Historians of Netherlandish Art Conference (HNA Boston, MA, July 14-17, 2027)
Chair: Charlotte C.S. Rulkens, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Debates about object-based research have often been framed around a divide between museum and academy. Attribution and connoisseurship, however, rarely remain within a single institutional sphere. They are practices moving across museums, universities, while also extending beyond them into the art market. These domains involve different epistemic communities, each with their own stakes and norms. Yet they regularly overlap – for example when academic attribution research takes place within museums; when museum or academic experts are being consulted by stakeholders in the art market, such as auction houses, galleries, art fairs or private collectors; or when artworks themselves move between these domains, shifting from private collections to museums or entering the market after scholarly re-assessment. Changes in attributions may carry significant institutional, reputational, and financial consequences. As a result of these high stakes, examples of disputes, lawsuits, and cases being litigated in the press are plentiful. At the same time, scientific methods for the analysis of artworks are rapidly evolving, offering new opportunities for assessment and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The goal of this session is therefore to reflect on attribution practice and methodology in the past, present and future. What happens when different professional cultures meet around the same object? Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to:

• (past) case studies of disputed or revised attributions;
• the circulation of objects or expertise between museums, universities, and the market;
• (the history of) attribution methodology;
• collaborative and cross-institutional research models for attribution;
• the history or future of connoisseurship;
• curatorial and academic training in attribution and connoisseurship;
• and/or the ethical and methodological challenges raised by attribution in practice.

By bringing together speakers working in different institutional contexts, this session aims to move beyond a simple opposition between museum, academy, and market, and instead to explore how greater methodological reflection, transparency, and collaboration might strengthen the future of attribution research in Netherlandish art history.

Please send an abstract of max. 300 words, along with a CV to: c.c.s.rulkens@vu.nl.

Proposals are due by 15 September 2026.