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Belgian private collectors through the eyes of 19th-century tourists: travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector's role in art and heritage preservation (ca. 1790-1914)

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Abstract
As now, Belgium was home to a remarkably large number of private art and antiques collections throughout the long nineteenth century. Many of those were visited by an interested local and international public and were popular topics in contemporary travel literature. This paper examines how many and which private collections were cited in nineteenth-century Belgian and foreign travel guides and travelogues and what was described in them as worth seeing, specifically in Belgium’s foremost artistic centers Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. How did the description of the collectors, of their number, focus and motivations, as well as of the function and importance of their collections evolve over the course of the century? This paper aims to trace the usefulness of historical travel guides and travelogues to further our understanding of the nineteenth-century private collector, to distinguish the information this group of sources provides about the character of the Belgian cities as places of collecting, and about the individual practices of collecting on a micro-level. Furthermore, it aspires to shed some light on how the specific role of the private collector was assessed within the urban art and antiquarian circles in nineteenth-century Belgium.
Keywords
history of collecting, long nineteenth century, private collectors, Belgium, art and heritage preservation, travel guides, travelogues

Citation

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MLA
Müller, Ulrike. “Belgian Private Collectors through the Eyes of 19th-Century Tourists: Travel Guides and Travelogues as Sources to Examine the Collector’s Role in Art and Heritage Preservation (ca. 1790-1914).” La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro Tra Lessico e Immagini Dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts, 2015.
APA
Müller, U. (2015). Belgian private collectors through the eyes of 19th-century tourists: travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector’s role in art and heritage preservation (ca. 1790-1914). La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro Tra Lessico e Immagini Dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts. Presented at the La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro tra Lessico e Immagini dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Florence, Italy.
Chicago author-date
Müller, Ulrike. 2015. “Belgian Private Collectors through the Eyes of 19th-Century Tourists: Travel Guides and Travelogues as Sources to Examine the Collector’s Role in Art and Heritage Preservation (ca. 1790-1914).” In La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro Tra Lessico e Immagini Dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Müller, Ulrike. 2015. “Belgian Private Collectors through the Eyes of 19th-Century Tourists: Travel Guides and Travelogues as Sources to Examine the Collector’s Role in Art and Heritage Preservation (ca. 1790-1914).” In La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro Tra Lessico e Immagini Dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts.
Vancouver
1.
Müller U. Belgian private collectors through the eyes of 19th-century tourists: travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector’s role in art and heritage preservation (ca. 1790-1914). In: La Guida Turistica Luogo d’Incontro tra Lessico e Immagini dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts. 2015.
IEEE
[1]
U. Müller, “Belgian private collectors through the eyes of 19th-century tourists: travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector’s role in art and heritage preservation (ca. 1790-1914),” in La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro tra Lessico e Immagini dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts, Florence, Italy, 2015.
@inproceedings{6884519,
  abstract     = {{As now, Belgium was home to a remarkably large number of private art and antiques collections throughout the long nineteenth century. Many of those were visited by an interested local and international public and were popular topics in contemporary travel literature. This paper examines how many and which private collections were cited in nineteenth-century Belgian and foreign travel guides and travelogues and what was described in them as worth seeing, specifically in Belgium’s foremost artistic centers Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. How did the description of the collectors, of their number, focus and motivations, as well as of the function and importance of their collections evolve over the course of the century? This paper aims to trace the usefulness of historical travel guides and travelogues to further our understanding of the nineteenth-century private collector, to distinguish the information this group of sources provides about the character of the Belgian cities as places of collecting, and about the individual practices of collecting on a micro-level. Furthermore, it aspires to shed some light on how the specific role of the private collector was assessed within the urban art and antiquarian circles in nineteenth-century Belgium.}},
  author       = {{Müller, Ulrike}},
  booktitle    = {{La Guida Turistica. Luogo d’Incontro tra Lessico e Immagini dei Beni Culturali (Tourist Guidebooks. Meeting Point between Vocabulary and Imagery of Cultural Heritage), Abstracts}},
  keywords     = {{history of collecting,long nineteenth century,private collectors,Belgium,art and heritage preservation,travel guides,travelogues}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Florence, Italy}},
  title        = {{Belgian private collectors through the eyes of 19th-century tourists: travel guides and travelogues as sources to examine the collector's role in art and heritage preservation (ca. 1790-1914)}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}