Acquiring Cultures
Histories of World Art on Western Markets

Over the centuries, Western connoisseurs honed a fascination for objects from Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific, many of which are part of public and private collections today. What trajectories did they follow, how were they acquired and dispersed ? With the era of European expansion, a growing number of extra-European artefacts entered Western markets. Some were legally bought, others were plundered or appropriated in asymmetric power contexts during the colonial era. Subsequently, new market structures emerged in response to European and North American demands. This book provides insights into the methods and places of exchange, networks, prices, expertise, and valuation concepts, as well as the transfer of these artefacts. It focuses on interrelations and connections between art markets and collectors from the late modern period through to the mid-twentieth century.

SAVOY, Bénédicte ; GUICHARD, Charlotte ; HOWALD, Christine, Acquiring Cultures. Histories of World Art on Western Markets. Ed. De Gruyter, 2018, 316 p. ISBN 978-3-11-054508-1.