CURIOSITIES & DESIRES | Collecting Objects, Collecting Ourselves with Christopher Marshall

This presentation will consider the often-complex processes informing the creation of significant collections of art and antiquities of the past and present. What differentiates a private collection from that of a public institution? And what motivates the collecting activities of such distinguished private collectors through the ages as Catherine the Great of the Hermitage, St Petersburg, or David Walsh of the Museum of Modern Art, Hobart?

Dr Christopher Marshall is Senior Lecturer in Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Melbourne. His research interests include the art of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the history of the art market and museum studies, as is reflected in his recent publications which include Sculpture and the Museum, Ashgate (2011); ‘Naples’ in Painting for profit: the economic lives of 17th century Italian painters, Yale University Press (2010).

Pompeo Batoni (1708 – 1787), Sir Sampson Gideon and an unidentified companion, 1767, collection of National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1963