19th Century
Emma Soyer acquired by NGV Melbourne
April 16 2026
Picture: NGV Melbourne
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived via the website of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne that they have acquired Emma Soyer's (c.1809-1842) A girl with a basket of tulips, lilacs and other flowers, on a balcony before a landscape. The picture was acquired with funds from the Eva Mandel Bequest and Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family, and compliments their other recently acquired Soyer, called The Escape, which appeared at a Christie's sale in 2023.
As it happens, Soyer's Flower Girl was initially spotted by my friend Dominic Sanchez Cabello and myself a few years ago in the collection of Melford Hall in Suffolk (which is partly owned by the National Trust and still inhabited by its historic family). The owners didn't know of its significance and shortly afterwards the picture appeared hanging in the Christie's Private Sales galleries who presumably made the sale to the Australian gallery. Congratulations to all involved, it is a stunning addition to Soyer's growing oeuvre (of which there is more to be said in due course).
Update - Here's a short blog from Dominic on the picture.
Two Monets coming up at Sotheby's Paris
April 3 2026
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived that two Monets, both of which have been in private collections for a considerable time, will be auctioned off at Sotheby's Paris later this month. Les Îles de Port-Villez (1883) will be offered carrying and estimate of €3m - €5m (pictured) and a second Vétheuil, Effet du Matin (1901) will carry €6m - €8m.
According to the article linked above:
While sales of Monet’s 1880s Port-Villez paintings are relatively rare (most are held in major museum collections), in 2025 a Vétheuil canvas sold for $3.2 million at Christie’s New York, surpassing a low estimate of $1.8 million. In Paris this Spring, a similar outcome would not be unexpected.
“For a collector to be able to bid on a great Monet which is in perfect condition and has not been seen for a century, it almost doesn’t exist anymore.”
Cezanne at the Fondation Beyeler
March 20 2026
Video: Fondation Beyeler
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that the Fondation Beyeler near Basel opened a large exhibition dedicated to Cezanne earlier this year.
According to the museum's website:
For the first time in its history, the Fondation Beyeler will devote an exhibition to Paul Cezanne, a pioneer of modern art and one of the most important artists in the museum’s collection. The exhibition will focus on the last and most significant phase of the artist’s career, highlighting key themes of his later years, among them still lifes, portraits, landscapes and bather scenes. Bringing together around 80 oil paintings and watercolours, the exhibition will bring to life Cezanne’s groundbreaking work as regards form, light and colour – the qualities that have inspired and influenced artists for generations and through to the present day.
The show will run until 25th May 2026.
Christina Rossetti acquired and displayed by National Trust
March 16 2026
Picture: The National Trust via artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Trust have acquired a portrait of Christina Rossetti by her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, for Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton. The work, which has gone on public display for the first time, is part of their recently opened exhibition The Rossettis: Siblings and Spouses.
According to the article linked above:
Created on the north Kent coast, where the painter had decamped to escape depression and the pressures of London, it is, in effect, a tribute to Maria and an acknowledgement of the grief that Christina and Dante share—Christina, by contrast, expressed her feelings in the poem An October Garden. As his younger brother William would write a decade later, the portrait had a positive effect: “The experiment turned out a complete success. [Dante] perceived at once that nothing but an effort of will was needed to enable him to continue working at his art.”
The portrait, one of only two solo portraits he created of his sister in later life, was recently acquired by the National Trust and forms part of “The Rossettis – Siblings and Spouses,” an exhibition at Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton, a city in the English Midlands. Wightwick Manor was bestowed to the National Trust in 1937 by Rosalie and Geoffrey Mander, whose devotion to collecting Victorian art has made the property a significant place to see Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts work.
Rediscovered Constable Sketch up in Dallas
March 16 2026
Picture: Heritage Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Texas that a study by John Constable has resurfaced whilst being deaccessioned by the Jefferson Historical Society and Museum. The society had been gifted the work in the 1960s and had long thought the painting to be a copy of the artist's The Cornfield which is in The National Gallery in London. The painting has been authenticated by Anne Lyles and Sarah Cove and will be sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas 5th June 2026 (no estimate has been provided, as of yet).
Emma Soyer in Burnley
March 9 2026
Picture: Towneley Hall Museum & Art Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Towneley Hall Museum & Art Gallery in Burnley shared some news yesterday which I've been looking forward to revealing for some time. The Museum is now the owner of a very fine reidentified work by Emma Soyer (c. 1809-1842), which the town purchased in 1951 as a work by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (an attribution which had been more recently dismissed). It was spotted by my friend Dominic Sanchez-Cabello and myself last year, as part of efforts to find more of her missing pictures. Here's a short blog from Dominic which provides a little more information on the work.
Margate sent to Turner's House in April
March 4 2026
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Tuner's House near Richmond will be opening their latest exhibition next month focusing on the mystery of this painting which is believed to depict Margate from the sea.
According to their press release:
This year's exhibition at Turner's House in St. Margarets, near Richmond, London, “Unfinished Business: The Mystery of Margate and Turner’s Bequest” will give visitors the opportunity to see an extraordinary sea painting by one of Britain's greatest maritime artists, displayed within the house he designed and had built in Twickenham by 1813. Sandycombe Lodge, as he called it, was his country retreat from the rigors of the London art world. On loan from the National Gallery, London, Margate (?), from the Sea, one of his later works from circa 1835-1840, will be the focus of an exhibition that uncovers the complex and fascinating story of the Turner Bequest, and reveal how attitudes to Turner's work changed across the centuries. [...]
The Turner Bequest included a large group of paintings that Turner had never exhibited and were deemed unfinished. This included Margate (?), from the Sea. Those paintings were judged during the 19th century as unfit for display. Along with many other works of a similar nature, it was left uncatalogued, without a title and remained hidden away for over 50 years. It wasn't until 1905 that the picture was reassessed and accessioned into the national collection. A.J. Finberg provided the name, when inventorying the Turner Bequest and Martin Davies, later Director of the National Gallery (1968-73), added the question mark, calling the identification of the subject matter into question.
Calls for missing works by William Charles Piguenit by The Royal Society of Tasmania
February 27 2026
Picture: abc.net.au
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Australia that The Royal Society of Tasmania are trying to find lost works by colonial painter William Charles Piguenit (1836-1914). The artist is most widely known for his dramatic landscapes set in Tasmania. Click on the link above to read more about their efforts to locate his oils and works on paper.
Recent Release: Constable's Year
February 21 2026
Picture: Thames & Hudson
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that Thames & Hudson released Susan Owens' new book Constable's Year: An Artist in Changing Seasons at the beginning of 2026 (spotted via Trois Crayons - have you read the February edition of their brilliant online magazine yet?).
According to the publisher's blurb:
As exhilarating as a lungful of oxygen: that’s how some of his contemporaries felt about John Constable’s paintings. Others, though, were baffled by his uncompromisingly fresh and realistic treatment of the natural world. Susan Owens follows Constable through the seasons, tracing the rhythms and resonances of the artist’s year to offer a vivid, unconventional perspective on this beloved figure.
Whether in London in May, preparing pictures for exhibition and longing for the Suffolk spring, or painting boat-builders and waiting to be married in a particularly gloomy September, Constable’s life and work were unusually shaped by the yearly cycles of weather and agriculture, as well as by the often competing demands of the art world. Raised in Suffolk and trained to manage his father's land, his rural background had an enduring impact on his painting. His was the approach of one who knew the laneways, ploughs and millponds he painted intimately, and who understood the countryside as a place of both labour and natural phenomena.
Update - A reader has kindly been in touch to point out extracts of the book were featured on Radio 4 earlier this year and can be listened to on the BBC IPlayer.
Rosa Bonheur's Pegasus acquired by Château de By
February 21 2026
Picture: Digard
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Château de By in France, the former home of Rosa Bonheur which is now a museum, have announced their acquisition of the artist's painting of Pegasus. The work had recently made €65,000 at the auction house Digard late last year.
Degas Drawings Online
February 21 2026
Picture: degas-catalogue.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Gazette Drouot have drawn attention to news that the Edgar Degas online Catalogue raisonné project, edited by Michel Schulman, has this month uploaded over 1,500 drawings to their website.
Technical Analysis & Restoration of Dieppe Courbet
February 18 2026
Picture: C2RMF
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news from last year that a conservation and restoration project of Gustave Courbet's portrait of Paul Ansout, owned by the Dieppe Château-musée, has revealed several hidden secrets. This includes recent x-rays which have revealed a painted over sketch of the sitter which the artist had abandoned and restarted once the canvas was flipped around. Click on the link above to read more.
Gustave Caillebotte Self Portrait acquired by Musée d’Orsay
February 4 2026
Picture: Musée d’Orsay
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée d’Orsay have announced their acquisition of a Self Portrait by Gustave Caillebotte. Painted and exhibited in 1879, this is one of only five self portraits produced by the artist during his career. It will be on public display in the museum from 17th February onwards.
Edmonia Lewis Exhibitions
January 28 2026
Picture: Peabody Essex Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, will be opening an exhibition dedicated to the sculptor Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) on 14th February 2026. The show will then head to the Georgia Museum of Art in August before its final stop at the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2027.
According to the museum's website:
Born in Greenbush, New York in 1844, Lewis became the first sculptor of Black and Indigenous (Mississauga) descent to achieve international recognition. Beginning her career in Boston in 1863, she traveled to Rome in 1866 to join the leading American sculptors of her generation, breaking international, racial and gender barriers. "Sometimes the times were dark and the outlook was lonesome, but where there is a will, there is a way,” Lewis recalled in 1878. “That is what I tell my people whenever I meet them, that they must not be discouraged, but work ahead until the world is bound to respect them for what they have accomplished.” [...]
Discover the first museum exhibition of its kind to gather the full range of Lewis’s art alongside works by her contemporaries and the generations of artists she influenced. Together these 100 objects foreground Lewis’s life and work within her worlds and reveal her true mastery of marble.
What happened to the Duchess of Alba's Renoir
January 7 2026
Picture: elmundo.es
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Spanish news outlet El Mundo have published an article following the later and winding history of Renoir's The Cherry Hat. The picture was acquired by the Duchess of Alba in 1973 and was later divided amongst her children on her death in 2014 (rather than kept in the family's foundation). The picture has now turned up in a dealer's collection in the USA. Click on the link to read the full story.
Pearlman Foundation Gifts on Display at LACMA in February
January 7 2026
Picture: lacma
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be opening a new exhibition in February dedicated to the The Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation which have been gifted to the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York respectively. The gift includes works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Degas, Soutine, Manet, Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec, Sisley and more.
According to their website:
Comprising an exceptional group of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and modern artworks, the Pearlman Collection will be gifted across the three institutions in a novel sharing arrangement that will enhance access to larger and more diverse audiences through continually changing contexts.
In recognition of the late Pearlmans' generous spirit, the collection will travel as an exhibition before being placed under the care of the respective institutions. From February to July 2026, the exhibition Village Square: Gifts of Modern Art from the Pearlman Collection to the Brooklyn Museum, LACMA, and MoMA will be on view at LACMA, and in the fall of 2026 the collection will travel to the Brooklyn Museum. In the near future, MoMA will also present an exhibition of the Pearlman gifts.
Colnaghi Cleans Sorolla
December 30 2025
Picture: @colnaghi1760 via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The dealers Colnaghi have shared some rather pleasing before and after photos of the recently cleaned Little Elena at her Desk by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.
According to their post:
Exhibited internationally between 1901 and 1911, the work was reproduced in Hispania as Portrait of my daughter and remained in the Sorolla family collection.
Painted Mineral Cabinet Soars
December 22 2025
Picture: drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following painted Mineral Cabinet, showing specimens belonging to the King, soared at auction in France last week. Painted by Alexandre-Isidore Leroy, the work flew past its estimate of €20,000 - €30,000 to achieve €530,000 (hammer) at Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés.
Turner's Auction Acquisitions
December 17 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's have published an interesting article online by Melissa Chaplin, head of their archives in London, on the acquisitions JMW Turner made at auction. Click on the link to read the full article.
MET acquires Købke
December 10 2025
Picture: MET
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news (which has been picked up here by La Tribune de l'art) that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has acquired Christen Købke's portrait of his sister Sophie Købke.
According to the museum's website:
Christen Købke was one of eleven siblings. He portrayed his elder sister Sophie in the parlor of the Kastellet, the fortress of Copenhagen, where their father served as overseer of the bakery. The casual refinement of Sophie’s middle-class respectability is of a piece with the up-to-date Biedermeier style of the setting. This painting served a dual function: first, as an independent portrait and, second, as the model for the far larger portrait of another sister, Conradine Feilberg (private collection).
