This thesis examines the art collections of nineteenth-century middle-class collectors to address overlaps between art and business and interpretations of collecting art from a business perspective. It argues that collecting art was an individualistic act, yet businessmen’s art collections were more or less defined by business-related factors. The case studies in this thesis focus on several collectors, such as William Hesketh Lever, Charles Birch, Frederic William Cosens, William Cottrill, and Frederick Richards Leyland, as well as collectors in Liverpool, especially in the shipping industry. Each chapter focuses on different business-related aspects, such as the commercial use of art for advertising purposes, speculative aspects of art collecting and art sales, the concept of self-representation in art collections, business networks and art collections, and the parallel development of collecting art and developing a career, as well as social backgrounds and cultural models.
The academic interest in collectors has not been focused as much as those in artworks, artists or agents such as dealers. Studies on collectors have tended to focus on the single case of a particular collector or on a narrative that includes many collectors, resulting in overgeneralisation, which this thesis addresses by examining several specific cases from the unified perspective of business.
This study provides new insights into both better- and lesser-known collectors. Regarding better-known collectors, such as Lever and Leyland, it applies new perspectives, including comparing a rival company and its leader and a focus on the development of a career in parallel with collection. It also provides new information and a comprehensive analysis about collectors who have received little attention in the literature. Furthermore, it contributes to a better understanding of the art world as an entire system that includes buyers and collectors in addition to artworks, artists, and agents of art transactions.
