Connoisseurs - or Portrait Collectors!!! 1 - 1807

Editor: So, this is Thomas Rowlandson's "Connoisseurs - or Portrait Collectors!!!". It seems like a busy workshop, crammed with portraits. There's a satirical feel to it. What can you tell me about the social commentary here? Curator: Consider the period; late 18th, early 19th century. The rise of a middle class eager to emulate the aristocracy fueled a market for portraiture. Rowlandson pokes fun at their, perhaps, unsophisticated collecting habits. Is he celebrating or criticizing the democratization of art? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It makes you wonder if he’s critiquing the collectors or the commodification of art itself. Curator: Exactly. The image's power comes from its ambiguity. We're left to question who is being lampooned. Editor: I see. So it is not just about the art, but about who gets to participate in the art world. Curator: Precisely. And how social status influences taste, or the illusion of taste.