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Key research themes
1. How have traditional Italian art foundries influenced the production and technological innovations of bronze sculpture from the 19th to the 20th century?
This theme examines the historical evolution, craftsmanship, and technological advancements of Italian art foundries, focusing on their role in monumental bronze casting, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and international impact, particularly in the post-unification period through to the late 20th century. Understanding these foundries sheds light on the artisanal-industrial transition and their contribution to cultural heritage and sculptural production.
Key finding: This work reveals how the Bruni Art Foundry in Rome, active over three generations from post-1870 to 1982, developed advanced casting techniques such as monolithic large-scale bronze castings and superior surface patination,... Read more
Key finding: Although focusing on Portugal, this study provides comparative insight into 19th-century industrial foundries producing monumental bronzes, revealing the use of ternary Cu-Sn-Zn alloys with minor elements aligning with known... Read more
Key finding: The convention documented key industrial and cultural developments in Italian art foundries around the turn of the 20th century, emphasizing how political unification and industrialization spurred a proliferation of new... Read more
2. What roles do urban manufacturing and art foundries play in fostering economic resilience, innovation, and cultural identity in contemporary and historic cities?
This theme explores the multifaceted contributions of urban-based manufacturing sectors—including art foundries—to city economies, innovation ecosystems, and cultural landscapes. It addresses the historical decline and resurgence of manufacturing in urban settings, how foundries integrate material intelligence with artistic practice, and their significance in creating meaningful cultural legacies and place-based identities in global cities.
Key finding: This manual synthesizes extensive research and urban fieldwork to argue that manufacturing—including art foundries—is critical to addressing 21st-century urban challenges through technical innovation, local economic... Read more
Key finding: The paper identifies the symbiotic relationship between dense urban centers and the art ecosystem, highlighting how the clustering of makers, artists, galleries, and related services—including manufacturing activities—enables... Read more
Key finding: The article traces historical and contemporary interdisciplinary collaborations between art and technology sectors, situating art foundries within emerging practice-led research frameworks that extend beyond galleries into... Read more
3. How is artistic research and knowledge creation mediated, catalogued, and accessed in art-historical and art institutional contexts, influencing art production and scholarship?
This theme investigates the infrastructure, epistemological challenges, and evolving methodologies of artistic research—including the documentation and dissemination of works produced through art foundries. It encompasses studies on artistic modes of inquiry, bibliographic systems facilitating access to art knowledge, as well as institutional roles in fostering and preserving craft and creative practices. Such research informs the understanding of artistic production's embeddedness within institutional and academic frameworks.
Key finding: This work critically examines the tensions between artistic practice and academic research paradigms, underscoring the unique epistemology of artistic knowledge that resists conventional scholarly codification. It highlights... Read more
Key finding: The study identifies significant structural and epistemic barriers in discovering, accessing, and classifying artistic research outputs across European academic and library systems. It underscores the challenges posed by... Read more
Key finding: This paper outlines the development of a collaborative, discipline-specific group catalogue powered by WorldCat that aggregates art-historical bibliographic records from multiple international libraries. It advances art... Read more
Key finding: The organizational overview stresses the importance of educational outreach, exhibition programming, artist support, and marketplace development in sustaining craft practices encompassing artisanal metalworking and foundry... Read more