John Charles Robinson in 1868: a Victorian curator’s collection on the block

Abstract

With the discovery of the register for Sir John Charles Robinson’s sale, held at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris 7–8 May 1868, it is now possible to shed light on the dispersal of this Victorian curator’s early collection of paintings and drawings. By examining the objects in the sale, who bought them, and how they were written about, we are able to correct earlier misperceptions of Robinson and his career at this moment, as well as draw broader conclusions about the role of the curator, the art market, and cross-channel relationships. Robinson stands as an exemplar of the recognition of curatorial expertise in the connoisseurship of paintings, drawings, and decorative arts at a period of rapid museum growth and concomitant shifts in the market for works of art both in Britain and the Continent.

Keywords

• John Charles Robinson
• South Kensington Museum
• collecting
• art market
• Old Masters
• Sir Francis Cook
• private collecting
• auctions
• Hôtel Drouot