Mission Statement
Art Discovery Institute (ADI) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to assist museums, academic research institutions, and other individuals in the art history field to identify the historical, cultural, and artistic significance of particular works of art; and to advance new and evolving art history theories and research.
Art Discovery Institute does not authenticate particular works of art, but works to research their cultural context, origins, discoverable provenance and archival references, and to identify both the physical and aesthetic characteristics of a particular work that may assist in its proper attribution.
ADI publishes art history research and theory concerning lesser known artistic genres, organizes and curates exhibitions, conducts symposia, and provides educational opportunities for young students, resident artists, and visiting scholars specializing in art history.
ADI also houses the China Trade Paintings Digital Images Archive, in cooperation with participating museums and other collectors of these culturally and artistically significant works.
Projects and Resources
ADI projects have included research and publication in the areas of:
- Traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy
- Pre-20th-century European art in China, particularly “China Trade” oil paintings, which were created in the context of 19th-century Sino-Western commerce
- Italian Renaissance paintings and other art
- Pre- and post-Impressionist paintings from Europe and the United States
- European and American art of the early and mid-20th century
- 19th and 20th-century Japanese prints
- Contemporary American and British landscape painting
ADI holds more than 400 specialized art/art history books and rare prints. ADI is based in Manassas, VA, which is near the resources of several major university libraries and archives, e.g., the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and the Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art: the National Museums of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. ADI presently includes five researchers.
Top Image: A Northern Song-period shan shui ("mountain-and-river") painting.