Steven Conn: "The Encyclopedia, the Museum, and the Collection"

The Eda G. Diskant Memorial Lecture

Steven Conn, W.E. Smith Professor of History, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

In 1917, John G. Johnson, the most famous lawyer of his day, left his astonishing trove of European art to the city of Philadelphia. One hundred years later, we continue to gain new insight into the formation of one of this country’s most remarkable collections of treasures by the great masters, including Botticelli, Hieronymus Bosch, Titian, Rembrandt, and Monet. Far from being a static group of objects, the Johnson Collection is subject to constant study and scrutiny, inviting us to consider Johnson’s legacy in the context of the rich tradition of art collecting in Philadelphia over the centuries

Have to Have It: Philadelphians Collect 1850-1930 symposium presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art November 3 & 4, 2017 
This symposium is organized in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibition Old Masters Now: Celebrating the Johnson Collection, November 3, 2017–February 19, 2018.