About my Research
My first monograph, “The European Art Market and the First World War: Art, Capital, and the Decline of the Collecting Class, 1910-1925” has recently been published by Cambridge University Pres (Read the intro here). My book presents the first comparative, transnational, and interdisciplinary history of the European art market during the First World War. It reveals how the outbreak of the war shattered the European art trade. Drawing on an art index, alongside auction records, memoirs, newspapers, and financial documents in six languages, this study charts the seismic transformation across Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, and Scandinavia. Amidst the turmoil of fighting, looting, confiscations, and political upheaval, an integrated market shaped by a transnational collecting class collapsed. In its place arose a distinctly modern art market: fragmented into national spheres and driven by capitalist speculation. The year 1914 marked the end of the old European art market and forged a lasting new alliance between art and finance. By combining economic data with analysis of cultural and social phenomena, this study reveals the profound shifts that reshaped the trade in art in the wake of the First World War.
Endorsements:
‘Maddalena Alvi gives us a riveting account of artistic privilege, power, and property, exposing the ways in which the European bourgeoise and upper classes were transformed by war, revolution, financial crises, and their appetite for exchanging art for money.’ Joanna Bourke – Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London
‘This is a unique study of the European art market reeling from the First World War. Alvi reconstructs a diverse artworld of collectors, dealers, and players fighting for their corners of the industry. The book powerfully demonstrates how the ‘collecting classes’ were irrevocably damaged by the conflict.’ A. Carden-Coyne – Professor of History, University of Manchester
I am always happy to discuss my work with anyone interested. Please feel free to use the contact form below, if you share any of my research interests.
About me
I hold a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford, and an MLitt in Art History from the University of Glasgow. My studies and my research on the art market were funded by the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung) , the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and the Cambridge&Harvard Joint Centre for History and Economics.
After completing my doctorate, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rijksmuseum (Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship) in Amsterdam and a scholarship at the German Historical Institute in Rome (DHI Rom). I then joined the University of Manchester as a lecturer in Modern European History.
In the past, I also worked for private art collectors, cultural foundations, museums, art newspapers, and public history projects in Austria, Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
If you are interested in getting in touch, do not hesitate to use the contact form below. I would be glad to connect with you.
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Maddalena Alvi 