Amateurs Et Restaurateurs De Tableaux À Paris, 1789-1870

Between 1789 and 1870, Parisian art lovers, concerned about the conservation of their collections of paintings, called on the services of picture restorers, a profession which, at the time, was defined independently of those of the dealer, the expert or even the painter.

While the restorer worked on the works, he also acted as a guide for amateurs in their knowledge, and even apprenticeship, of painting processes. Gradually, this consideration of the materiality of the work helped to integrate the painting enthusiast into museum commissions as an advisor, before he acquired a privileged status in the museum from the 1860s onwards through the bequest of his works.

By looking at various aspects of private collecting through the prism of restoration methods and the means of conserving paintings in the nineteenth century, this book offers a history of collections, restoration and conservation, but also a history of practices, and above all a history of movements and tastes.