Moving mountains: interwar collecting of French modernist art and the economics of translocation

© 2018 Dr. David Martin ChallisA distinguishing feature of the Parisian art market during the interwar period was the influx of art collectors from outside continental Europe, who, in many cases, benefited from a currency advantage against the weakened French franc. These collectors expedited a large-scale translocation of French modernist artwork, the causes and consequences of which have been the subject of a range of recent publications and exhibitions. However, the significance of the underlying economic context surrounding this translocation remains less studied and poorly understood. This thesis draws on unpublished archival correspondence, gallery records and quantitative economic data to construct case studies of prominent interwar art collectors in France, Britain, America, Japan, Australia and Brazil. These case studies are thematically linked by two arguments: first, that the collapse in the value of the French franc, among other economic disruptions, played a significant role in the timing, scale and international dispersion of French modernist art; second, that foregrounding the underlying economic context provides a fresh insight into the importance of the newly assembled international collections, which are shown to have significantly influenced the reception of French modernist art in their respective locations. In substantiating these arguments, the thesis seeks to provide an alternative perspective within which the activities of interwar art collectors and the causes and consequences of the translocation of French modernist art can be further understood