In Vienna, an exhibition tells the story of the European art market with masterpieces from Monet to Klimt – World – Arte.it

World – With its protagonists, the dealers, passions and institutions, but also the mysterious mechanisms that animate it, the European art market has always fascinated experts and simple art lovers. From the passion of the princes to the economic aspects that influenced their trends, the grandiose art collection of the Lichtenstein dynasty, spanning more than 400 years, is told in the rooms of the “Gartenpalais Liechtenstein”. The exhibition will be held from January 31 to April 6 in the Baroque building that houses part of the extraordinary private art collection of the princely dynasty. “Trading in Splendor: A History of the European Art Market” focuses on the fascinating history of the European art market. On a journey through the centuries, the route follows the development of the art trade, from Greco-Roman antiquity to Renaissance Italy, from the Dutch Golden Age to the arrival of the major auction houses, from the emerging American market to the new aesthetic taste of the late nineteenth century. While the first documented European art collections and evidence of a vibrant art market date back to Hellenistic Greece, during the Renaissance it was powerful patrons who drove artistic production in Florence.
Medici-type torso of Aphrodite, early 2nd century AD, after an early 3rd century BC original, Parian marble © Skulpturensammlung, Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections), photo: Elke Estel/Hans-Peter Klut

Neri di Bicci created large-scale altarpieces and Giambologna created an equestrian statue of Ferdinando de’ Medici, preserving his image for posterity. In addition to such high-profile commissions, there is no shortage of terracotta reliefs and small devotional images for private use, which are decidedly more accessible. A free market emerged in Antwerp in the 16th century where thousands of works were produced and marketed to the general public in the so-called Schilderspanden (painters’ stalls). We would have to wait until the next century before merchant families would trade works of art on a global scale for the first time. During this period, some artists specialized in certain genres, a practice that saved labor by making art accessible to the middle class. But despite this opening of the art market, portraits of Rembrandt or Anthony van Dyck remained the privilege of wealthy collectors. The table “La Galleria di Cornelis van der Geest”a key loan from the Rubens House, portrays the famous spice merchant surrounded by his extensive collection. In the north, the Dutch ‘Golden Age’ brought an unprecedented flourishing of artistic production.

Giambologna, Mars, circa 1570, bronze © LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna

In the exhibition, the story of events, dynamics and characters is entrusted to paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Monet and Klimt on loan from international collections, and in dialogue with masterpieces from the Princely Collections, such as sculptures by Giambologna and paintings by Brueghel, Van Dyck and Canaletto. The exhibition includes works such as Claude Monet’s “Grainstack, sun in the fog,” from the Minneapolis Institute of Art, along with three other masterpieces by the artist. Instead of “The naked truth” by Gustav Klimt provides an extraordinary example of the innovative sales strategies introduced by the Secession in Vienna at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with elegant exhibitions of works by its members in stark contrast to the academic styles that had previously dominated the 1873 World’s Fair in Vienna.
“Market activity – says Stephan Koja, director of the Princely Collections – is based on the commercial value of works of art, and market demand for certain artists determines their recognition, even among critics. Understanding this dynamic is essential to understanding how artists are valued and sustain their careers.”

The exhibition is free of charge.