Previous Posts: January 2021
Christ Church Picture Gallery is Hiring!
January 7 2021
Picture: Christ Church Picture Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford are looking for a Curatorial Assistant.
As the job description explains:
Christ Church seeks a Curatorial Assistant to support the Curator of its Picture Gallery. This three-year, fixed-term appointment is an excellent opportunity for someone in the early stages of a career in museums and invites applications from suitably experienced candidates. The role offers attractive on-the-job training with insights in all aspects of museum work. The post-holder will be able to balance clerical, practical and research work; and assist in the day to day running of this prestigious gallery. This is a highly practical role, dealing mainly with the administration and managerial side of museum work.
The salary on offer for this fixed-term contract is between £22,417 - £25,941.
If you're interesting you'll have to be quick! Applications must be in by noon on Friday 8th January 2021.
__________________
As an aside, has any progress been made on finding the three paintings that were stolen from the gallery last March? I think it's about time there was some update, surely?
Removing Monuments from Oxbridge Colleges
January 6 2021
Picture: Cherwell.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
By all accounts, it's not a good time to be an historic monument in an Oxbridge College at the present moment.
All Souls College in Oxford are under growing pressure from campaign groups and some students to remove Henry Cheere's 1734 monument of Christopher Codrington (1668-1710) from the college's library (pictured). Growing criticisms of Cordington's connection to slavery in the West Indies prompted the recent removal of his name from the room. Officials are currently resisting calls to go further and remove the statue completely.
Jesus College in Cambridge has also drawn up plans to remove a late seventeenth century baroque plaque from its chapel and relocate it to a small room which is currently used as a wine store.
The plaque, attributed to Grinling Gibbons, was erected after the death of benefactor Tobias Rustat (1608-1694). Rustat's connections to the Royal African Company are judged by some to warrant the removal of his memorial. The full proposal document from the college, including a 'Theological Reflection' and quote from Cliveden Conservation to undertake the work for £11,123, can be found here.
Update - A reader has been in touch with the following comment:
I am not wholly against removing statues of obnoxious individuals but is there a point when the artistic importance of the statue overrides any concerns over the individual it memorialises? Both the Grinling Gibbons plaque and the Henry Cheere statue are impressive works by historically important sculptors and in themselves, devoid of their context, contribute to Oxford and Cambridge’s history and beauty. Would you also remove a portrait by Rembrandt if it was discovered that the sitter was involved in the slave trade?
I personally tend to agree with the questions above. For some pressure groups it is clear that everything must be viewed from a political lens. Surely there is room in this debate for aesthetic reasoning too?
Master Drawings New York Celebrates 15th Anniversary
January 6 2021
Video: Master Drawings New York
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Master Drawings New York is celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year. They've posted the above video featuring an interview with the two founders Margot Gordon and Crispian Riley-Smith. The conversation is chaired by the Director, Allison Wucher.
This year's event will be held online between 23rd January - 30th January 2021.
Society of Antiquaries to Lose Home? (ctd.)
January 6 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Burlington Magazine's January editorial contains a very good summary of the conundrum facing the home of the Society of Antiquaries in Burlington House. It presents the history of the society's rental agreement with the government and shows that the current crisis seems to have been put in motion in 2004-05 and made worse by a change of policy in 2014. The editorial asks whether the government department in charge will be "capable of seeing 'value for taxpayers' in more than monetary terms."
The January edition focuses on Italian Art, and features articles on the Ludovisi Tondo, Raphael's Villa Madama, and new documents relating to Caravaggio's exile amongst others.
US Crime Network Agency to Study Art Market
January 6 2021
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has published a very interesting article into news that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the Department of the Treasury in the US is going to conduct a study into money laundering in the art market. This is part of a much larger bill recently passed by the US Senate.
It is not yet known whether this study will result in any changes in the rules that govern the art market, but the growing number of related stories in the press suggests that there is a growing pressure for even greater transparency. The bill specifically mentions that "dealers in antiquities" will be included within the reach of this study.
Masks are Everywhere These Days
January 6 2021
Picture: Dreweatts
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
"Well you don't see that everyday" - I thought to myself when I was scrolling through upcoming lots at auction last night. How many nineteenth century portraits feature such ridiculous masks?
In fact, these two original portraits Attributed to John Graham Gilbert had masks painted onto them as recently as up to five years ago. They are included in the upcoming Aynhoe Park Sale held by the auction house Dreweatts, an eccentric collection amassed by the entrepreneur and collector James Perkins. The catalogue notes show that Perkins's Studio had these masks added after they had been purchased at Christie's in 2015. I wonder what Archibald Buchanan of Auchentorlie and Mary Lyon would have made of these alterations to their painted likenesses.
Perhaps the collector was following Banksy for inspiration, who famously defaced an eighteenth century portrait by Thomas Beach in The Rude Lord (sold by Sotheby's in 2007). Subsequently, my art historian friend James Innes-Mulraine managed to uncover the identity of this previously unknown sitter in a blog of his.
I wonder if the added masks will be kept by whoever buys the portrait at the sale. One hopes these additions are reversible.
Virtual Dante Exhibition at the Uffizi
January 6 2021
Picture: The Uffizi Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is celebrating the 700th anniversary of Dante's death by running a free virtual online exhibition. To Rebehold the Stars features a click through exhibition based on various themes relating to the poet's work. Descriptions in English are forthcoming, the website explains.
Included are very nice images of illustrations of the Divine Comedy by Federico Zucarri (pictured). This is supposedly only the third time the drawings by Zucarri have been seen in public, albeit this time in an online format.
London Art Week Videos
January 5 2021
Video: London Art Week
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for being extremely late to this, but I would thoroughly recommend heading over to London Art Week's YouTube channel if you'd like to catch up on any of their very interesting recorded panel talks and lectures.
The above video is a panel discussion on Demystifying the Old Masters Market. It is chaired by Megan Corcoran Locke, Old Master Paintings Research, ArtTactic and features panellists David Pollack, Auctioneer & Senior Vice President, Specialist, Old Master Paintings, Sotheby's, Dr Molly Dorkin, Associate Director, Old Masters and Head of Research, Simon C Dickinson, Ltd. and William Elliott, Founder & Director, Elliott Fine Art.
New Book: Provenance Research Today
January 5 2021
Picture: Lund Humphries
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here is a recent publication that might interest some readers.
Provenance Research Today was edited by Arthur Tompkins and published last month by Lund Humphries.
As the blurb explains:
Covering key aspects of provenance research for the international art market, this accessible publication explores a range of themes including challenges and best practice to considerations specific to Nazi looted art and the trade in illicit antiquities.
Provenance research is a crucial component of any art-market transaction. Without a provenance it is often difficult to establish a work’s authenticity, its true value or who has legal title. Whether buying, selling or simply maintaining an artwork in either a private or a public collection, the days when a blind eye could be turned to the history (or the lack of a known history) of a work have long gone. Proper, thorough and effective provenance research is the minimum required and demanded in today’s art world – a world that is increasingly recognising the need for greater and more effective self-regulation in the face of fakes, forgeries and challenges to ownership or authenticity that are now commonplace.
Here's a slightly more in-depth look by the Art-Crime blog.
Future of Carmen Cervera Collection Loans Decided this Month
January 5 2021
Picture: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Spanish Government have set the deadline of 31st January 2021 to decide upon an agreement regarding the collection of Carmen Cervera.
Cervera, widow of the tycoon and collector Hans Heinrich von Thyssen-Bornemisza, has been loaning works by the likes of Monet, Picasso and Degas from her collection to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid for many years. Discussions regarding a renewed loan agreement between Cervera and the Spanish Government have been dragging on for a considerable time, with several works having been sold at auction. There had been a failed attempt to sell the remaining collection in full to the Spanish Government after the last agreement expired in 2010.
It also transpires that a loaned work by Paul Gaugin entitled Mata Mua (In Olden Times) has recently left the museum, a fact which has been confirmed by the organisation. It has been suggested that the work might be put up for auction in the near future.
Update - The Spanish state has secured a new 15 year deal with Cervera. The deal includes a €6.5m a year fee to keep the €1bn paintings in the museum.
El Greco Attribution Controversy
January 5 2021
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has kindly drawn my attention to an article published by The Art Newspaper.
The piece revolves around the attribution of the above painting of Christ Carrying the Cross in a private collection which was recently announced as being by El Greco by the Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna (CAEM) at the University of Lleida, Catalonia. However, the El Greco scholar Fernando Marías Franco of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid disagrees.
Marías Franco is quoted as saying:
Although I have only seen the pictures in El País and on Twitter, the painting is doubtful [as an autograph work by El Greco]. It looks reworked and restored—the mouth is terrible, so are the cross, hands and signature.
As it happens, the painting was researched and reattributed with the help of Carmen Garrido Pérez, the former director of technical documentation at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. Pérez, who was employed by the Centre, died last month. Their work has pointed towards a possible mention in an 1614 inventory of El Greco's assets made by his son after his death, however this loose link has been criticised.
It seems that the picture hangs in the balance, as the Centre are addressing the many criticisms brought by Marías Franco. Watch this space.
Do Television Dramas Increase Prices at Auction?
January 4 2021
Picture: Tatler
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Telegraph and other news sources have posted articles in the past few days concerning the alleged effect of Netflix's series The Crown on increasing the price of works by Winston Churchill at auction. It has been suggested that his sympathetic portrayal in the show has perhaps helped to bolster the price of his works.
Sotheby's Senior Director of Modern & Post War Art Simon Hucker is quoted as saying:
What The Crown does is bring these figures from British political history very much to life – and makes them very human. John Lithgow portrayed Churchill as this warm and genial old man, guiding the young Queen as best he can, whilst his own health fades and perhaps it is this side of Churchill that people see in his paintings.
_________
Personally, I think this is just a bit of click-bait marketing spiel. Television series surely have some effect placing certain individuals in the spotlight, but it must be near impossible to judge its effect on sales results. The case of Churchill is particularly difficult. He is a figure who has always been in the spotlight in this part of the world at least. If anything, there has been a noticeable growing trend by certain groups seeking to revise his legacy in a less positive light.
Yet, it's seemed to me that Churchill's prices at auction had already been growing rather steadily over the past decade or so. In fact, Bendor penned this post for AHN back in 2011 on this very trend.
But if I'm wrong about this, let's have more drama series on old master painters, I'd say!
Van Dyck Drawing at Sotheby's
January 4 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The highlight of Sotheby's upcoming Old Master Drawings sale in New York is this rather fine Study of an Old Bearded Man by the young Anthony Van Dyck.
The work is a preparatory drawing for his painting of Christ Healing the Paralytic, a version of which is currently on display in the Royal Collection's Queen's Gallery. Quite hard to imagine that Van Dyck was barely twenty years old when he completed it.
The estimate of $2.5m - $3.5m seems rather punchy. With that money you could buy several of this monumental Van Dyck portrait that failed to sell in Sotheby's London December sale. One supposes that they're comparing it with the Rubens drawing that was sold from private collection of Netherland's Monarchy in 2019. That particular example, which estimated at the same price, eventually made $8.2m (inc. commission). The stylistic similarities are very evident. Will the unfinished face make any difference to its appeal?
British Museum Acquires Vouet Drawing
January 4 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Tribune de l'Art has published news that the British Museum in London has acquired the above drawing by Simon Vouet.
The three-coloured chalk drawing of an unknown gentleman aged 75 years sold for €162,500 (inc. commission) at Christie's last May. A related drawing of Cardinal Mazarin in the same sale was purchased by the Louvre last year.
