Original or fake? - the scientific foundations of connoisseurship

Renyi, Andras

The annual volume of art trade is estimated around 30 billion dollars worldwide. Therefore, the market is anxious to know how to defend ourselves against art forgery. Can we really trust the judgement of connoisseurs or are there any scientific methods to determine whether a particular work of art is in fact the 'original'? Starting in 1969, researchers involved in the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) in the Netherlands tried to work out scientific tests and stylistic standards to replace the innate subjectivity of connoisseurship with objective methods for attribution and dating. After twenty years the project failed because the scientists had false preconceptions and failed to realize the importance of shopwork between the master and his disciples. Using Rembrandt's self-portraits, this lecture attempts to find answers as to why this cult of originality has developed over time and how this perception may be surpassed to master the true intellectual meaning behind the renowned painter's works of art instead of merely admiring their physical appearance.

About the lecturer