Creative Concepts
USC and the Getty perfect the art of collaborating
By Nicole St.Pierre
In 1485, when Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli set his brushes to “Venus and Mars,” few recognized the work’s importance. Today, the classical painting that embodies the adage “love conquers all” is among the most popular works in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in London.
But Botticelli’s work was not always held in such high esteem. Before the National Gallery bought it in 1874, “Venus and Mars” purportedly was treated as an ornate piece of bedroom furniture, specifically the back of a daybed.
Changing attitudes toward masterpieces that were once described as marginal is one subject USC art history students will study as part of a new joint venture between USC College and the Getty Research Institute, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The collaborative program, which commences this fall, will focus on the culture of art collecting and related social practices, challenging graduate students to approach art history from a fresh angle.
“As the history of collecting, display and markets of art has become an essential component of art history, we are keenly looking forward to our partnership with the USC graduate program in order to realize the maximum potential of our archives and staff expertise in this area,” says Thomas Crow, director of the Getty Research Institute and an art history professor at USC College. “We want to help form the next generation of scholars and curators with a deeper understanding of the physical and human history embedded in the art objects they study.”
A Golden Resource
Gathered inside Getty databases are thousands of records that shed light on the lives of art collectors from the 1500s to the present. Files include dealers’ records, book manuscripts, journal articles, archival documents, handwritten travel diaries and personal notes. Pages of legal documents reveal secrets about museum inventories, dowries and artwork valuations.
For this program, the Getty’s golden treasure is the Provenance Index, a major resource for tracing the provenance, or history of ownership, of a valued object or work of art. The Provenance Index originally was assembled in an international effort headed by the Getty as a critical tool for art historians wishing to establish timelines of ownership. The new Getty-USC collaboration allows it to be used for the first time in the in-depth study of art collecting as a social practice.
As part of the collaborative program, USC students will use Getty resources such as the Provenance Index to advance beyond the study of who owned what works of art. By analyzing these databases, students and scholars will learn how audience reaction, catalogue descriptions and the valuation of individual pieces of art have changed at different points through history—and analyze why such changes occur.
The Getty Research Library already uses its resources to answer questions of historical significance. One of the library’s most commonly consulted archives reveals Nazi-era looting and postwar dissemination of stolen art. It includes financial records, correspondence and photographic documentation that track the movement of objects as well as document-changing trends in the art market.
Supporting the Partnership
To support the Getty-USC partnership, the Ahmanson Foundation will provide funding for two graduate fellows with stipends and additional summer funding, allowing them to participate in the collaborative program. The grant will also support related workshops and symposia that stretch beyond traditional boundaries.
“This partnership will break through the mainstream approach to art history and look beyond the intentionality of the artist,” says USC College Dean Joseph Aoun. “The Getty has a treasure trove of resources to help the College, as we continue to open up new and exciting fields of study.”
Old Friends
While the Getty-USC College partnership opens a new chapter in art history collaboration, it is not the first time USC College has partnered with the Getty. Todd Olson, an assistant professor of art history, teaches a course at the Getty about the problems in the history and theory of collecting and display. It also is not unusual for art history professors Nancy Troy and Richard Meyer to spend summer afternoons at the Getty teaching art historians how to craft a scholarly voice in art history discourse.
The latest Getty partnership presents countless opportunities for USC College’s art history department, says department chair Troy. A modern art historian, Troy admits she is eager to use the Getty’s Provenance Index to study the marketing of art and the changing patterns of consumer taste. Specifically, she says the index can reveal secrets such as how works of art have circulated in public and private spheres during periods of war, depression and prosperity.
“A close collaboration with the Getty means increased opportunities for USC scholars to study art history topics that are just beginning to emerge throughout the world,” says Troy. “This partnership will likely lead to new and exciting fields of study.”
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