Category: Research
V&A Launches New Collection Search Engine
February 10 2021
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have launched a beta version of their new digital collections search engine on their website. This replaces their rather out of date and clunky predecessor, which had been in place for well over ten years I believe. On first glances it seems very easy to use and supplies fairly good images.
The only drawback, it seems, are its out of date image use terms. These appear to be rather antiquated compared to the growing list of museums who are allowing open access use these days!
Free Lecture on Portland Collection Miniatures
February 8 2021
Picture: Harley Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Harley Gallery are hosting a free lecture by Dr Karen Hearn on miniatures by Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver from The Portland Collection. Many readers will know of Dr Hearn's work on early modern portraiture, yet, she is also chair of the Harley Foundation Curatorial Advisory Group.
The lecture will be broadcast via Zoom on 26th February 2021 at 12pm (GMT). It's free to attend although registration is required.
Sixteenth Century Doctor from Tatton Park
February 7 2021
Video: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm sure Bendor would want me to draw attention to the next episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces which airs tomorrow (8th February 2021) on BBC4 at 9pm (GMT). In this segment conservator Simon Gillespie and Bendor have a closer look at a painting from Tatton Park, a very impressive house with a fine collection looked after by the National Trust in Cheshire.
Update - A reader has written in with the following lines:
Having watched the first two programmes in Bendy's new series of Britain's Lost Masterpieces, I feel moved to contact AHN to say that they are superb. It is so good to have some really interesting, educational and entertaning art history on television for a change. Well done Bendy and well done BBC4 - please keep it up!
Gainsborough Engravings Reattributed
February 7 2021
Picture: The Sunday Telegraph
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sunday Telegraph has published a story regarding the reattribution of several engravings which had been thought to be the work of Thomas Gainsborough. Scholar Susan Sloman has said that there are in fact the work of his nephew Gainsborough Dupont. The reasons for this are the direction of the shading, which Thomas Gainsborough would have reversed to imitate his drawings in this mirrored print format.
Upcoming Release: Gainsborough in London
February 5 2021
Picture: Modern Art Press Ltd
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a new release that will be of interest to some readers. Gainsborough in London is the upcoming publication by the Gainsborough scholar Susan Sloman.
Here's the blurb from the publisher's website:
Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727–88) London years, from 1774 to 1788, were the pinnacle and conclusion of his career. They coincided with the establishment of the Royal Academy, of which Gainsborough was a founding member, and the city’s ascendance as a centre for the arts. This is a meticulously researched and readable account of how Gainsborough designed his home and studio and maintained a growing schedule of influential patrons, making a place for himself in the art world of late-18th-century London. New material about Gainsborough’s technique is based on examinations of his pictures and firsthand accounts by studio visitors. His fractious relationship with the Royal Academy and its exhibition culture is reexamined through the works he sent to its annual shows. The full range of Gainsborough’s art, from fashionable portraits to landscapes and fancy pictures, is addressed in this major contribution, not just to the study of a great artist, but to 18th-century studies in general.
The book will be released on 9th March 2021 and is available for pre-order.
Cocktails with a Curator at the Frick
February 4 2021
Video: The Frick Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Frick Collection in New York's most recent edition of Cocktails with a Curator features Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon discussing El Greco’s “Vincenzo Anastagi”.
Hermitage School of Raphael Frescos
February 1 2021
Video: State Hermitage Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg have published this fascinating thirty four minute video on the history and restoration of their fresco cycle by the School of Raphael. The video was made to accompany their current exhibition After Raphael. 1520-2020. In particular, the documentary contains some brilliant insights into the conservation of these delicate frescos which were removed from a villa near Rome and acquired by the museum in the mid-nineteenth century.
Alas, the video is only available in the Russian language. YouTube does have an auto-translate function, which is rather useless at times, but will give you the general idea of what they're discussing!
Raphael Related Works to be Scanned in Naples
February 1 2021
Picture: Ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples is embarking on a project to infrared-scan all of their paintings relating to Raphael and his followers.
The project is related to an exhibition they will be opening in June alongside an international conference on the artist held at the museum. This research aims to uncover details regarding how the master's workshop functioned, including works that were developed in collaboration with it. The painting illustrated is the work of Gianfrancesco Penni (1488-1528), who is known to have worked in collaboration with Raphael and later with Giulio Romano. All forms of copies and derivations of his work in the museum will be included too.
Frederic George Stephens Lecture on YouTube
February 1 2021
Picture: Tate
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The De Morgan Foundation have published a lecture on the Victorian art critic and aspiring painter Frederick George Stephens (1827-1907) onto their YouTube Channel. The talk is given by the art historian Dr Robert Wilkes who concentrated on Stephens's often underappreciated works for his doctoral thesis.
Galileo Mystery in Francis Cleyn Portrait
January 31 2021
Picture: The Wall Street Journal
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph have published reviews for a new book by John L Heilbron entitled The Ghost of Galileo. The book investigates the above painting of John Bankes and his Tutor, Sir Maurice Williams by Francis Cleyn (1582-1658) in the collection of Kingston Lacy, Dorset (The National Trust). More specifically, the author goes into the possible reasons why Cleyn included a copy of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632) in the picture.
It all makes for rather interesting reading. Equally, one can really feel the influence of Cleyn's painting on William Dobson here. Dobson is believed to have worked in Cleyn's studio during his youth.
The Wallace Collection Library set to Close (?)
January 30 2021
Picture: Pinterest
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A group of staff from The Wallace Collection in London have set up a petition to encourage management to rethink their plans to lay off library and archive staff. The petition suggests that the museum is planning to close its library service altogether, in favour of a revamped digitisation service online it seems.
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On a personal note, I think this would be a terrible shame. I was lucky enough to spend a great deal of time in the library during my Master's Degree. The staff couldn't have been more helpful and generous with their time and knowledge. The collection of materials available is outstanding too, especially if you're studying specialist subjects such as arms & armour for example.
Update - The petition has now gathered over 10,000 signatures.
The Guardian have also published a story regarding the planned changes.
Maria Schalcken Video
January 29 2021
Highlights from "A Conversation - Boy Offering Grapes to a Woman" from The Leiden Collection on Vimeo.
Video: The Leiden Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Leiden Collection have recently published this video describing Maria Schalcken's Boy Offering Grapes to a Woman.
Velázquez Conference at the Wallace Collection
January 29 2021
Picture: The Wallace Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Wallace Collection in London are hosting a two day conference in March focusing on Diego Velázquez's Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School.
As the description explains:
Our first session will explore the Wallace Collection painting and the questions raised by its recent restoration, including Velázquez’s technique, and the broader context that might have influenced the composition.
Our second session will explore the differences between the Wallace Collection picture and the fully-accepted autograph version in a private collection, aiming to reveal the complexities of these two portraits.
The conference will be held on Zoom Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March 2021.
Raphael Cartoons Digitised
January 27 2021
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have published high resolution images of the Royal Collection's Raphael Cartoons onto their website. During 2019 these enormous works on paper were scanned by the Factum Foundation. Both infrared, high resolution images and 3D scans were made. The new images has revealed several interesting insights into how Raphael's workshop operated and the pentimenti made during the initial stages of drawing.
Here's the full write up from The Art Newspaper.
Judith Leyster Online Lecture
January 27 2021
Picture: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art's curator Nicole Cook will be presenting an online lecture on the Haarlem painter Judith Leyster (1609-1660) this month. She will also be joined by the scholar Frima Hofrichter who has published a book on Leyster and other subjects relating to women in art.
The lecture will be broadcast on Friday 29th January 2021 at 12.00pm (Philadelphia Time). It is free to attend (donations are encouraged) although registration is required.
Free Sculpture Lectures with Fondazione Federico Zeri
January 22 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Fondazione Federico Zeri are broadcasting some free online lectures on sculpture collections this January and February. The three museum collections that will be examined include the Dresden Staatliche Kunstsammlung, the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The three lectures will be broadcast on Zoom and on the foundation's Facebook page.
Sitters Identified in Stuggart Rubens Double Portrait
January 19 2021
Picture: Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The recently published Rubenianum Quarterly features a short article on the above double portrait by Peter Paul Rubens. This large oil on canvas, now in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, has been unidentified for some time. The attribution too has changed over the centuries. It was given to Van Dyck some time ago, but is now rightfully considered a Genoese period portrait by Rubens.
The article explains that archival research has helped to identify the pair as Geronima Spinola and her Granddaughter Maria Giovanna Serra. One of the details that clinched it was that Geronima was widowed in 1604 and became a nun. The sombre clothing in this portrait seems to be suggestive of a lady in mourning alongside her religious vows.
The painting will be featured in a Rubens exhibition due to be held in Stuttgart this year between 22nd October 2021 - 20th February 2022.
Kauffman Article in Apollo
January 14 2021
Picture: Apollo
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Art historian Emma Barker has written an article for Apollo on Angelica Kauffman, and why it is a terrible shame that her 2020 exhibition at the Royal Academy was cancelled due to the virus crisis. Fortunately, the RA are selling the catalogue online in case you'd like to experience the exhibition in printed format.
Georgian Group Journals Published Online
January 14 2021
Picture: The Georgian Group
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Georgian Group, a conservation charity which promotes the protection of and research into classical buildings in Britain, has published their back catalogue of journals online. This free resource will be of great interest to any scholars or enthusiasts of architecture and design in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The years from 1986 through to 2017 are covered thus far.
Van Eyck Scanned by the University of Antwerp
January 13 2021
Video: Museabrugge.be
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I've spotted this interesting video (on Twitter via. @auctionaugur) that the University of Antwerp is undertaking some scans of Van Eyck's Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele. The scans undertaken onsite in the Groeningemuseum in Bruges will allow researchers to understand more about the material and techniques that went into this masterpiece.
