Fine and Popular: Print Department at the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Annual Meeting, July 17-20, 2016

Curator Sarah Weatherwax during her opening remarks.

On September 19th, Curator Sarah Weatherwax and Associate Curator Erika Piola happily joined over 500 fellow scholars and academics of early 19th-century history at the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic 36th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. At one of over 50 panels, the curators participated in a presentation and discussion about the commerce of art (fine and popular) in Antebellum Philadelphia.

Associate Curator Erika Piola.

Chaired by Ms. Weatherwax at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, panelists Ms. Piola, Carol Soltis of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Anne Verplanck of Penn State University presented on their research about Philadelphia frame makers/picture dealers; the partnership between artist Thomas Sully and gallery owner James Earle; and the business of daguerreotypy. University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Leja and Temple University professor Susanna Gold served as commentators and urged the speakers and audience to think more about the ethical problems of art as a commodity and the cultural significance of adjunct commercial art networks during the early 19th century. Weatherwax adroitly shepherded the speakers who as she pointed out, all had a connection to the Library Company through their work as researchers and/or educators.

The conference panel was one of an ever-growing number focused on visual culture, a trend that will hopefully continue in the years to come.