Resumen de Le produit du talent ou la production de talent?: la formation des artistes à l'Académie des beaux-arts à Anvers aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
The transition from the Ancient Regime to the contemporary period was often regarded as the transition from a �selective� to a �productive� mode of professional training. The problem, however, is that the product of education is imprisoned in arbitrary practices of signification and cannot be considered objectively. This theoretical conclusions result from researching the genesis of the Academy of fine arts in Antwerp. The creation of the academy in 1663 did not rise from a failed formation on the shop floor or the emergence of an �enlightened� conscience concerning the tranfer of abilities and knowledge. Via teachers, masters and professors, arbitrary and subjective appreciations�on art and the producers of art�were objectified. The difference between the formation offered by the academy and the formation in the corporative workshop had thus nothing to do with the advent of social mobility. Preliminary selection was more important than meritocratic tendencies, and the logic behind the evaluation of the pupils by means of contests aimed at creating or sharpening differences
