Galerie Suermondt à Aix-La-Chapelle [1860] / par W. Bürger; avec le catalogue de la coll. par Waagen; trad. par W. B. 1860

This book, *Galerie Suermondt à Aix-La-Chapelle*, was published in 1860 by Théophile Thoré-Bürger, a hugely influential French art critic. It’s a catalogue of the Suermondt collection in Aachen, Germany, and it exemplifies the changing social status of art in the mid-19th century. Thoré-Bürger was a prominent figure in the burgeoning art world. As art became more accessible to the public, so did the need for critical interpretation. Catalogues like this helped shape public taste and understanding. The inclusion of a catalogue by Gustav Waagen, a leading art historian, further underscored the institutionalization of art historical expertise. This book reflects a growing interest in Dutch and Flemish painting, part of a broader European fascination with national artistic identities. Publications like this helped create a sense of shared cultural heritage, a project very much entwined with the rise of nationalism. Understanding the social conditions surrounding art requires looking at publications such as this alongside other historical documents to reveal how it was perceived, valued, and used in its time.