Category: Exhibitions
New acquisition in Scotland
September 5 2011
Picture: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Here's a notable acquisition I missed while I was away. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art has bought the above watercolour, The Mysterious Garden, 1911, by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. It cost £230,000.
Van Gogh goes to the Rockies
September 1 2011
Picture: Van Gogh Museum
The Denver Art Museum has announced a new Van Gogh exhibition, 'Becoming Van Gogh', to be held from October 2012-January 2013. More here.
New works by Leonard Foujita
September 1 2011
Picture: Pola Museum of Art, Japan
A cache of newly discovered works by Leonard Foujita, the celebrated 20th Century Japanese artist, will go on display this month at the Pola Museum in Hakone, Japan. More here.
Renaissance coup in Australia
August 31 2011
Picture: The Canberra Times
The National Gallery of Australia has pulled of a bit of a coup with a forthcoming exhibition. It will display over 70 exquisite Renaissance masterpieces from the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, which is undergoing renovation. The paintings, which include Titians, Raphaels and the above Bellini, have never been out of Europe before.
Apparently, this is the first time works by Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini and Perugino have been shown in Australia. The show runs from 9th December 2011 - 9th April 2012.
WW2 Portraits on display at RAF Museum
August 13 2011
Picture: RAF Museum
I find the combination of war and art fascinating. So I recommend going to see a series of portraits by wartime artist Eric Kennington, which have gone on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon. Says the museum:
The exhibition will present about three dozen works covering all of the Armed Services, the Auxiliary Services, London Transport and some notable civilians. Pictures have been loaned by the National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum, the Tate, the National Maritime Museum, the Ministry of Defence and by Kennington’s family and other private lenders and art dealers.
Kennington was among a handful of British artists who distinguished themselves as official war artists in both World Wars. His portraits were widely hailed not only as works of art, but also as capturing the indomitable spirit of British and Allied Servicemen in the struggle for victory.
It's well worth a visit. If you can't make it, there's a book on Kennington by Dr Jonathan Black, called The Face of Courage, which you can buy here. Pictured above is Kennington drawing General Ironside in 1940 - check out the General's visionary pose.
New Ford Madox Brown exhibition
August 12 2011
Picture: Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery will hold a new exhibition on Ford Madox Brown in September. It will be the first major exhibition of his work since 1964, and will assemble his greatest paintings, such as Work and The Last of England.
The show will also display this newly discovered work, The Seraph's Watch (A Reminiscence of the Old Master), found by the exhibition's curator, Julian Treuherz. Lost for many years, the composition was known only from a partial copy by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which was sold recently at Sotheby's.
This picture is apparently Madox Brown's second version of the subject - the first, painted in 1846, is also lost. The fact that it is a replica may explain some of the rather awkward aspects of the newly discovered work. The drapery and drawing of the hands looks a little unusual.
The exhibition runs from 24th Sept 2011 - 29th Jan 2012. Full details here.
'To every other portrait my reaction was indifference.'
August 5 2011
Picture: BG
Brian Sewell has written a stinger of a review on the BP Portrait Award (National Portrait Gallery, London). He questions the validity of the competition, now that it is filled with 'bilge':
I am inclined to say that, like the Turner Prize, the Portrait Award is now so stale that it should be garrotted. In its early days it achieved something of what it set out to do, but now, in spite of becoming international and attracting 2,372 submissions, these 55 exhibited pictures suggest that portraiture has returned to its deathbed and is now beyond recovery. This award is no longer, as Alison Weir asserts in her superfluous introduction to the catalogue, "acknowledged to be the ultimate showcase of the talents of aspiring artists and developments in portraiture" - indeed, it never was. It is no longer "an example of outstanding arts sponsorship making a real difference..." as the director of the NPG insists - indeed it brings not credit but ridicule to its sponsors, who are deluded by the NPG and its minions into believing this to be "inspiring work (and) ... a truly exciting public exhibition". Ultimate, outstanding and inspiring? Hooey, phooey and bilge.
Though Sewell is as extreme as ever, I fear he is (at least partly) right. The standard of portraits is often poor - and getting worse.
But I don't blame the competition itself (which I love), rather, the judges. I sometimes wonder if they have they lost the ability to objectively and qualitatively assess works of art, a common problem these days. For too long the judges have rewarded insipid work of little technical merit, and seem unduly keen on portraits based entirely on photographs (such that you can even see flash bulbs reflected in the sitters' pupils). So it's no surprise to see so many photo-like works entered for the BP competition. They should be banned, and the entry bar raised.
Interestingly, the only portrait Sewell commends in his article is by Nathan Ford, whose portrait Abi was my pick of the bunch when I went to the opening - so much so that I took the rubbish photo on my phone, above (see a better one here). It won no prizes.
NPG buys a Dyson
August 5 2011
Picture: Sir James Dyson, 2010 by Julian Opie © Julian Opie / National Portrait Gallery, London; commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery with the support of J.P. Morgan through the Fund for New Commissions. Inkjet on canvas, 1438 x 1082 (56 5/8 x 42 5/8)
The National Portrait Gallery, London, has acquired a newly commissioned portrait of the inventory James Dyson by Julian Opie. Here, Opie describes the process of making the portrait: [More below]
On the first Director of the National Gallery
August 4 2011
Picture: BBC
Here's a nifty slideshow about Sir Charles Eastlake, the first director of the National Gallery. It coincides with a new exhibition on Eastlake at the gallery, curated by Susanna Avery-Quash. She has just published Eastlake's travel diaries for the Walpole Society.
PS - doesn't London look nicer with cobbles?
The Walpole Society hits 100
August 2 2011
Picture: Philip Mould Ltd
There was a pleasant do at the National Gallery last week to celebrate the Walpole Society's 100th birthday. The Society publishes, in weighty annual volumes, essential evidence on British art history (most famously the notebooks of George Vertue). If you're not a member, do consider joining. For just £45 a year you get their handsome volumes, and much else besides.
To underline how useful the Society's work is to someone like me, the most recent publication (of Charles Eastlake's travel journals) came in handy for our recent Van Dyck exhibition. Eastlake (1793-1865) was the first director of the National Gallery, and a great connoisseur. Plop onto my desk two days before the catalogue went to press fell Eastlake's notebooks - which revealed that he had seen our newly discovered portrait (above) in Paris on 25th August 1860 in the Rothschild's collection: "Van Dyck - A Girl - whole length - holding her white gown (dark under sleeves) in left hand - fan in rt - [[about]] 2 - 8 w - 3 - 5h." Good timing, eh?
There is a new small exhibition at the National showing how Eastlake used to go on shopping trips in Europe, and how difficult it was to be sure in those days that the 'Giotto' on offer really was a Giotto. Worth a visit.
How the Leonardo show was put together
July 29 2011
Richard Dorment has the story behind the loan negotiations in The Telegraph.
Met's McQueen exhibition open till midnight
July 28 2011
Picture: Metropolitan Museum
A bit off-beam this one (and a chance to publish a cool photo)... but it's interesting to note that, for the first time ever, the Met Museum has extended their opening hours until midnight. It's for their exhibition on Alexander McQueen's dresses.
Sewell on 'Twombly & Poussin'
July 28 2011
Picture: Dulwich Picture Gallery
Perhaps inevitably, he doesn't like it:
Poussin has nothing in common with this charlatan and is abused by this silly exhibition and the overblown and extended conceit on which it rests
As ever, though, it's worth a read.
Leonardo's two 'Virgin of the Rocks' to be displayed together
July 27 2011
Picture: Louvre, Paris (left), National Gallery, London (right)
They are rightly calling it a 'historic collaboration': later this year, both versions of Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks will be displayed together in the National Gallery's Leonardo exhibition. This will be the first time this has happened. In return, London's Leonardo 'cartoon' for Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist will be sent to Paris to hang alongside the Louvre's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne.
What a great coup the National has pulled off - many congratulations to the staff there. If you haven't booked your tickets yet, you can do so here.
Poussin attack - Leonardo exhibition at risk?
July 25 2011
Interesting story in the Independent yesterday about the Poussin attack at the National Gallery - now there are concerns that the loan of Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine could be at risk. The Czartoryski Trust, which owns the picture, is in negotiations with the gallery:
Olga Jaros, who took over as chairman of the foundation, confirmed that a decision had yet to be made, and that a contract has yet to be signed with the National Gallery. "In the light of what happened last weekend at the National Gallery, I have informed the foundation what has happened. We are still in negotiations."
Even before Saturday's attack, concerns had been voiced over the painting's hectic schedule. It is at present on loan to the Palacio Real in Madrid for an exhibition of Polish art treasures. It is then scheduled to visit Berlin before travelling to London.
Obviously, there's a significant difference in risk between a Leonardo in a reinforced glass box, and an un-glazed Poussin. So I hope the Leonardo lenders don't overreact.
The most worrying aspect, however, is the news that buget cuts have led to a reduction in security guards at the National Gallery, with some having to monitor two rooms. This, if true, is cause for concern - really the protection of the paintings is the National Gallery's number one duty. But I'm afraid that, having seen some of the guards at work, and the ease with which the Poussin was vandalised, a more thorough security overhaul is required.
David Packwood at Art History Today also discusses the problem here.
Art and war
July 21 2011
Picture: Museum of the Confederacy
Here's a strangely fascinating new online exhibition from the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. It shows 31 paintings all by Conrad Wise Chapman, a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War, and his father John Gadsby Chapman. Of this picture, showing one of the first submarines used in war, Conrad Chapman wrote:
The inventor of this boat, a mane named Hunley, can be seen... it was at first thought would [sic] be very effective; twice it went out on its mission of destruction, but on both occasions returned with all the crew dead. After this had happened the second time, someone painted on it the word 'Coffin'.
I must say, I hadn't heard of the Museum of the Confederacy before. It's interesting to read their founding statement on their website:
The clothes, the arms, the money, the belongings of the Confederate soldier, and the women whose loyal enthusiasm kept him in the field, are properly objects of historical interest. The glory, the hardships, the heroism of the war were a noble heritage for our children. To keep green such memories and to commemorate such virtues, it is our purpose to gather together and preserve in the Executive Mansion of the Confederacy the sacred relics of those glorious days. We appeal to our sisters throughout the South to help us secure these invaluable mementoes before it’s too late.
So nothing about slavery then...
Tudor portrait set at NPG
July 14 2011
Picture: NPG
A rare and important set of royal portraits will go on display for the first time in 36 years at the National Portrait Gallery, London from 19th July-4th December. The Hornby Castle set of portraits runs from William the Conqueror to Mary I, including this nicely hump-backed Richard III. They aren't masterpieces, but are a nice example of the Tudor fashion for 'corridor portraits'.
Salvator Mundi - National Gallery statement
July 13 2011
Picture: Robert Simon/Tim Nighswander
Here's the statement from the National Gallery on the Salvator Mundi:
The painting Salvator Mundi will be shown at The National Gallery, London, exhibition: Leonardo da Vinci: Painter of the Court of Milan from 9 November 2011 – 5 February 2012.
Leonardo is known to have painted the Salvator Mundi – an image of Christ holding a globe, with his right hand raised in blessing. The version in a private collection in New York was shown after cleaning to the Director of the National Gallery and to the Curator of the exhibition as well as to other scholars in the field. We felt that it would be of great interest to include this painting in the exhibition as a new discovery. It will be presented as the work of Leonardo, and this will obviously be an important opportunity to test this new attribution by direct comparison with works universally accepted as Leonardo’s. A separate press release on the Salvator Mundi is issued by the owner.
I can't immediately think of another major gallery that has included a newly discovered work found by a dealer in a blockbuster exhibition. It is a bold step by the National and its director, Nicholas Penny. Museums in some other countries, such as France, would probably recoil in horror. Personally, I cannot applaud the National enough for including the picture in the exhibition. It is a fitting recognition of the role that we dealers, and their discoveries, can play in advancing art history.
Jonathan Jones in the Guardian has, typically, the best piece on the story here.
Last chance to see 'Finding Van Dyck'
July 13 2011
Picture: Bowes Museum
Our exhibition 'Finding Van Dyck' closes today, so now is your last chance to come and see a number of potential Van Dyck discoveries. One of them is this dirty and over-painted Portrait of a Lady in a White Dress, which belongs to the Bowes Museum. It was long thought to be a copy, even perhaps a 19thC one. But is it in fact an original by Van Dyck?
I think it could be. The picture shows how condition issues can lead to an attribution being questioned. We've been asked to help restore the painting, so I guess we'll soon know for sure whether it is by Van Dyck or not...
First image of newly found Leonardo
July 9 2011
Picture: Robert Simon/Tim Nighswander
Here's the first post-conservation photo of Salvator Mundi, the newly discovered Leonardo painting. Lost for centuries, it was bought in the US in the mid-2000s by the art dealer Alex Parish.
The picture will be included in the National Gallery's new Leonardo exhibition. But after speculation over the $200m asking price, which would conflict with the National's strict rules on loaned paintings, the owners have said the picture is now not for sale.
It's difficult to judge from the photo, but I can see no reason why it shouldn't be by Leonardo, as the scholars now say. The hand in particular seems very Leonardo like. The only question I suppose is the condition, given the thinness in the face. I can't wait to see it. What an incredible discovery by Alex Parish.
