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In this Cultural History seminar, Marleen Puyenbroek (ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Amsterdam) explores women's professional involvement in the art market of the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic — from the production and sale of materials to dealing and the second-hand trade. 

Women in the early modern art market

Since the 1980s, art historians have increasingly studied female artists, but much less is known about the many other roles women played in the early modern art market. What about women working as art dealers, pigment sellers, or appraisers? The lack of research into these professions has helped maintain the image of the seventeenth-century art market as a male-dominated sphere.

In this presentation, Puyenbroek shares new findings on the roles of women in the art market and reflects on her methodology, combining archival research and case studies with collective analysis. Introducing the concept of ‘dynamic partnership’, she also explores how women’s work was embedded in flexible household collaborations, challenging conventional assumptions about gender and professional life in the Dutch Republic. 

About Marleen Puyenbroek

Marleen Puyenbroek is a PhD-candidate, exploring the impact of working women on the art market of the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic. For her master’s thesis, she researched the gezworen schatsters (sworn appraisers) and published on this subject in Amstelodamum (2021) and Kunst, kennis en kapitaal (ed. F. Grijzenhout, 2022). 

The Cultural History seminar series is organised by the Cultural History section of the History and Art History Department.