Previous Posts: articles 2023
Raphael's Birthplace Exhibit 3D Printed Head
June 29 2021
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Urbino that a 3D printed bust of Raphael, digitally reconstructed from a plaster cast of his skull, has been put on display in the artist's birthplace. This image was born out of a project initiated by scientists from the Tor Vergata University in Rome in 2019. The 'likeness' is now on view, protected by a glass case, within the painter's childhood rooms.
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I've said it before - If this bust teaches us anything, it is that man's ability to render a convincing human face has actually regressed since the sixteenth century. Furthermore, could they have picked a more lifeless material of which to fashion this head out of?
Bernardo Zenale's Musical Angels Exhibited in Brera
June 29 2021
Picture: ilgiornaledellarte.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A set of musical angels by Bernardo Zenale (c.1460-1526), painted in 1500 to decorate the parapet of the organ in the church of Santa Maria di Brera, have returned for a special exhibition in the city. The paintings were torn out of their original location when the church was demolished in 1808. The works, then attributed to Leonardo, came into the collection of Andreani Sormani in 1838 and only received their current attribution to Zenale in 1960.
An exhibition dedicated to these pictures will open at the Pinacoteca di Brera on 6th July 2021.
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This painting is a real celebration of the many diverse musical instruments the angels are holding, as much as anything else...!
Botticelli on loan to Museu de Belles Arts de València
June 29 2021
Picture: Museu de Belles Arts de València
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sandro Botticelli's portrait of Michele Marullo Tarcaniota has been put on display in the Museu de Belles Arts de València. The painting has been loaned out to the museum by the Cambó family for a period of three years. It had previously been on display at the Prado in Madrid for two decades.
Visitors to Frieze Masters in London during October 2019 might remember that the painting was offered for sale by Trinity Fine Art for a reported $30m. Although the painting had been declared a national treasure in Spain, reports at the time suggested that an application for an export license would have been required to allow the work to formally leave the country. It seems that a sale did not materialise as it has remained in the family's hands.
Dutch Government to initiate 'grand inquiry' into WWII Restitution
June 29 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnews.com have published an article on reports that the Dutch Government will be initiating a 'grand inquiry' into the restitution of Nazi-looted art. This process will attempt to reassess looted works of art in the Netherland Art Property Collection and will renew efforts to find owners.
According to the article:
Many commentators began alleging that the committee was prioritizing the state over claimants. In 2020, lawyer Jacob Kohnstamm issued a report that found that the Dutch Restitution Committee needed to be “more empathic” and recommended that it abolish its “balance of interests” methods, which allow the committee to give weight to the national interests as well as the interests of the claimants. Two members of the committee, including its chairman, resigned after the report was issued.
London Art Week 2021
June 29 2021
Picture: londonartweek.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
London Art Week 2021 'Digital & Live' will be starting on Friday 2nd July. As ever, some of London's top dealers will be hosting a mixture of live and digital exhibitions showing off their latest treasures. It is well worth having a look at the digital talks and events, which are filled with many interesting and relevant topics from leading experts in the art market and academic spheres.
Evelyn de Morgan Exhibition in Burnley
June 29 2021
Video: De Morgan Foundation
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The De Morgan Foundation are opening a new exhibition next month in Burnley, Lancashire, entitled Pre-Raphaelite Artist of Hope: Evelyn De Morgan. The show will open in the Towneley Hall on 17th July 2021 and feature 45 works loaned by the foundation.
Rediscovered Constable Poetry Watercolours Up for Sale
June 29 2021
Video: Gorringe's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Gorringe's auction house in East Sussex will be offering up an interesting book in their sale today. This particular edition of Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard happens to contain three watercolours by John Constable. Constable was asked to contribute illustrations for a printed edition, commissioned it seems by editor John Martin.
As the catalogue note explains:
All three of Constable’s original completed watercolour designs are included in this specially bound quarto volume of the second ( 1836) edition of Martin’s Elegy, together with fourteen more by other contributors. He clearly went to a great deal of care and trouble over them, making preliminary sketches in watercolour for all three , now mainly held in public collections. 5 He may have produced these as sample designs for Martin to approve. Alternatively, he may have wished them to serve as guides when working up his finished designs, thus mirroring his practice of using same scale sketches for his oil paintings.
The edition will be offered for sale today with a rather punchy estimate of £100k - £150k.
Update - The lot didn't manage to find a buyer. Although of historical interest, one imagines the high estimate might have been rather unrealistic.
Prado Conserves Martin Archer Shee Portrait
June 28 2021
Picture: Prado, Madrid
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News on Twitter (via. @jorgegrien) that the Prado Museum in Madrid have recently conserved a few of their British paintings. This includes Martin Archer Shee's portrait of Mr Storer. I really do recommend clicking through the link, where you'll be able to zoom in on the lovely details found within this painting.
National Gallery Figurines
June 28 2021
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Regular readers will know that AHN prides itself on bringing you only the best in art history related ephemera.
The National Gallery in London has shared its latest range of art history figurines on Twitter last week.
According to their shop website:
Art Sculptures and Figurines
From Degas’s waiting dancer figurine to a quirky Leonardo da Vinci figurine with glow in the dark hair, beard, and eyebrows, artists and masterpieces are central to this range. A perfect gift idea for those who enjoy art!
Fragonard Philosopher makes €6.3m
June 28 2021
Video: artcento
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned rediscovered Philosopher by Fragonard realised an impressive €6,300,000 (hammer price) / €7,686,000 (with commission) over its €1.5m - €2m estimate on Saturday. It has been suggested that the picture has been purchased by a French private collection. This is a sure sign as any that high quality old masters, even of unassuming subjects, can still command very high prices. The excitement of a rediscovered painting must have also helped in this case, one imagines.
The Bonnie Prince Charlie by Domenico Dupra, featured in the same sale, smashed through its estimate of €6k - €8k to realise €155,000.
Lecture: Monet in Place
June 28 2021
Video: NGV Melbourne
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, have uploaded a free lecture on Monet's France through his paintings. The talk is presented by Dr Katie Hanson, Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
John Glover Sketchbook heads to Australia
June 25 2021
Picture: abc.net.au
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has very kindly pointed out this news story from Australia. A sketchbook by the artist John Glover (1767-1849), which made £81,000 pounds over its £4,000 estimate at Ewbank's last month, has been reported to have entered a private collection in Australia. The sketchbook contains sheets of a tour made in Scotland during the early nineteenth century. Interestingly, Glover's work is particularly prized in Australia, as he moved to Tasmania in 1831 where he produced several important views of the surrounding landscape.
The Watts Gallery is Hiring!
June 25 2021
Picture: wattsgallery.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, is hiring a new Head of Collections, Exhibition & Research.
According to their job description:
The Head of Collections, Exhibitions & Research will take a strategic and collaborative approach to enhance the interpretation and display of the collection, driving engagement onsite and offline, and building national and international partnerships to support the programme of interpretation, research, exhibitions and scholarship. The postholder will lead the curatorial team and play a leadership role in Watts Gallery - Artists' Village as a member of the senior management team.
The role comes with a salary of between £38k - £44k per annum. Applications must be in by 13th July 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
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I thought I'd take this opportunity, as I always do, to share my enthusiasm for these videos of former curator Richard Jefferies giving his own personal take on some of the highlights from the gallery's collection.
The Transformation of a Sleeper
June 24 2021
Picture: @auctionrada / Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Twitter's @auctionradar has pointed out the transformation of a sleeper that appeared on the continent last year. The painting on the left, catalogued by a provincial European auction house as 'Lombardy School 17th Century', eventually realised €148,000 over its €1,100 estimate last December. The same painting has since been cleaned and authenticated by Prof. Alberto Cottino as an autograph work by Fede Galizia (1578-1630). It will be offered for sale by Sotheby's next month with an estimate of £400k - £600k.
Nationalmuseum Stockholm purchases first Impressionist in 50 Years
June 24 2021
Picture: artnews.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden, has announced its first acquisition of an impressionist painting in 50 years. Mary Cassatt's (1844–1926) Portrait of the artist's sister Lydia is believed to be a preliminary study for The Cup of Tea, a painting from 1879–80 now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The acquisition was made possible by the support of the Hedda and N. D. Qvist Fund.
Dordrecht Museum Loaned a Turner
June 24 2021
Picture: nos.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Dordrecht Museum in the Netherlands has organised the permanent loan of a painting of Whalley Bridge and Abbey by J.M.W. Turner. The picture was purchased at Sotheby's last year by a private collector who has in turn arranged the loan with the museum. Interestingly, the museum will be hanging the piece next to works by Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691), an artist whose lighting effects and compositions Turner greatly admired. This will be one of two paintings by the British artist on display in a Dutch museum or gallery.
Online Exhibition: Thomas Lawrence Coming of Age
June 24 2021
Video: Holburne Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies if I'm a little late to this, but, the Holburne Museum in Bath have uploaded a very useful online exhibition Thomas Lawrence Coming of Age. The online catalogue notes are particularly helpful, and will hopefully provide admirers of Lawrence's work with a handy list of collections to see his works in person.
Redundancies in the UK Museums Sector
June 24 2021
Picture: Museums Association
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museums Association in the UK have published a report reviewing redundancies in the museums sector after one year of covid. Amongst their findings is that out of the 50,300 heritage workforce 4,100 have been made redundant over this period with independent and national museums being hit the hardest.
Rijksmuseum uses AI to Recreate Missing Parts of The Night Watch
June 24 2021
Picture: Artnews.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam have produced a very interesting video showing the outcome of a research project to reconstruct the missing parts of Rembrandt's The Night Watch. Famously, the painting was cut down fifty years after the artist's death to fit in between a doorway. Instead of waiting for the missing pieces to reappear, the museum decided to go about reconstructing the cut sections using a seventeenth century copy of the original and a team of computer geeks. A sophisticated AI program was used to 'imitate' Rembrandt's stylistic straights and new boards were printed to afford us a glimpse of the artist's original intentions.
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This is undoubtedly an impressive feat of technology. Yet, I personally can't help but find the printed foamex boards a little ugly and distracting to the eye. Their glassy smoothness affords the additions a rather lifeless quality. This may well have been part of the plan, as it has become rather fashionable in the world of conservation (since the time of William Morris I suppose) for modern interventions to appear modern rather than harmonise seamlessly. Despite what the AI learnt in 'art school', Rembrandt's now encircled original work manages to shine through brilliantly.
I grant you that people visit museums and galleries for all sorts of reasons. Personally speaking, I adore such places because one is immersed in the world of the handmade, freed from screens, boards and all the other mundane trappings of our modern age.
Masterpiece 2021
June 23 2021
Video: Masterpiece London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This year's online Masterpiece 2021 will be 'opening' tomorrow. As usual, there are many fine works of art to be found from a wide variety of dealers in the fine and decorative arts.
Equally interesting are the many events one is able to tune in to. This year's topics include the likes of Next Gen Collecting: Sustaining Art and Culture, Masterpiece in the Museum, Digital Art in the Physical Realm and Translating the Visual - the Art of Podcast (which features AHN's very own Bendor Grosvenor).
In the meantime, here are some highlights of Master Paintings with Dr Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe.
