At the beginning of the 20th century, a materialist theory emerged that dealt with the economic and social conditions of art production. This was accompanied by a critique of the previous academic canon, now considering formerly excluded everyday objects, children’s drawings, folk art or photographs as the material conditions of a culture. Collections of artworks and artefacts became contexts of thought leading to a redefinition of the relationship between history, form, and society. The contributions to this volume discuss how collections of materials and pictures were tied to theoretical assumptions and had an effect on thought processes. Examples cited include Frederik Antal, Walter Benjamin, Bernard Berenson, Wilhelm Fraenger, Sigmund Freud, Henri Foçillon, Vernon Lee, Meyer Schapiro and Aby Warburg.
