Update from Elizabeth Capel, February 2013:
This fall was primarily spent writing and polishing the working draft of my thesis that I
began last spring, and the result is a roughly forty-page exploration of my research process and
conclusions. During the first half of the fall I continued to add to my annotated bibliography as
well. Though in some ways a culminating one for my project, this semester ended with exciting
experiences set up for the spring: presentations at NCUR, the Baker University Art History
conference and SURF (acceptance to the latter two pending), in addition to a Lumen scholars
visit to the Nasher Museum’s exhibit on the Cone Sisters’ collection.
This semester’s top priority was ensuring that the conclusions both Dr. Ringelberg and I
have been able to observe were accurately discussed and presented lucidly. That being said, we
did more than just edit: several new sections were added to my thesis this semester, and some
were removed as well. Removing sections was a challenge; for example, admitting that my idea
about perfectionism as a falsely presented trend in women collectors (something I had noted
early in the project) was no longer supported by my research conclusions was an important yet
difficult step. One of the most helpful tasks this semester was a major reformulation of the thesis
and overall purpose of my essay. While my thesis statement remained similar to what I came up
with last spring, a reevaluation of its transparency and relation to the support in my essay was
needed. My ultimate thesis statement has three parts. The first part is that the women collectors
discussed in my essay do share an important commonality: their gendered and disadvantaged
collecting experiences compared to male collectors. Secondly, I note that their commonality does
not translate into similar collections, motivations, or methods of acquisition, and finally, I write
that women collectors are often misleadingly described when written about both by scholars and
by their own museums. These ideas are the basis for my essay and will be my principle points in
presenting my ideas at conferences in the spring.
A remarkable chance for close study of one of my case study collections this semester
was in an exhibit at the Nasher Museum at Duke University called “Collecting Matisse and
Modern Masters: the Cone Sisters of Baltimore.” The exhibit (still on display) features highlights
from the sisters’ collection, usually housed at the Baltimore Museum of Art, as well as wall text
and interactive digital photo displays intended to reveal insights to the Cones’ collecting
motivations and manner of display in their Baltimore apartments. I was able to glean details that
I had not seen before about the sisters’ collecting progression, including the fact that museums
other than the Baltimore Museum of Art were interested in acquiring the sisters’ collection; this
information added a valuable element to my essay’s discussion of museum location choices for
collectors. The Weatherspoon Museum has an associated exhibit called “The Cone Sisters
Collect” that includes special commentary on the museum’s permanent collection of works from
the Cone Collection. In early February a few Lumen scholars will visit the Nasher Museum’s
exhibit where I will play “tour guide” for the other scholars who can attend the outing.
As of now I have applied to the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and Baker
University’s Fourth Annual Art History Conference, both of which will be held in April. I hope
to present at Elon’s SURF as well, and preparation for these conferences will be the focus of the
LUM 498 credit hour I plan to take in the spring. In the coming semester Dr. Ringelberg and I
will develop strategies for presenting my research visually, which is especially important for art
historians. In addition to studying and selecting images appropriate for presentations, I will work
to prepare a written text that will be the basis of those presentations. A reading of the text will be
well practiced by the time of any conferences. Lastly, Dr. Ringelberg and I will address the
feasibility of publication and availability of appropriate venues in the spring, which is something
still unexplored as of yet. I look forward to the continued progression and eventual culmination
of my Lumen project in these ways.