Previous Posts: articles 2023
The Pinacoteca Civica Acquire Portrait by Francesco Podesti
March 22 2021
Picture: Pinacoteca civica "Francesco Podesti"
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Pinacoteca Civica "Francesco Podesti" in Ancona, Italy, have acquired a painting by the artist from whom the museum takes its name. The full length Portrait of the Marquises Busca was made when Francesco Podesti (1800-1895) was a mere 25 years old and is considered one of his earliest masterpieces. The work was acquired from the Mellini Collection in Vernoa and will eventually hang in a prominent position within the refurbished galleries in Ancona.
The National Gallery to send Nine Paintings to Southampton
March 22 2021
Picture: The National Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Brilliant news today that the National Gallery in London will be loaning nine paintings to the Southampton City Art Gallery. Works that will be loaned include paintings by Monet, Gainsborough and Salvator Rosa. This special exhibition, which will run from 28th May - 4th September 2021, will celebrate the untold story of the two galleries relationship throughout the twentieth century.
As AHN is a big advocate for spreading out works of art from London institutions, it would be wonderful to hear more stories like this during the upcoming year!
Is this by Raphael?
March 22 2021
Picture: Accademia Nazionale di San Luca
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Italy are about to undertake an interesting project to determine the authorship of the fresco fragment above. It has long borne a traditional attribution to Raphael, but this new project will attempt to determine this more conclusively with conservation and scientific analysis. One of the sticking points is that it had belonged to the neoclassical painter Jean-Baptiste Wicar (1762-1834), who may well have passed off a copy as an original.
RKD Uploads Dulwich Picture Gallery Catalogues
March 22 2021
Picture: Dulwich Picture Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has pointed out to me that the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History) have uploaded Part One & Part Two of the catalogues of Dutch and Flemish Paintings from the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. The catalogues are completely free to access and will be of great benefit for anyone wanting to know more about this significant part of the gallery's collection.
165 Works of the Spannocchi-Piccolomini Collection Reunited
March 22 2021
Picture: ilgiornaledellarte.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that 165 works from the Spannocchi-Piccolomini Collection have been reunited in the former hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. This includes works by Lorenzo Lotto, Giovan Battista Moroni, Paris Bordon, Sofonisba Anguissola, Sodoma, Albrecht Dürer and Albrecht Altdorfer. Amongst the most important works included within are a series of cartoons by Domenico Beccafumi relating to the floor of the Cathedral of Siena. This collection was formed in the late eighteenth century and was gradually disperesed amongst several museum collections in the twentieth.
Bernini Drawing Makes €1.93m
March 22 2021
Picture: @ActeonSenlis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned rediscovered drawing by Bernini went on to make a whopping €1,937,500 (including fees) at auction last Saturday, soaring past its 30k - 50k estimate. The auction house has said that it went to a 'private collector'. A surer sign than ever perhaps that it was judged by multiple bidders to be 'right'.
Eighteenth Century IPhone
March 19 2021
Picture: Schloss Ludwigslust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As many of you will know, AHN is a fan of time travelling in paintings.
The French Porcelain Society and Richard Hird of Sotheby's (@glazed_and_confused) seem to have made the most recent discovery of time travel in a portrait of Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1758-1794) by Georg David Mathieu. This fine painting obviously shows her with an early version of an IPhone, wouldn't you agree? It seems she has a custom case for it too.
Bonhams Old Masters Sale
March 19 2021
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bonhams London have uploaded their upcoming Old Master Paintings sale onto their website. There are many interesting paintings which I encourage you all to look through when you have the chance. One of the most intriguing is a curious fresco modello attributed to James Thornhill, which must surely be connected to some surviving or since destroyed work.
The sale will be held on 15th April 2021.
Create Your Own Virtual Exhibition
March 19 2021
Picture: Occupy White Walls
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery have teamed up with a new 'art-focused sandbox game' called Occupy White Walls, which allows users to create their own virtual exhibitions. The gallery is the first major art institution to hand over hundreds of images from its collection to allow players to create their ideal virtual art gallery.
As the above article explains:
Want a river coursing through a velvet-walled gallery? Not a problem; take your pick from 2,300 architectural assets. Fancy putting Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” in contentious conversation with his “Mona Lisa”? Why not throw in the game’s 11 other Leonardos, or any of the platform’s more than 17,000 artworks that resonate for that matter?
Linda Spurdle, the museum's digital development manager, is also quoted saying:
“We talk a lot about getting younger and more diverse audiences involved. Occupy White Walls is a next step. We want people to use our artwork creatively. If people want to build art galleries and exhibitions, go ahead, use our art.
A wonderful idea, it seems, to alleviate the utter boredom of lockdown. But I for one can't wait to leave my screens behind and go and see some beautiful objects made by human hands.
Old Master Drawings at Christie's Paris
March 19 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's Paris have two rather interesting sales of Old Master Drawings coming up next week. The first consists of an exceptional collection of drawings from a private collection, featuring works by the likes of Camillo Procaccini, Hendrick Goltzius, Bernardo Strozzi and Guercino. The second is a more straightforward sale from various sources, making a good case for why works on paper are an accessible way to get into collecting.
Both sales will be held on 24th March 2021.
Global Art Market Shrinks by 22% in 2020
March 19 2021
Picture: Artdaily.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Figures from the latest annual Art Basel and UBS Art Market report have suggested that the global art market shrank by 22% over the pandemic year. The report shows that that combined dealer and auction house sales totalled $50.1 billion, the lowest level since the financial crash supposedly.
Some of the key figures:
- Dealer sales declined an aggregate 20%, to $29.3 billion.
- Public auctions, many of which were conducted in online-only formats, were down 30%, to $17.6 billion.
- Private transactions at auction houses were up 36%, to $3.2 billion.
Uffizi Diffusi
March 18 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Uffizi's director Eike Schmidt has released more details about his plans to spread out art and visitors from the centre of Florence. Uffizi Diffusi is a project that will attempt to spread out art amongst 60 exhibition spaces in Tuscany, including Livorno and two Medici villas on the outskirts of Florence. The decentralisation of art is an attempt to spread out visitors who visit this art and architectural jewel of a city, which during normal times already receives around 14 million visitors a year.
The director is quoted as saying:
We already have over 3,000 works of art on display in the Uffizi—that's enough.
As is often voiced on AHN, it would be wonderful if similar plans could be drawn up for the spreading out of art from stores in London to across the UK. We'll be the first to report on it if and when it happens!
New Release: Painting, Science, and the Perception of Coloured Shadows
March 18 2021
Picture: Routledge
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Routledge have announced their new release entitled Painting, Science, and the Perception of Coloured Shadows by the University of Warwick art historian Paul Smith.
As the book's blurb explains:
Many artists and scientists – including Buffon, Goethe, and Philipp Otto Runge – who observed the vividly coloured shadows that appear outdoors around dawn and dusk, or indoors when a candle burns under waning daylight, chose to describe their colours as ‘beautiful’. Paul Smith explains what makes these ephemeral effects worthy of such appreciation – or how depictions of coloured shadows have genuine aesthetic and epistemological significance.
This multidisciplinary book synthesises methodologies drawn from art history (close pictorial analysis), psychology and neuroscience (theories of colour constancy), history of science (the changing paradigms used to explain coloured shadows), and philosophy (theories of perception and aesthetic value drawn from Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty).
This title will be of interest to scholars in art history, art theory, and the history of science and technology.
Louis 14, not Louis XIV, says Musée Carnavalet
March 18 2021
Picture: Musée Carnavalet
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée Carnavalet in Paris has caused a stir in France by banishing roman numerals from its signs and displays.
The museum says that they present an 'obstacle to understanding' and have been replaced with arabic numerals instead. The Louvre has already removed roman numerals to designate centuries in their galleries along similar lines.
Critics in the French press have highlighted the move as part of an ongoing 'cultural catastrophe', where such things are no longer taught and thus simple eliminated. Other Italian critics have placed the blame not with the public, but with leaders and politicians who judge the publics ability to engage with culture too lowly.
Breaking the Mould - Touring Exhibition
March 18 2021
Picture: The Arts Council
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Arts Council have organised a special touring exhibition this year entitled Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945.
According to the exhibition blurb:
This major new touring exhibition challenges the male-dominated narratives of post-war British sculpture by presenting a diverse and significant range of ambitious work by women. Offering a radical recalibration, Breaking the Mould not only celebrates the strengths of sculpture made by women but also seeks to guard against the threat of slipping out of view. Through this deliberately restorative act, the exhibition seeks to inspire future generations, supporting the maxim ‘if she can see it she can be it’.
Breaking the Mould represents the work of over forty-five sculptors including Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink, Kim Lim, Cornelia Parker, Veronica Ryan, Rachel Whiteread and Anthea Hamilton.
The exhibition will first open on 21st May 2021 at the Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and will then tour to New Art Gallery Walsall, Djanogly Art Gallery, The Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth, Nottingham Lakeside Arts and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.
Virtual Tours of the Musei Capitolini
March 18 2021
Picture: tourvirtuale.museicapitolini.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Rome's Musei Capitolini is the latest museum to upload a rather snazzy virtual tour of its galleries online. It's no substitute for a visit in person, but it could help during the few months before travelling might be possible again.
National Art Library Update
March 18 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It seems that the Directors of the V&A in London have changed their minds to lay-off 20 members of staff at the National Art Library (NAL). Over 10,000 signatures were gathered to oppose the proposed changes. The organisation involved in the petition have said they have secured a further 6 months of furloughing for the staff involved.
However, it looks like the NAL will still be closed for a further 6 months while a restructuring programme takes place. This is half the amount of time that was initially suggested.
There is mention of some sort of 'skeleton service' in the interim, but it seems likely that students and researchers will have to wait until September at the earliest to gain access to the library.
I'll post more details whenever they appear.
Update - An official spokesperson have confirmed that the current plan is for the NAL to reopen in December 2021. The library will be testing a digital interim service between May and December, which might allow some specialist researchers to make appointments to visit certain materials Here is a full write-up by The Art Newspaper.
Venus Exhibitions in Mantua
March 17 2021
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palazzo Te Foundation and the Palazzo Te Civic Museum in Mantua will be putting on three exhibitions and a programme of events this year celebrating the mythological figure of Venus. The Divine Venus project was inspired by depictions of the goddess in the Palazzo Te, and will feature loaned works by the likes of Cranach, Guido Reni, Titian and Dosso Dossi, not to mention many other works of tapestry, sculpture and printed materials.
The three exhibitions are as follows. 1) The Myth of Venus at the Palazzo Te, which will focus on frescos and stucco representations featured in the palace. 2) Titian's Venus Blindfolding Cupid, which will see the loan of one of the Villa Borghese's most iconic Titians to Mantua. 3) Venus: Nature, Shade and Beauty, an exhibition of international loaned works from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The first and third exhibitions run from 21st March - 12th December 2021, apart from the Titian loan which will run from 22nd June - 5th September 2021.
Dunrobin Attic Sale
March 17 2021
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bonhams have finally uploaded the online catalogue for their upcoming Dunrobin Castle Attic Sale which will be held on 20th April 2021. It's filled with all the interesting and eclectic things one would expect from such a sale.
On the paintings front, the rather light cataloguing and low estimates seem to have been especially devised to be as tempting as possible. For example, lot 32 contains the above three paintings estimated at a mere £1,000 - £2,000. There are many other portraits, watercolours and drawings estimated at much less.
L'Empire des Sens - Extended
March 17 2021
Picture: The Musée Cognacq-Jay
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris has announced that it will extend its current exhibition L'Empire des sens, de Boucher à Greuze until 27th May 2021. The exhibition takes a special look at the sensual bodies portrayed by eighteenth century artists such as Boucher, Watteau, Fragonard and Greuze.
The museum have also uploaded their audio guide onto their website, in case any French speakers might enjoy hearing more.
