Guillaume Jean Constantin, 1755-1816: a drawings dealer in Paris

Uittreksel

Published by Ad Ilissvm for the Fondation Custodia this extraordinary and original study traces the career of the influential Paris art dealer Guillaume Jean Constantin (1755-1816). Using Constantin's dealer's mark and a wealth of unpublished archival material, Joachim Jacoby reconstructs Constantin's hitherto unknown business activities and rediscovers an early and important instance of a bourgeois art dealer. In the course of the 18th century, drawings by old and contemporary masters became an esteemed collectors item and, in consequence, a highly valued commodity of the art market. This study looks at this business from the perspective of the art dealer Guillaume Jean Constantin (1755-1816), who was active in Paris during the last quarter of the 18th and the first years of the 19th century. This handsomely produced book is published by Ad Ilissvm in a new series, 'The Fondation Custodia Studies in the History of Art', which reflects and continues forward into the present the scholarly interests of the institution's founder, Frits Lugt.