Previous Posts: articles 2023
€5m Chardin coming up at Christie's
September 13 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's Paris have announced that they will be offering an important and 'untouched' Chardin in their November sale. Experts at the auction house believe their version of Woman Drawing Water from a Water Urn to be the first presented by Chardin at the 1747 salon. It was purchased in 1848 by the French collector François Marcille (1790-1856) and has been in a private collection ever since.
The painting will be offered for sale on 22nd November carrying an estimate of €5m - €8m.
Botticelli: Artist and Designer
September 9 2021
Video: Culturespaces
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée Jacquemart-André's latest exhibition opens tomorrow in Paris. Botticelli: Artist and Designer will feature no less than forty pictures by the master and his workshop, with many works loaned from top institutions across the world.
According to the website:
In the autumn 2021, the Musée Jacquemart-André will celebrate the creative genius of Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and the activity of his workshop, by exhibiting around forty works by the master, along with several paintings by his contemporaries, who were greatly influenced by him. Botticelli was one of the greatest artists in Florence, and his career attests to the economic development and profound changes that transformed the rule of the Medicis. Botticelli is undoubtedly one of the most well-known Renaissance artists in Italy despite the fact that his life and the activity in his wirkshop remain something of a mystery. He consistently alternated between the production of one-off paintings and works issued in series, completed by his assistants.
The exhibition will show Botticelli’s workshop strategy, laboratory of ideas as well as a place of artistic training, characteristic of the Italian Renaissance. It will present Botticelli in his role as a creative artist and also as a entrepreneur and master (capobottega).
Arranged in a chronological and thematic order, the exhibition will illustrate Botticelli’s personal stylistic development, the connections between his work and his milieu, and his influence on his fellow artists.
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A curious 'teaser' video this, which obviously uses plastic printouts rather than the masterpieces themselves. A shame, the video makes the paintings look rather flat and dead compared to how magnificent they look in real life!
The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest Restored
September 9 2021
Picture: Rubenshuis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART have published an article on the recent restoration of the Rubenshuis's The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest by Willem van Haecht (II). Although the picture was last restored in 2009, the unstable panel had resulted in distracting cracks appearing along the paint surface. The work was restored by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels.
The article also pays tribute to the outgoing Rubenshuis Director, Ben van Beneden, who has been in the position since 2010.
The article lists a brief selection of van Beneden's achievements in the role:
Together with his team, he developed several international exhibitions, including Rooms full of Art, Palazzo Rubens, and Rubens in private. His main priority, however, was the upgrade and enrichment of the collection and the artist’s residence. He drew attention to the urgent need for the restoration of the portico and garden pavilion – the original elements of the house, which were designed by Rubens himself. After several years of preparation, the project was successfully completed in 2019. The restoration and the protective glass butterfly awning met with international praise and appreciation. Van Beneden applied this same precision and boldness to the art collection, paving the way for the restoration of Rubens’s Self-Portrait, among others.
Is this by Van Gogh ? (ctd.)
September 9 2021
Picture: smithsonianmag.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Readers might remember this painting from a post earlier in May regarding the quest of its owner Stuart Pivar to prove whether it was by Van Gogh or not.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have since rejected the authenticity of the painting based on photographs alone.
The article linked above quotes Head of Collections and Research Marije Vellekoop:
We do not believe that an inspection … in our museum is necessary.
In our opinion, it is evidently clear from the material presented to us, that the painting ‘Auvers’ cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh.
The rejected work is in our opinion stylistically, iconographically or technically … clearly too far removed from Van Gogh’s own work that research and further discussion is deemed pointless.
Pivar, who rejects the conclusions above, has opened a $300m lawsuit to settle the matter.
Rembrandthuis Restore a Ferdinand Bol
September 9 2021
Picture: Rembrandthuis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam have published a blog on the recent conservation of Elisa refuses Naeman's gifts by Ferdinand Bol. The piece explains the painting's history, as it was commissioned for the Amsterdam Leprozenhuis, alongside the iconography and the findings made during the treatment.
In particular, the conservation of the work has revealed quite a few pentimenti which show the small various changes Bol made while producing the painting.
New Release: The Drawings of Peter Paul Rubens, A Critical Catalogue, Volume One (1590–1608)
September 9 2021
Picture: Getty.edu
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Brepols have recently released the first volume of a new catalogue raisonné of drawings by Rubens. The Drawings of Peter Paul Rubens, A Critical Catalogue, Volume One (1590–1608) was edited by the scholars Anne-Marie Logan and Kristin Lohse Belkin.
According to the blurb:
This is Volume I of the three-volume catalogue raisonné of all drawings considered by the authors to be by Rubens. It covers the years 1590–1608, Volumes II and III dealing, respectively, with the periods 1609–20 and 1621–40.
It is the first publication that presents the artist’s entire drawn oeuvre in chronological order, previous such publications containing only selections of drawings. By leafing through the illustrations, this arrangement provides the user with a quick visual impression of the variety of techniques, media, subject and functions of Rubens’s drawings at an one time.
Volume I consists of the drawings of the artist’s childhood, apprenticeship and first years as a master in Antwerp to his formative years in Italy, spent mostly in Mantua and Rome, with an excursion to Spain.
These are the years primarily devoted to learning and absorbing the art of the past, from sixteenth-century German and Netherlandish prints to the works of the ancient and Italian Renaissance masters. A large number of these drawings consists of copies after the works of other artists, largely executed as part of the artistic training at the time.
Callisto Piazza da Lodi Altarpiece Restored
September 7 2021
Picture: fsspx.news
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has kindly alerted me to news that an altarpiece by Callisto Piazza da Lodi (1523-1561) has been restored. The mid-sixteenth-century painting depicting the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin was reportedly purchased from Sotheby's and will be heading back to Lugano, Switzerland, where the painting was kept until it was sold in c.1700. The conservation of the picture was undertaken in London.
Restorers in Art Crime
September 7 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper have published an interesting short article on the role of restorers in art crime.
According to the piece:
“Without restorers to disguise stolen relics, there would be no laundered items for antiquities traffickers to sell,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. “Behind every antiquities trafficking ring preying upon cultural heritage for profit, there is someone reassembling and restoring these looted pieces to lend the criminal enterprise a veneer of legitimacy.”
Whistler Exhibition at the RA for 2022
September 7 2021
Picture: NGA
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Academy in London have provided more details regarding their new exhibition set to open in February 2022. Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan will focus around the loan of Whistler's portrait of Joanna from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
Many of James McNeill Whistler’s works feature the red-haired figure of Joanna Hiffernan. Her close professional and personal relationship with the artist lasted for two decades, yet little about her role or influence in his life has been explored – until now.
This exhibition brings together portraits of Hiffernan, ranging from innovative paintings, prints and drawings that challenged cultural norms and established Whistler’s reputation as one of the most influential artists of the late 19th century.
We also explore works by Gustave Courbet, who painted Hiffernan when he and Whistler worked together in Normandy, and conclude with paintings by Millais, Klimt and more who were inspired by Whistler’s Symphony in White.
The exhibition is set to run between 26th February 2022 - 22nd May 2022.
Michelangelo's Shoes Suggest Artist was Short
September 7 2021
Picture: livescience.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a curious story that appeared in the press a few days ago.
A group of scientists from the Forensic Anthropology, Paleopathology and Bioarchaeology Research Center (FAPAB) in Avola, Italy, have been studying a set of shoes allegedly owned by Michelangelo surviving in Florence's Casa Buonarroti Museum. Using some clever analysis, the group has estimated that Michelangelo's must have been no taller than 5 feet 2 inches (1.6 meters).
According to the article:
While this is relatively short for a European adult man by today's standards, at the time Michelangelo was alive (1475 to 1564) that height would not have been unusual, said scientists with the Forensic Anthropology, Paleopathology and Bioarchaeology Research Center (FAPAB) in Avola, Italy.
FAPAB researchers Francesco Galassi, a paleopathologist, and Elena Varotto, a forensic anthropologist, measured the shoes and then calculated the wearer's foot dimensions and height, and their results aligned with a description of Michelangelo by the 16th-century artist and writer Giorgio Vasari. Vasari wrote that Michelangelo was "broad in the shoulders" but the rest of his body was "somewhat slender in proportion" and his stature was average, according to the study.
40 Lady Waterford Pictures Donated to Lady Waterford Hall
September 7 2021
Picture: ford-and-etal.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies, here's a story which I missed two weeks ago.
The Lady Waterford Hall in Northumberland has received a donation of 40 paintings by the Victorian aristocratic artist Louisa Beresford, Marchioness of Waterford (1818-1891). The collection of works includes paintings, watercolours and sketches by the artist. It was amassed by Peter Stickley and Stewart Hamilton over the course of 50 years and has since been gifted to the Hall which contains Waterford's famous frescos.
A new exhibition of the collection will open over the weekend. Indeed, there's a ticketed opening being held on the 9th September, in case any readers might be in the area!
Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace
September 6 2021
Picture: RCT via AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I've been meaning to point how magnificent the current exhibition at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace is. I visited Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace earlier in July and spent many more hours that I had planned enjoying each of the paintings on display.
Naturally, historic house settings are very evocative for the display of pictures. I will never tire of visiting places such as Windsor Castle, which is always full to the brim with the Queen's best Van Dycks and Royal Portraits. However, there's something rather special too when such masterpieces can be displayed in gallery conditions such as at the Queen's Gallery. This setting really encourages you to hone in on the sheer quality of the pictures assembled.
The arrangement into Dutch, Flemish and Italian schools works very well. There are walls of Rembrandts to admire as well as top pictures by Van Dyck, Rubens, Canaletto, Claude, Titian, Jan Steen and others.
I should recommend getting an early time slot, as you'll almost certainly have the galleries to yourself. It's also possible to get right up close to these pictures as many of them are glazed for protection. In contrast, it's impossible to see them in such proximity when they're hanging in the Palace. Take this opportunity while you can.
Finally, I was thinking that there are probably very few galleries in the world that would let you get so close to a Vermeer. It is even possible to read my favourite wisdom inscribed onto the case of the virginal:
MVSICA LETITIAE CO[ME]S MEDICINA DOLOR[VM] / Music is the companion of joy and the balm of sorrow.
Frick Hogarth to be loaned to Tate
September 6 2021
Picture: The Frick Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Guardian have published an article on news that the Frick Collection will be loaning their William Hogarth portrait of Mary Edwards of Kensington to an upcoming exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London. This is said to be the first time the painting has returned to London in a century.
The article quotes Assistant Curator Alice Insley:
She trod her own path and contravened the social mores of the time. Mary will be a highlight of the exhibition and it is the kind of loan from the Frick Collection in New York that only happens in exceptional circumstances. Luckily for us, there is building work at the gallery and so the painting cannot be displayed there.
The Tate's upcoming exhibition Hogarth and Europe, which will feature 60 works by the artist, will be opening on 3rd November 2021 and run until 20 March 2022.
New Arts & Crafts Museum for St Petersburg, Florida
September 6 2021
Picture: TAN
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper have reported on news of a new museum dedicated to the Arts & Crafts Museum. The new The Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM) has been founded by Florida-based pharmaceutical businessman Rudy Ciccarello and will house his private collection and the holdings of the Two Red Roses Foundation, a non-profit educational organisation Ciccarello founded in 2004. His collection contains more than 2,000 objects related to the American Arts & Crafts Movement.
According to the article:
With more than 40,000sq. ft of gallery space, the new museum will be housed in a five-storey, 137,000sq. ft structure designed by the Tampa-based architect Alberto Alfonso. The institution will also have an outdoor garden, an education studio, graphic studio, research library, theater, event space, café, and restaurant.
Flowers and Gardens in Pre-Raphaelite Art
September 6 2021
Picture: Ashmolean
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I have spotted this upcoming online lecture which is bound to be an aesthetic delight. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford are hosting an online lecture this Wednesday 8th September 2021 entitled Cultivating Beauty: Flowers and Gardens in Pre-Raphaelite Art. The talk will be presented by Dr Lindsay Wells.
According to the blurb:
From lilies and roses to poppies and pansies, flowers are ubiquitous in the art of the British Pre-Raphaelites. This talk will explore how Pre-Raphaelite painters engaged with Victorian gardening trends to craft their distinctive floral imagery.
The online lecture will be broadcast at 2pm (BST) and cost a mere £4 to attend.
Uffizi Acquire Tibaldi and Gnocchi Saint Paul
September 6 2021
Picture: Uffizi
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence have announced their acquisition of a full-length Saint Paul by Pellegrino Tibaldi and his Milanese pupil Giovanni Pietro Gnocchi. The work, dated to c.1585, was purchased after an export ban was placed on it by the authorities in Italy. Recent research undertaken by the scholar Agostino Allegri has established that the work was produced for the Milanese private chapel of the heirs of San Carlo Borromeo in 1585. Indeed, the painting was mentioned in a 1587 text by Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo and managed to survive the bombings of 1943 when the chapel was badly damaged.
Shredded Banksy Back on the Block
September 6 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Interesting news emerged last week that Sotheby's will be re-auctioning Banksy's Love in the Bin in October. Famously, the work was shredded during a live auction in 2018 just after it was sold for £1,042,000. The work will now reappear with an estimate of £4m - £6m.
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The 2018 gimmick caused quite the stir back in the day. Let's wait and see if the hype has been sustained over these past three years.
Burlington Article Reveals Jacques-Louis David Secrets
September 6 2021
Picture: MET
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
September's edition of The Burlington Magazine contains a fascinating article on recent discoveries made on Jacques-Louis David's 1788 Portrait of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie- Anne Lavoisier (Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758– 1836). This study was undertaken by staff at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Vast technical analysis has shown the many changes were undertaken during its early history. This included the removal of a fancy hat, now missing of course, and the fact that their scientific instruments were a later addition. It is believed that these alterations were made to try and distance the sitters from looking too much like tax-collectors, a profession which ultimately led Lavoisier to the guillotine in 1794.
TEFAF Funds Restoration of Manet Portrait
September 6 2021
Picture: National Museum Wales
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies, I missed this story the other week. The National Museum Wales has completed the restoration of Portrait de Monsieur Jules Dejouy by Édouard Manet. The painting, which dates to 1879, was acquired by the museum in 2019 through the acceptance in lieu scheme. Conservation was paid for through funds donated by The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) Museum Restoration Fund as well as help from the Friends of the Museum and The Finnis Scott Foundation.
Coustou Sculptures Restored
September 2 2021
Picture: rue89lyon.fr
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from France that two sculptures representing allegories of the Rhône and the Saône by Nicolas and Guillaume Coustou have been restored. The large early eighteenth century bronzes had originally adorned a statue of Louis XIV at the Place Bellecour in Lyon. Their restoration has taken place in the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon where they will be displayed at the foot of a staircase.
