Szőcs, Miriam – Márton Tóth : Casting a New Light. Plaster Casts & Cast Collections in Europe and Beyond

Miriam Szőcs – Márton Tóth (eds.),
Casting a New Light. Plaster Casts & Cast Collections in Europe and Beyond

Budapest 2024

ISBN 978-615-6595-23-2

178 S./pp., zahlr. Farb-Abb./num. colour figs., 27 x 23 cm; broschiert/softcover

This volume publishes the papers of the international conference Plaster Casts & Cast Collections across Europe: History and Future, held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest on 24 May 2022.

The conference was organised in celebration of the refurbishment of the plaster cast collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, and its exhibition in the Star Fortress in Komárom, opened in the autumn of 2021, and in the visible storage in the newly built National Museum Conservation and Storage Centre in Budapest, the installation of which was finished in 2022.

Featuring a collection of papers, including several case studies, the volume delves into various aspects of collecting and showcasing plaster casts, an important phenomenon that shaped European and American art museums from the nineteenth century onwards. It explores international connections and influences in the establishment of cast collections while also shedding new light on the role and uses of plaster casts in the antiquity and in the era of historicism. Moreover, the volume offers valuable reflections on the intricate contexts of the contemporary reception of these collections, presenting new perspectives on their significance and future.