Arbiters of Taste: Dutch Museum Directors Applying for Funding from the Rembrandt Association (1883–1933)

This paper explores the fundraising practices of Dutch public museums through their appeals to the Rembrandt Association, a patron organization founded in 1883. Especially in times of financial crisis, museum directors submitted funding requests for new acquisitions, exercising their judgment of taste. By systematically analysing their letters of application, the preferred tools of persuasion emerge as practical rather than art historical in nature. As part of an exclusive inner circle with the board of the Association, shared habitus and symbolic capital guaranteed mutual understanding between parties and instant validation without the need for substantial argumentation. This research sheds light on the status and authority of museum directors as arbiters of taste. Studying their efforts to secure patronage from the Rembrandt Association reveals the stakes of the solicitation process as well as the qualifications required for participation in the top tiers of the museum administration.