was aided in her efforts by Robert V. Sharp, Director of Publications; Carolyn Heidrich, Production Coordinator; Joseph Mohan, Photography Editor; and Kate Kotan, Production Assistant. In the Department of Imaging I want to acknowledge Christopher Gallagher, Associate Director; Robert Hashimoto, Senior Photographer; and Robert Lifson, Photographer; in Graphic Design, Lyn DelliQuadri, Executive Director; in Marketing and Public Affairs, Erin Hogan, Director of Public Affairs; and in Museum Registration, John Molini, Manager of Art Packing, who was assisted by Lorna A. Filippini in the design of the tapestry transportation crates that his crew executed. These crates have since become the model for other museums in the shipment of their works.

For their part in the design and production of this book, I wish to acknowledge two individuals who, over many years, have rendered extraordinary service to the Art Institute. Dean Bornstein, a remarkably talented graphic designer, has executed scholarly catalogues for this museum’s collections of early Italian drawings, American art, and, most recently, European paintings, and he has here given us yet another elegant and well-conceived volume. Pat Goley of Professional Graphics, Rockford, Illinois, has guided the creation of exquisite color separations for countless Art Institute books. I am grateful to both of them for their work on behalf of our collection of tapestries.

To present this collection to the public in its newly conserved splendor was a significant challenge in itself, but one that resulted in The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestries, the long-awaited exhibition accompanying this publication. For his efforts on the installation of the tapestries, I thank Markus Dohner, Exhibition Designer, who undertook a task that was formidable, even with the assistance of a computer capable of displaying the entire exhibition superimposed on the floor plan of Regenstein Hall. In the Office of Physical Plant, under Associate Vice President William Caddick, numerous carpenters, electricians, painters, and other crew members contributed their expertise in specific areas. I thank them all, along with Beatrice Chu, Associate Vice President of Design and Construction.

Merely saying thank you seems rather inadequate when one’s involvement with the countless critical challenges of such a publication and exhibition stretched over many years, and such is the case with two former members of the Department of Textiles—two very special individuals—Cynthia J. Cannon, Assistant and Secretary in the Department of Textiles from 1969 to 2002, who shared in the difficult organization of this project from the very beginning, and Lorna A. Filippini, who in the capacity of Associate Conservator served the department with distinction from 1976 to 2005. Lorna was succeeded by the present Conservator, Lauren K. Chang. Jane Hutchins, an independent textile conservator, flew in from Vancouver and completed a number of preconservation examinations and reports before Lauren Chang was on board. Departmental Scientist Eva Schuchardt has over many years contributed identifications of fibers. Isaac Facio and Gretchen Spittler assisted in the recent dispatch and receipt of tapestries, as well as with the challenges of the installation.

Through various means over several years, I have corresponded with and exchanged information with numerous scholars. I am grateful to Thomas B. F. Cummins, Professor of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Art History, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University; Lucia Meoni, independent scholar, Soprintendenza Speciale Polo Museale Fiorentino; Anna Rapp Buri and Monica Stucky-Schürer, both independent scholars, Switzerland; Julie Jones, Andrall E. Pearson Curator in Charge of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, and Elena Phipps, Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation, both at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Sara Taylor, Assistant Research Curator, the Department of Textiles, the Art Institute of Chicago; and Wendy Hefford, former Curator of Tapestry, and Linda Parry, former Deputy Keeper, both in the Furniture, Textiles, and Fashion Department, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. I am grateful for their specific answers to a number of questions pertaining to the Chicago tapestries. I also extend my thanks to Clare Browne, Curator, European Textiles 1500–1800, the Victoria and Albert Museum, who acted as liaison in providing me access to the files of noted textile scholar Henry Currie Marillier. Their input is also acknowledged in numerous entries throughout this volume. Finally, Starr Siegele, Adjunct Curator of Prints at the Allentown Art Museum, Pennsylvania, provided clear and precise information in regard to the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, specifically about Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet and his circle.

In Sitges, Spain, I was very fortunate to be able to access the Charles Deering-Miguel Utrillo Correspondence Archives through the guidance of Dr. Vinyet Paynella, former librarian of the Biblioteca Popular Santiago Rusiñol; she also introduced me to her successor Maria Cavalleria Saborit. I am very indebted to Señora Saborit and her staff and to Sitges historian Roland Sierra, Some great discoveries about the fourteen Caesar and Cleopatra tapestries designed by Justus van Egmont did turn up in Sitges. Furthermore, the archives of Arxiu Mas at the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art, Barcelona, provided a number of unknown facts; and the staff at Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England, shared information and photographs. Further research resources included the David and Simon Franses Tapestry Archive, London, and I wish to thank David Franses for providing critical information.

I am grateful to Margaret H. Schwartz, Senior Vice President and Director, European Works of Art, Sotheby’s, New York, who very kindly made material from French and Company available to me. Véronique Van Passel, Veerle De Wachter, and An Volckaert arranged for me to consult the De Wit/Blondeel Tapestry Manufacturers Database in Mechelen, Belgium. At the Rubenianum, Antwerp, Belgium, Nora de Poorter enabled my search for data on Justus van Egmont. Amy Meadows, Visual Marketing Manager, responsible for the Marshall Field and Company Archives, Chicago, researched tirelessly every possible venue to connect the 1952 Marshall Field gift with possible donors. These files have recently been transferred to the Chicago History Museum.

On behalf of the contributors to this catalogue, I also wish to thank many individuals who generously shared information, access to research materials and photographs, and more. For Koenraad Brosens, I want especially to acknowledge Guy Delmarcel and Katlijne Van der Stighelen, both of the History of Art Department, the Katholieke Universitcit Leuven. Further thanks are due to Barbara Baert, the late Rotraud Bauer, Pascal-François Bertrand, Thomas P. Campbell, Carol Cavanagh, Nicole de Pazzis-Chevalier, Leo De Ren, Stefan Derouck, Nello Forti Grazzini, Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis, Wendy Hefford, Rachel Hunt, Stefan Kist, Florian Knothe, Lucia Meoni, Paul Miller, D. Katelijne Schiltz, Katja Schmitz-von Ledebur, Marga Schoenmaker-van Weeszenberg, Hillie Smit, Jan Van der Stock, Filip Vermeylen, and Hans Vlieghe. And last but not least expressions of sincerest gratitude are extended to Katrien and Willem Brosens.

On behalf of Pascal-Francois Bertrand, I wish to acknowledge Olaf Thormann, Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig; Nicole de Pazzis-Chevalier, Galerie Chevalier, Paris; and Magali Metge. On behalf of Charissa Bremer-David, I want to thank Christophe Leribault, Conservateur en Chef, and Dominique Cordellier, Conservateur, Département des Arts Graphiques, Musée du Louvre, Paris; Ann Friedman, Manager, Grants and Foundations, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Nicole Garnier, Conservateur en Chef du Patrimoine Chargé du Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly; Martin Olin, Research Curator, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; and Jean Vittet, Inspecteur de la Création Artistique, Mobilier National, Paris; as well as Koenraad Brosens, Guy Delmarcel, and Nello Forti Grazzini. On behalf of Elizabeth Cleland, I want to thank Thomas P. Campbell, Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Supervising Curator, Antonio Ratti Textile Center, and Maryan Ainsworth, Curator, Department of European Paintings, both at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Louise W. Mackie, Curator of Textiles and Islamic Art, Cleveland Museum of Art. On behalf of Nello Forti Grazzini, I would again like to thank Guy Delmarcel, who as critical reader provided very useful suggestions.

In her capacity as Associate Research Assistant, Odile Joassin was generously provided assistance by many individuals. On her behalf, I would like to acknowledge Robyn Fleming of the Thomas J. Watson Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Remko Jansonius, Collections and Archives Manager, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, Florida; Amy Meadows, Visual Marketing Manager, Marshall Field and Company Archives, Chicago; Arthur H. Miller, Archivist and Librarian for Special Collections, Donnelley and Lee Library, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois; Mark Whittaker, Webmaster, the Marple Hall Website; Francesca Zardini, Galleria Moshe Tabibnia, Milan; and the staff of the following institutions: Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries of the Art Institute of Chicago and Art Institute Archives; Department of Prints and Drawings, the Art Institute of Chicago; the Newberry Library, Chicago; the British Library, London; the Research Center at the Chicago History Museum; the University of Chicago Library; the University of Illinois at Chicago Library; the University Archives, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois; and the Archives Department of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Others to whom I am indebted are Julius Lewis, Mary Young, Ludmilla Schwarzenberg Hess, Susan Higinbotham, Alice Arlen, Celia Hilliard, Mary Shea, Sander Allen, Sharon Darling, Martha Thorne, and the members of the Textile Committee and the Textile Society of the Art Institute of Chicago. Last but not least I thank my husband, Arsenio G. Sala, who would have preferred not to have his wife shuttling across the Atlantic with countless tapestry crates to Belgium or being glued to books, files, and the computer for all these many years.

Finally, I wish to dedicate this volume to the three Art Institute directors who were critical to this undertaking: Charles C. Cunningham, James N. Wood, and James Cuno. Charles C. Cunningham, director from 1965 to 1971, brought me to Chicago and asked me to develop the museums textile collection in every way. “Why don’t you start with the tapestries,” he said in one of our initial conversations. That was forty-one years ago! Second, James N. Wood, who directed the Art Institute from 1979 to 2004, became rather curious about the museum’s tapestry holdings in the early 1990s. But his interest had to confront issues related to the condition of the works of art themselves and the challenge of raising funds for conservation treatment that could not be carried out in house. As I have described above, securing the De Wit laboratory for the conservation of the pieces, agreeing to put Koenraad Brosens under contract as principal author, and letting me accept a visiting position at the Getty Museum for a sustained period of research were all decisions for which I owe Jim Wood an enormous debt of thanks. And thus we come to James Cuno, who succeeded Wood in 2004 as President and Eloise W. Martin Director, and who provided the necessary financial support so that this project could be completed, most especially by enabling the hiring of a research assistant for four years and by committing to the addition of four very gifted tapestry scholars to the authorial team. For all this and more, this book is dedicated to these three distinguished directors of the Art Institute.

Previous chapter

Base text size -

Chapter images ()