With few written records, tracing and identifying artworks made by itinerant artists is incredibly difficult. Here lies the trouble with tracking down limners: they left little behind to identify themselves. To make things more complicated, such artists rarely signed their works. Interestingly, these advertisements are often the only paper trail that itinerant artists left behind their artwork had no formal documentation, such as auction records or provenance paperwork.
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The speed and accuracy of these portraits was often advertised, with artists promising to redo paintings free of charge if the client was unsatisfied with the sitter’s likeness. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1962 This sculpture bears the hallmark of Dutch itinerant artists working in French courts, who fused different artistic styles from their travels into their work, creating an unmistakable mark on French religious sculpture in the process. One example is Virgin and Child by an unknown artist. The CMA has some works by limners in its collection. Folk artists highlight the importance of collections management, and of museum record-keeping as a whole, in preserving the history of their works for generations to come.įolk artists could travel far to peddle their wares portraits, sculptures, landscapes, or even sermons were produced in exchange for lodging, food, or money. Few records were kept on the pieces they made, and even fewer survive. Though they are known by many names, these traveling artists are not known by many means. When looking through the lens of itinerant art, or art created by people who move from place to place, it is easy to see how important records are to painting the complete picture of an artwork. If an exhibition were a movie, the curator would be the director, the artwork would be the cast members, and the registrars would be the crew checking lighting, sound, and permits. Everyone from curators to shipping agents is directly affected by the work registrars do. The CMA Collections Management Department also works closely with staff across the museum. Their work influences the installation of exhibitions, the acquisition of artworks into the collection, and the facilitation of loans. Registrars and other collections staff work with other institutions behind the scenes to keep a museum running smoothly. The main job of a museum registrar is to organize and maintain records for artworks, as well as loans, acquisitions, rights and reproductions, exhibitions, and more. The work that registrars and collections management staff do is vital to understand the history of artworks and how collection practices have evolved over time. In this essay, Cameron connects her personal interest in research on itinerant artists with skills learned during the summer fellowship. How Itinerant Artists Reinforce the Importance of Collections Managementīy Cameron Findlay, 2021 Warshawsky Fellow in Collections Management at the CMAĬameron Findlay was the 2021 Warshawsky Fellow in the CMA Collections Management Department where she worked on a long-term loan digitization project.