Painting connoisseurship

Abstract

Paintings of liefhebbers, or art lovers, visiting the artist’s studio form a subset of the Dutch genre of artists’ studios. This paper explores the painted scenes of studio visits for the evidence they provide for the practice and performance of connoisseurship and for how they relate to contemporary treatises. The studios are represented as intimate environments conducive to contemplating singular works and acquiring skills of connoisseurship. In addition, they are a space in which individuals exercise a specialized practitioner’s vocabulary, which was part of classical and contemporary literature. The Dutch paintings point to a shift, over time, in the relationship between liefhebber and artist, suggesting to an increased role for the liefhebber in the art-making process. In the majority of paintings, the artists gaze out, prompting the viewer to consider their status as an art lover and their relationship to the artist.