Arthur Tooth & Sons
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Arthur Tooth & Sons was an art gallery founded in London in 1842 by Charles Tooth (1788-1868).[1] Tooth established the gallery for his son, Arthur Tooth (1828 - 1900).[2] The gallery remained in the Tooth family until its closure in the 1970s after the death of Dudley Tooth (Charles' great-grandson). Arthur Tooth & Sons, while a relatively small business, established a major presence in the commercial art market from the 1870s onwards and became a key dealer for industrial magnate Henry Clay Frick. Through the Tooth gallery, Frick acquired works by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Jean-François Raffaëlli, J. M. W. Turner, Frits Thaulow, Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, and Rembrandt.[3][4]
Initially, the gallery focused on paintings by eighteenth and nineteenth century British artists, [5] but expanded in the 1880s to include contemporary paintings and the occasional old masters piece.[6] Rather than selling 'big hit' artworks, Arthur Tooth & Sons concentrated on a steady stream of popular contemporary artists and commodity-like artworks, operating as a kind of patron or agent for these artists, commissioning works, which were also reproduced in photogravures.[7] [8] The gallery's stock was selected on the notion that the 'aura' of more established art would rub off on and validate newer products.[9] Arthur Tooth & Sons operated within a network of approximately thirty art dealers in the London area who were responsible for the establishment of a number of Victorian painters within the commercial art market. [10] [11]
Arthur Tooth was particularly successful in the sale of photogravures of Pre-Raphaelite and other works and dominated the market in this field. [12] Reproductive prints have been called the 'cash cow' of the Victorian Art Market, and proved lucrative to Arthur Tooth.[13][14]
The nineteenth century saw an increased number of middlemen operating between artists and consumers in the art market.[15] Arthur Tooth & Sons' business model can be seen as typical of these new firms.[16] In the early twentieth century, Arthur Tooth & Sons held branches in London, New York and Paris. [17] [18]. As such, the firm followed strategies to ensure reputability, which emerged among these businesses.[19] [20] In the early twentieth century, Arthur Tooth & Sons followed this technique and held branches in London, New York and Paris. [21] [22]
In the mid 1920s, Dudley Tooth (1896 - 1972) took up leadership of Arthur Tooth & Sons and rebranded the gallery, expanding within the pool of contemporary artists and further promoting artists by holding solo shows every two and a half years. [23]
The gallery closed in the mid 1970s.
References
- ^ "Finding Aid for the Henry Clay Frick Papers". frick.org.
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.113.
- ^ "Finding Aid for the Henry Clay Frick Papers". frick.org.
- ^ "Inventory of the Arthur Tooth & Sons stock inventories and accounts, 1871-1959 Case - Online Archive of California". www.oac.cdlib.org.
- ^ Stephenson, 2011, p.113
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.113.
- ^ Verhoogt, 2007, p.496
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.114.
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.115.
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.117.
- ^ Verhoogt, 2007, p. 122
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ "Inventory of the Arthur Tooth & Sons stock inventories and accounts, 1871-1959 Case - Online Archive of California". www.oac.cdlib.org.
- ^ Bayer and Page, 2011, p.116.
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ Helmreich, 2011, p. 68
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ Helmreich, 2011, p. 68
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ Helmreich, 2011, p. 68
- ^ "Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71". 19thc-artworldwide.org. Spring 2010.
- ^ MacGilp, 2011, p.199
Bibliography
- Bayer, Thomas and Page, John, The Development of the Art Market in England: Money as Muse, 1730-1900, London, UK, Pickering & Chatto, 2011
- Bayer, Thomas and Page, John, Arthur Tooth: A London Art Dealer in the Spotlight, 1870–71, in 'Nineteenth-Century Art Online: A Journal of Nineteenth Century Visual Culture', 2015, [1]
- Helmreich, Anne, 'The Goupil Gallery at the intersection between London, Continent, and Empire', in The rise of the modern art market in London, 1850-1939, Ed.s Pamela Fletcher, Anne Helmreich, Manchester, UK, Manchester University Press, 2011
- MacGilp, Alexandra, 'Matthew Smith, the Tate Gallery, and the London art market', in The rise of the modern art market in London, 1850-1939, Ed.s Pamela Fletcher, Anne Helmreich, Manchester, UK, Manchester University Press, 2011
- Stephenson, Andrew, 'Strategies of display and modes of consumption in London art galleries in the inter-war years', in The rise of the modern art market in London, 1850-1939, Ed.s Pamela Fletcher, Anne Helmreich, Manchester, UK, Manchester University Press, 2011
- Verhoogt, Robert, Art in Reproduction: Nineteenth-Century Prints after Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Jozef Israëls and Ary Scheffer (M. Hendriks, Trans.), Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2007
- Finding Aid for the Henry Clay Frick Papers, Series I: Art Files, 1881-1925, undated, [2]
- Inventory of the Arthur Tooth & Sons Stock Inventories and Accounts, 1871-1959, Online Archive of California, [3]
Further Reading
- Glew, Adrian (ed.), Stanley Spencer: Letters and Writing, London, UK, Tate Publishing, 2001
- Weisberg, Gabriel, 'Collecting in the Gilded Age: Art Patronage in Pittsburgh, 1890-1910, Pittsburgh, PA, Frick Art and Historical Centre, 1997