Previous Posts: February 2021
Dresden Kunstkammer is looking for a new Director
February 26 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden are looking for a new Director for their famous Green Vault Museum and Kunstkammer.
Applications must be in by 31st March 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
National Gallery Remove Frame from Botticelli
February 26 2021
Video: The National Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London have released this video from 2019 showing what conservators found when they removed the frame from Botticelli and Filippino's Adoration of the Kings. The video features Restorer Jill Dunkerton and Conservator Britta New.
New Deal for Hugh Lane Bequest
February 26 2021
Picture: The National Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper have published an article on the new deal reached between The National Gallery in London and the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Both galleries have agreed to continue sharing 8 of the masterpieces of the bequest, including the likes of Manet's Music in the Tuileries Gardens (pictured), on five year cycles. Two other paintings have been added to the list of shared works, including Daumier’s Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (1855), and Corot’s Avignon from the West (1836). New agreements have also been struck in regards to collection care and conservation.
Job Cuts at the V&A
February 26 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Guardian have reported on the worrying news that 'vast cuts' that are coming to staffing in the next few days.
They have quoted 'an insider' who has explained:
We're expecting curatorial redundancies to be announced in the next few days. The conservators are already being restructured. Conservation departments are in negotiation. The museum has already done a scheme for applications for voluntary redundancy and retirement.
It also appears that the museum have left a few positions empty, including the position of Specialist for European Paintings.
The museum have replied by saying they are looking into ways to save £10m due to the ongoing covid crisis, and that restructuring talks with staff (including curatorial teams) are ongoing.
Caravaggio sent to Turin
February 25 2021
Picture: Musei Reali di Torino
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition opened today in the Galleria Sabauda in the Musei Reali di Torino. The highlight of the show is Caravaggio's San Giovanni Battista on loan from the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica in Rome. The gallery will be showing this masterpiece alongside its own collection of Caravaggist paintings by the likes of Giovanni Baglione, Valentin, Vignon, Ribera and Serodine.
The exhibition will run till 30th May 2021.
Rediscovered Painting by Carl Moll Breaks Record
February 25 2021
Video: Freeman's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A recently rediscovered painting by the Viennese Secessionist Carl Moll (1861-1945) has broken the previous record for the artist at auction. White Interior (1905) had featured in several important exhibitions at the beginning of the century, and was even exhibited alongside Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. The work brought in a record breaking $4.75m over its $300k - $500k estimate at Freeman's in Philadelphia.
Bernini Drawing up for Sale in France
February 25 2021
Picture: @ActeonSenlis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The French auction house Acteon Senlis will be auctioning off a drawing by the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini next month. The academic study of a man has been linked to several surviving examples in the Uffizi and other collections. In addition to this, the composition too has been compared with the allegorical beings representing the rivers of the world in his famous fountains on the Piazza Navona in Rome.
The drawing will be offered for sale on 20th March 2021 with an estimate of €30k - €50k.
Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace Digitise 6 Gigapixel Raphaels
February 25 2021
Picture: haltadefinizione.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Florence's Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace have digitised six of their Raphaels to gigapixel quality onto the website haltadefinizione.com. This includes the following pictures, Ritratto di giovane con pomo (1504 circa), Madonna del Granduca (1506 - 1507 circa), Ritratto di Tommaso Inghirami detto Fedra (1510 - 1511 circa, Velata (1512 - 1515 circa) (pictured), Ritratto del Cardinale Bibbiena (1516 circa) and San Giovanni Battista nel deserto (1517 - 1518 circa).
The results are quite remarkable, and will allow you to zoom right into the most minute details. The website is free to use, although you'll have to make do with a watermark following you around. Still impressive though, I think!
The Frick Collection Relocates to Modern Setting
February 25 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The New York Times has published an interesting article on the Frick Collection's relocation to Breur Building on Madison Avenue. The two year move is due to the expansion of their existing building on 1 East 70th Street. Not only have 104 of the museum's masterpieces shed their usual plush surroundings but they have also gone without any 'descriptive texts' too.
The newspaper has described the new setting as:
Frick Madison is European art history distilled, and it’s a swaggering wager on the collection’s sufficiency and an audience’s attention span. You can study up via print, app or video, but your primordial task here is to look, look, look.
National Gallery of Ireland Upload 1,000 Images for Open Access
February 24 2021
Picture: The National Gallery of Ireland
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin have uploaded 1,000 high-res images from their collection for Open Access. The move is a part of their 'Open Data Initiative', which will hopefully see more artworks available and free to use. Their website promises that more images will uploaded each month, which is brilliant news!
Van Gogh not seen for a Century Up for Sale
February 24 2021
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A painting by Vincent Van Gogh of Montmartre which has been in a family collection for a century is coming up for sale next month at Sotheby's. The work, painted in 1887, shows one of the old windmills that used to decorate this once rural part of Paris. It has not been seen in public since it was acquired in 1920.
The painting will be sold next month with an estimate of €5m - €8m.
French State Confiscate Medieval Stained Glass Before Auction
February 24 2021
Picture: La Gazette Drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Gazette Drouot have drawn attention to an intervention from the French State to confiscate a pair of medieval stained glass from the auction house Pierre Bergé & Associés days before they were due to go on sale.
The glass windows, dating from the twelfth century, are believed to have come from the basilica of Saint-Denis. Several selections of windows were removed from the Church in 1799 and were placed into storage. Although the windows don't appear in any of the inventories that were made of the stored glass, the French state have stated that its up to the seller to 'provide proof of their lawful provenance'.
The windows had carried estimates of €200k - €300k and €300k - €400k respectively.
Journalist Claims 'Negligence' and 'Charm' Drove Forgers Success
February 24 2021
Picture: TAN
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The journalist Vincent Noce, who has penned a new book entitled L'Affaire Ruffini, has claimed that the 'negligence' of art work experts and the personal 'charm' of Giuliano Ruffini helped the success of his forgery network. Noce has spent five years researching the various forgery links to Ruffini, including the fake Cranach that was seized by French authorities from the Prince of Lichtenstein's collection in 2016 (pictured).
The journalist is quoted saying:
The most surprising thing is the manner in which museums, gallerists, dealers didn't try to discover the history of the canvases, allowing themselves to be seduced by the finesse of the copies.
There has been a great negligence among experts and conservators who didn't question the lack of provenance of the artworks and were happy to rely on a visual examination - sometimes just a photograph - without any laboratory tests.
The Italian authorities are currently pursuing Ruffini in the courts on tax evasion charges which will have to be settled before a French extradition request will be heard.
Kress Collection Digital Archive
February 24 2021
Picture: kress.nga.gov
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (NGA) have launched a new website to host the digital archive of the Kress Collection. The collection features materials relating to the collection of Samuel Henry Kress (d.1955), who gifted a great deal of art to US institutions. His entire collection consisted of over 3,000 works of art and was dispersed across 90 art galleries and museums. The NGA alone received 376 Paintings, 94 Sculptures, 1,307 Bronzes and 38 Drawings.
As the website explains:
The Kress Collection Digital Archive virtually unites objects in the Kress Collection and illustrates their history, acquisition, condition and care, and distribution. Gallery Archives staff compiled data about objects, related archival materials, object history (acquisitions and distributions), and associated people and organizations (artists, institutions, dealers and collectors, and historians and conservators). High-quality digital images of objects were obtained, and over 10,000 historical and conservation documents and images from the holdings of the Gallery Archives, the National Gallery of Art painting conservation department, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Archive have been digitized so far. The significant scope of this resource will support new, complex art historical studies benefiting researchers from various disciplines.
Sixteenth Century Statue Repainted by Parishioner
February 24 2021
Picture: actu.fr
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Europe's latest botched amateur restoration story comes from Caen in France. A recently repainted sixteenth century statue from the Church of Saint Pierre has been sent off by administrators after a parishioner decided to repaint the statue 'with colours like on statues that can be seen in Martinique'. The 'well-meaning' parishioner is said to have undertaken the work after experiencing a 'revelation'. Fortunately, the would-be restorer had used water based paints. Professional conservators are hopeful that the work is entirely reversible.
Bastianino Crucifix Conserved and Reattributed in Berlin
February 23 2021
Video: Gemäldegalerie Berlin
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Gemäldegalerie in Berlin have made the following video providing details of their recently restored The Living Cross by Sebastiano Filippi (called Bastianino) (1536-1602).
The work had not been on display since it was acquired in 1912 by the Friedrich Wilhelm University. Indeed, it had been kept in the partly destroyed Berliner Dom during the war. In 2015 the large altarpiece was transfered to the Gemäldegalerie where the painting was examined and conserved. Although the picture had been described as by the 'School of Garofalo', closer examination by curator Dr. Roberto Contini made it possible to reattribute the work to Bastianino.
The painting features in a mini exhibition at the gallery until 14th March 2021.
Spanish Baroque Altarpiece Conserved
February 23 2021
Picture: @AdepaSevillaHca
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Interesting news on Twitter today that the Church of San Vicente in Seville, Spain, is having a grand altarpiece by Francisco Herrera the Elder (1576-1656) conserved. The Adoration of the Eucharist, signed and dated 1641, has had its left side cleaned thus far (pictured). The revelation of the bright colours under all of that dirt and grime is remarkable. Previous reports had suggested that the work had never been treated by conservators in its 379 year history, which seems plausible judging by the transformative clean.
Nineteenth Century Cockfight Painting Found in Castle Cellar
February 23 2021
Picture: vrt.be
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Belgium that a nineteenth century painting of a cockfight has been rediscovered in a basement of Portegem Castle in Waregem. The painting by Emile Claus had been presumed to have been lost during the war until researcher Hans Bourlon decided to look into the fate of this 1882 work. It transpires that the canvas was taken off of its stretcher, rolled up and hidden in the castle's cellars in an attempt to hide it from the Nazis. Fortunately, the painting has been restored and will be on display once more.
Banksy vs. Banksy / Christie's vs. Sotheby's
February 23 2021
Picture: Christie's and Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
At first I put it down to lockdown fever, but no.
I've been rather stumped by this very curious happening on the Christie's and Sotheby's auction calendars. Both auction houses will be organising Banksy auctions on exactly the same day, in the same city and seemingly selling the exact same works.
It seems that both auction houses will be selling print versions of Love is in the Air and have picked them as the thumbnail for their sales. The Sotheby's version is estimated at £80k - £120k.
How can this make any commercial sense? Or is this the latest publicity stunt which is set to unfold in spectacular fashion?
Women Painters at the Musée du Luxembourg
February 23 2021
Picture: Musée du Luxembourg
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris are set to open their new exhibition Women Painters 1780-1830 on 3rd March 2021.
As the museum's website explains:
A half-century journey from the pre-Revolutionary years to the Restoration, the exhibition Women Painters, 1780-1830. The Birth of a Battle features some 70 works on display from public and private French and international collections. The exhibition aims to bring the public’s attention to an issue about which little or nothing is known: how the then-unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of women in the fine arts was linked to the changing organisation in the sphere of artistic production (administration, training, exhibition, criticism) and the transforming tastes and social practices relating to art.
The exhibition is due to run till 4th July 2021.
