The Business of Art, au féminin: Women’s Enterprise in the French Art Economy (late 1600s to 1945)
The upcoming colloquium “The Business of Art, au féminin: Women’s Enterprise in the French Art Economy (late 1600s to 1945)” is scheduled to take place at the Institut national d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris on the 26.–27. September 2025 and aims to explore the multifaceted roles women have played in financing and developing artistic production in France, encompassing various forms such as painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative arts, engraving, and photography.
By examining a broad historical timeframe starting from the policies and practices of artistic patronage initiated by Louis XIV up to the particular circumstances of the Occupation the colloquium seeks to identify both continuities and transformations in women’s contributions to the art economy.
Scholars are invited to submit proposals that delve into topics including, but not limited to: Profiles of female merchants, gallery owners, publishers, sponsors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, investors, shareholders, and borrowers. As well as collective financing methods, modes of wealth accumulation, dissolution, and transmission, the visibility or invisibility of women leading businesses and conducting financing operations and the range and specificity of artistic domains in which women invested.
Proposals, in French or English, should include a summary of the paper (maximum 500 words) and a short biographical note (maximum 300 words). Submissions are due by March 16 and should be sent to the organizers: Nastasia Gallian, Elsa Jamet , and Justine Lécuyer .
Presentations scheduled to take place at the Institut national d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris on September 26.–27 will be 20 minutes long and can be delivered in either French or English. While the colloquium is planned as an in-person event, virtual participation may be accommodated in exceptional cases.
A publication of the proceedings is also anticipated.
For further information click here.