Previous Posts: November 2021
Waldemar on Young Poland Exhibition
November 17 2021
Video: zczfilms
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak has created this short film giving a private view of the William Morris Gallery's current Young Poland Exhibition.
Het Noordbrabants Museum secure Loans from JK Art Foundation
November 17 2021
Picture: artdaily.cc
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Het Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands have secured the long-term loan of 550 art works from the JK Art Foundation. This includes works by the likes of by Brueghel, Rubens, Mondrian, Brancusi, Van Dongen, Picasso, Magritte, Delaunay, Fontana, Dalí, Modigliani, Lewitt, Dumas, Kapoor, Tuymans and Eliasson.
According to the article linked above:
‘A dream come true!’, says Charles de Mooij, director of Het Noordbrabants Museum, describing the JK Art Foundation’s pledge to transfer its full collection to the museum, in time. Het Noordbrabants Museum and the JK Art Foundation have been working together for many years. Since 2010, the museum has frequently exhibited works from this private collection, both in support of exhibitions and in presenting its permanent collection. The acquisition of this collection offers Het Noordbrabants Museum the opportunity to organise even more attractive programmes in the future.
Treasures from the Museum & Gallery at Bob Jones University
November 16 2021
Picture: omart.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies, I missed this interesting sounding exhibition that opened earlier in the Autumn. The Orlando Museum of Art in Florida has opened a special exhibition of loaned works from the Bob Jones University, South Carolina.
According to the website:
The European Old Master Painting Collection at the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the United States. This exhibition of more than 60 works of art from the 14th through the 19th centuries reflects the dramatic course of religious, artistic, and cultural history in Western Europe during these formative centuries. While the collection’s greatest strength is Italian Baroque painting, major artists working in Holland, Flanders, France, and Germany are represented by large-scale works of exceptional quality. Highlights include masterpieces by Botticelli, Rubens, Tintoretto, Veronese, Cranach, Murillo, Ribera, van Dyck, and Doré. The exhibition will give visitors a deeper understanding of the mainstream developments in European painting over the course of almost five centuries. Additionally, the exhibition will focus on guiding visitors through the fascinating narrative subjects of these works and their rich symbolism, some of which are now obscure and mysterious.
The exhibition will run until 8th May 2022.
Coincidentally, there is another exhibition running simultaneously to the one above featuring loaned works from The Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary. Artists represented within the display include the likes of Titian, Annibale Carracci, Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt, important 19th-century French paintings by Paul Cézanne and Eugène Boudin and a major floral painting by Georgia O’Keeffe.
Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar Acquires Emanuel de Witte
November 16 2021
Picture: @museumalkmaar
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar have announced their acquisition of An Imagined Church Interior by Emanuel de Witte. The picture had previously been with Otto Naumann at TEFAF in 2013 and was acquired by the museum with funds from the Rembrandt Association, the Mondriaan Fund and by a crowdfunding campaign.
Here's a write up from La Tribune de'Art.
Deaccessioned (?) Tudor Portrait Interest
November 16 2021
Picture: Butterscotch Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Twitter is awash with Tudor fans excited about the reappearance of a Portrait of a Lady catalogued as 'Anglo-Dutch School 17th Century - Mary Queen of Scots'. Auction watcher Francis Mouton has already pointed out that the portrait is not that of Mary, but, perhaps a member of the family of Lady Jane Grey. Furthermore, the painting may have been owned by John Pierpont Morgan and was later deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1954.
The painting will be sold at Butterscotch Auctions, NY, on 21st November 2021 carrying an estimate of $5,000 - $10,000.
Macklowe Collection Realises $676m
November 16 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It seems that all's well at the top end of the art market.
Sotheby's New York's Macklowe Collection sale of Modern and Contemporary Art realised an eye watering $676m (inc. commission) yesterday evening. The sale was instigated by the divorce of collector Harry Macklowe and his museum trustee ex-wife Linda.
Press reports have heralded the sale as the greatest test for the high-end art market since the beginning of the pandemic. In fact, the sale passed the test with flying colours as each of the 35 lots in the evening sale were sold. The top lot was Rothko's No. 7 (1951) which realised $82.5m (inc. commission).
'Picasso - El Greco' in Basel
November 16 2021
Picture: Kunstmuseum Basel
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I've spotted this rather interesting exhibition which is scheduled for next year. Picasso - El Greco will be the Kunstmuseum Basel's headline exhibition for 2022 and will open next June.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
In a large special exhibition, the Kunstmuseum illuminates the encounter of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) with the old master El Greco (1541– 1614), born Doménikos Theotokópoulos in Crete. Masterworks by both artists are juxtaposed in some forty pairings, tracing the course of one of the most fascinating dialogues in the history of art. Prestigious loans from across the globe are assembled around a core of Picasso masterworks from the museum’s own collection.
El Greco’s unmistakable painting style won him considerable fame in his day. Soon after his death, however, his work was largely forgotten. It was only around 1900 that an El Greco revival was launched, with Picasso serving on the front lines. His engagement with the Greek-Spanish master not only went far deeper than has previously been assumed but also lasted much longer. El Greco’s influence is just as palpable in Picasso’s works from the 1930s and 1940s as it is in the earlier Cubist paintings. Even at the end of his life, Picasso continued to reference El Greco. Not only does the show open up new perspectives on two towering artists of their times. It also offers fresh insight into their importance as a constellation for the development of avant-garde art in the twentieth century.
Christie's December Evening Sale
November 15 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have uploaded the online catalogue for their upcoming December Old Master Paintings Evening sale. The auction will take place on 7th December 2021.
Amongst the top lots are Constable's sketch of Salisbury Cathedral estimated at £2m - £3m; Valentin de Boulogne's The Dream of Saint Joseph estimated at £1.2m - £1.8m; El Greco's Portrait of a Man estimated at £800k - £1.2m; a Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Brueghel the Younger estimated at £1m - £1.5m; a church interior by Emanuel de Witte estimated at £500k - £800k and a charming group portrait of the Nugent Family by Johann Zoffany estimated at £800k - £1.2m.
Amongst the more interesting resurfaced pictures is this portrait by Thomas Gainsborough possibly depicting the composer Antonín Kammel (1730–1784 or 1785). Regular readers might remember that the story of this painting was published in the press back in April having been purchased at a French auction for £2,500. The work will now be sold by Christie's carrying an estimate of £70k - £100k.
Caravaggio / Longhi Exhibition in Poland
November 15 2021
Video: Zamek Królewski w Warszawie - Muzeum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Castle in Warsaw have recently opened a new exhibition last week entitled The Time of Caravaggio in the Collection of Roberto Longhi.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
We owe the rediscovery of Caravaggio's role and legacy to, among others, the eminent Italian art historian Roberto Longhi (1889-1970). His fascination with the Lombardy master and his followers was the staple of his research, beginning with his dissertation defended in 1911 at the University of Turin. Longhi immediately recognised the revolutionary influence of Caravaggio's painting and hailed the artist as the first painter of the modern era. In his Florentine home, the Villa Il Tasso, Roberto Longhi amassed a collection of works by masters of different eras, which were the subject of his studies. Caravaggionists' works gathered around Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Merisi are a major part of this collection. This particular painting dates from Caravaggio's early period in Rome (c. 1596-1597). Caravaggio's very naturalistic treatment of detail and astonishing handling of light convincingly capture the moment when, bitten by a lizard, the frightened youth suddenly withdraws his arm. In addition to Caravaggio's masterpiece, the exhibition includes over 40 paintings by Caravaggio's followers and artists who throughout the 17th century remained under the influence of his original style.
The show will run until 10th February 2022.
Apollo's Acquisitions of the Year
November 15 2021
Picture: Apollo
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It has come to the time of the year when critics start to gather their annual highlights. The Apollo Magazine have written up a list of their Museum Acquisitions of 2021, which includes a few historic art works.
As it so happens, further to my post last week, The Getty Museum have confirmed rumours that they had indeed purchased Gustave Caillebotte's Young Man at a Window from the Cox Collection sale at Christie's for $53m.
La Surprise at the Getty Museum
November 15 2021
Picture: Getty
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles will be opening yet another interesting exhibition later this month. La Surprise: Watteau in Los Angeles will be celebrating the museum's 2017 acquisition of the said painting (pictured), and will bring together a selection of Watteau's works from private collections.
According to the website:
On view November 23, 2021, to February 20, 2022, La Surprise: Watteau in Los Angeles brings together a dozen paintings and drawings from public and private collections in celebration of a recent Getty painting acquisition, La Surprise.
“Los Angeles is well known as a center for collections of contemporary art. Somewhat surprising, however, is the fact that the city is also home to an extraordinary group of works by Watteau,” explains Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “The three-hundredth anniversary of his death affords us an opportunity to showcase some of the artist’s most distinguished drawings and paintings from local public and private collections, including our new acquisition of La Surprise. This will be the first exhibition on the West Coast to showcase this supremely innovative and enchanting artist, who was celebrated as the preeminent master of early 18th-century French painting.”
Courtauld Reframe Picture to Botticelli's Design
November 15 2021
Picture: The Sunday Times
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Yesterday's The Sunday Times shared news that the Courtauld Gallery have reframed a painting using Botticelli's own designs found on the back of a painting. The designs were uncovered through infra-red scans of the gallery's The Holy Trinity with Saints Mary Magdalen and John the Baptist, which revealed notes Botticelli had seemingly left for the original framer. The reproduction of these designs was realised by Timothy Newbery, a craftsman and historian based in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway.
According to the article:
The painting, on a wood panel, is thought to have been produced between 1491 and 1494 for the Sant’ Elisabetta convent in Florence. The sketches are thought to have been by Botticelli himself as a guide for a carver. They showed the design for the frame in which he wanted the painting to be displayed, above the altar in the convent’s chapel. The drawings show columns running up each side of the painting and the shape of the cross in the middle.
Karen Serres, the gallery’s paintings curator, said the find was “super-interesting” and “it felt like we were participating in this dialogue that was happening in the studio”.
She said: “You can just imagine that Botticelli is there with the person who’s made the panel, and they’re also working out what the frame should look like. It’s all kind of doodly.”
Queen's University Gifted 12 Paintings
November 15 2021
Picture: Queen's University
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, have been gifted 12 paintings by philanthropist Isabel Bader, wife of the late Dr. Alfred Bader. The paintings, which are the latest gift to the institution, will be housed in the university's Agnes Etherington Arts Centre.
The 12 works include the following (click here for a full set of images):
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Rummer and a Shrimp, 1646.
Carstian Luyckx, Still Life with Gilt Cup, Glass Holder, Silver Beaker, Nautilus Shell, Fruit and Oysters Arranged on a Draped Ledge, around 1650.
Constantijn Verhout, A Man Looking into a Jug, possibly Cornelis Abrahamsz. Graswinckel, 1662.
Jacobus Vrel, A Woman Darning a Stocking, around 1654.
Unknown Artist (after Rembrandt van Rijn), David Presenting the Head of Goliath to Saul, after 1639.
Unknown Artist, Mountain Landscape with a View of a Walled Town, around 1640.
Heyman Dullaert, Young Scholar in his Study, around 1655.
Jacob Foppens van Es, Still Life with Lobster on a Pewter Plate, after 1617.
Unknown Artist, Portrait of a Woman, around 1625.
Master IS, Two Scholars in a High Room, 1640. (pictured)
Jan van Noordt, Joseph Selling Grain in Egypt, around 1675.
Jan Peeters I, A Ship in a Stormy Sea, around 1645 – 1652.
New Catalogue: German Paintings in the Städel Museum
November 12 2021
Picture: Städel Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (International Network of Curators of Dutch and Flemish Art) have shared news that the Städel Museum have published a new two volume catalogue of their German Paintings. The catalogue covers the period of 1550-1725 and was edited by Almut Pollmer-Schmidt with Christiane Weber and Fabian Wolf.
According to the brief write-up:
The two-volume catalogue includes new research on paintings by Adam Elsheimer, Georg Flegel, Johann Heinrich Roos and others who are closely related to their Dutch contemporaries. In addition, several paintings have been re-attributed to Dutch artists, including a self-portrait by Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677).
All the works have been examined in detail from the perspective of both art history and painting technology based on the most recent scientific methods. The incorporation of the respective cultural-historical background gives rise to new insights regarding the creation, attribution, identification, or interpretation of the individual paintings. The overview provides insights into the history of the collection, exhibitions, and research, and opens up a panorama of multi-layered art production in early modern Germany.
MHNA Acquire Portrait from Dorotheum
November 12 2021
Picture: Dorotheum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Ruud Priem, curator of the Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg (MHNA), has shared news on Twitter that the museum have acquired a portrait from the Dorotheum's recent old master paintings sale. The portrait in question was catalogued as Dutch 17th century 'Portrait of a gentleman wearing a marriage medallion of the Elector Palatine Frederik V and Elisabeth Stuart' and realised €28,160. Ruud has also explained that a potential attribution to David Bailly (1584-1657) is also being investigated.
New Release: Rubens in Repeat
November 12 2021
Picture: Getty Publications
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Getty Publication's latest November release is Aaron M. Hyman's book Rubens in Repeat: The Logic of the Copy in Colonial Latin America.
According to the book's blurb:
This book examines the reception in Latin America of prints designed by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, showing how colonial artists used such designs to create all manner of artworks and, in the process, forged new frameworks for artistic creativity. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) never crossed the Atlantic himself, but his impact in colonial Latin America was profound. Prints made after the Flemish artist's designs were routinely sent from Europe to the Spanish Americas, where artists used them to make all manner of objects. Rubens in Repeat is the first comprehensive study of this transatlantic phenomenon, despite broad recognition that it was one of the most important forces to shape the artistic landscapes of the region. Copying, particularly in colonial contexts, has traditionally held negative implications that have discouraged its serious exploration. Yet analyzing the interpretation of printed sources and recontextualizing the resulting works within period discourse and their original spaces of display allow a new critical reassessment of this broad category of art produced in colonial Latin America-art that has all too easily been dismissed as derivative and thus unworthy of sustained interest and investigation. This book takes a new approach to the paradigms of artistic authorship that emerged alongside these complex creative responses, focusing on the viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It argues that the use of European prints was an essential component of the very framework in which colonial artists forged ideas about what it meant to be a creator.
Donor Purchases Hudson for The National Trust
November 12 2021
Picture: The Daily Telegraph
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Daily Telegraph have shared news that a mystery donor has stepped in to purchase an eighteenth-century portrait for Wimpole Hall, a property owned and run by The National Trust. The portrait of Lady Elizabeth Yorke, Lady Anson, by Thomas Hudson had been on loan to the Trust by descendants of the family.
However, the portrait had been set to be included within the 2021 July sale at Sotheby's, where a selection of other Yorke family portraits by the likes of George Romney and Francis Cotes were due to be sold. The painting had been offered to the Trust in 2014, however, the trust were then said to be unable to find the c.£30,000 to be able to purchase it. Fortunately, a mystery donor has stepped in to purchase the painting for Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.
_____________
This is a rather beautiful Hudson, as one can see. Let's hope the Trust find money to have it cleaned. The transformation would surely be breath-taking!
Update - Here's an article from the National's Trust's website.
Cox Collection Achieves $332m
November 12 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's New York's sale of The Cox Collection achieved a very impressive $332,031,500 last night.
Many of the impressionist and post impressionist masterpieces on offer soared past their estimates. The pictured Monet realised $6,270,000 (all prices inc. commission) over its $700k - $1m estimate; Van Gogh's Young Boy realised $46,732,500 over its $5m - $7m estimate; a Degas dancer realised $1,950,00 over its $500k - $800k estimate; and a Pissaro landscape of Rouen achieved $2,010,000 over its $600k - $900k estimate. Important and impressive landscapes met or exceeded their estimates, including those by the likes of Cezanne which achieved $55,320,00, and two by Van Gogh which realised $35,855,000 and $71,350,000 respectively. The most anticipated lot, Gustave Caillebotte's Young Man at a Window, achieved $53,030,000.
Update - There are rumours on Twitter (via. @artdetective) that The Getty Museum was the buyer of Caillebotte's Young Man.
Prado Downgrades Salvator Mundi
November 11 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by the Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has published news that the Salvator Mundi has been downgraded in an upcoming exhibition catalogue published by the Prado Museum in Madrid. A new exhibition dedicated to Leonardo and the copy of the Mona Lisa will open at the museum in January 2022. The work has been catalogued as part of the section entitled 'attributed works, workshop or authorised and supervised by Leonardo.' More specifically, the catalogue essay by curator Ana Gonzáles Mozo states that there is 'no painted prototype' by Leonardo.
According to the article:
Mozo proposes that another copy of Salvator Mundi, the so-called Ganay version (1505-15), is the closest to Leonardo’s lost original. Acquired by the marquis de Ganay in 1939, it was sold at Sotheby’s in 1999 and is now in an anonymous private collection. Mozo argues that the skilled workshop artist who painted the Ganay Salvator Mundi was also responsible for the Prado’s early copy of the Mona Lisa (1507-16). Although the catalogue includes a full-page image of the Ganay Salvator Mundi, the Cook version [the Christie's version that sold in 2015] is not even illustrated.
La España romántica. Roberts, Villaamil
November 11 2021
Video: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando have opened an exhibition last month dedicated to Spanish watercolours by David Roberts (1796-1864) and Genaro Pérez Villaamil (1807-1854). The exhibition will feature a great number of watercolours and artworks showing how both traveller-artists participated in the cultural rediscovery Spain, North Africa and the Middle East.
The exhibition will run until 16th January 2022.
