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This engaging book presents the rarely discussed collector’s view of acquiring and bringing back to life a series of Dutch Golden Age landscape paintings. Alan Short’s personal journey as a collector started with his efforts towards the identification and restitution of a painting by Dutch artist Philips Wouwerman (1619-68), which had been in his family but was tragically lost during the family’s flight from Germany in the very late 1930s. Although the identification of this painting has so far eluded him, the experience started him on his journey as a collector and he has gone on to acquire paintings by Jan Hackaert, Jan Lingelbach, Jan van der Heyden, Abraham Govaerts, Alexander Keirincx, Roelant Savery, Philips Wouwerman, Pierre-Antoine Patel, and a member of the Bamboccianti group of painters.
Alan Short’s highly readable account takes the reader through the process of researching, acquiring and conserving Old Master paintings, many of which have survived despite the odds. The activity of bidding for works of art at auction is described as an emotional rollercoaster, with moments of ecstasy following a winning bid matched by weeks of utter dismay following a failed one. This book offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of a sector of the art market which is surprisingly accessible to new collectors. It will appeal to all those with an interest in Old Master paintings, from the connoisseur to the enthusiast.
Alan Short is the 9th President of Clare Hall, Cambridge, the graduate-research college. He was appointed the 5th Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge in 2001. His writing has been published extensively in architecture journals and he is the author of several books: The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture (2017) and (as co-author) Geometry and Atmosphere: Theatre Buildings from Vision to Reality (2011).