Previous Posts: April 2024
Turner in Newcastle
April 25 2024
Picture: Laing Art Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle will be opening an exhibition next month on the subject of Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia. The key picture in the show will be the artist's famous The Fighting Temeraire, on loan from The National Gallery in London.
According to the gallery's website:
Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia will include over 20 works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), one of Britain’s greatest and most prolific painters. The Fighting Temeraire, one of the artist’s best-known works, is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire, which played a distinguished role in The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting shows the final journey of the ship as it is towed along the river Thames by a modern paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap.
It is significant for the North East and its industrial heritage that the two steam tugboats that pulled the Temeraire in reality – the Samson and the London – were manufactured on Tyneside.
Dorotheum Pictures
April 25 2024
Picture: Dorotheum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A few lots in yesterday's Old Master Paintings auction at the Dorotheum in Vienna did rather well against their estimates. The following corridor portrait of Sultan Süleyman I made €274,000 over its €8,000 - 12,000 estimate, Marco d’Oggiono's Head of Christ made €226,00 over its €50,000 - 75,000 estimate, a tondo given to an assistant of Botticelli made €663,875 over its €200,000 - 300,000 estimate, a portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola made €169,000 over its 60,000 - 80,000 estimate, a religious work by Barbara Longhi made €91,000 over its €8,000 - 12,000 estimate.
Klimt makes €30m
April 24 2024
Video: Europa Press
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Fraulein Lieser hammered down at €30m this afternoon at Kinsky in Vienna.
An article by the BBC has drawn attention to the unanswered questions about its wartime history. In contrast, a very fine painting by the artist made £85.3m last year. It is well worth reading the FAQs section regarding the sale of the painting on the auction house's website.
Update - A reader has been in touch with the following article from The New York Times, which delves a little deeper into questions regarding the painting and its provenance.
Restored Paintings from Notre-Dame on Display
April 24 2024
Picture: mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A major exhibition has opened today at the Mobilier National in Paris, focusing on restored works from the fire-damaged Cathedral of Notre-Dame. The show features 21 large-scale paintings which have been conserved and presented to the public. This includes 10 of the 'great Mays' which were commissioned by the city's goldsmiths in the 17th and 18th centuries and later donated to the cathedral. Artists represented include Laurent de La Hyre, Aubin Vouet, Charles Le Brun and Eustache Le Sueur.
The display will continue until 21st July 2024.
Getty Museum acquires Manfredi
April 24 2024
Picture: Getty Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has announced their acquisition of Manfredi's A Drinking and Musical Party. Regular auction watchers will remember that the painting was offered at Christie's New York from the Alana Collection back in 2022 carrying an estimate of $4m - $6m but failed to find a bidder.
A quote from the museum's website:
“Although Manfredi was not properly a pupil of Caravaggio, his strikingly realistic depictions of genre scenes crucially contributed to the European success of the Caravaggesque movement,” says Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “Since its reappearance in 1976, A Drinking and Musical Party has been considered one of Manfredi’s greatest paintings. Its addition to our collection represents a major coup that will allow us to display a picture that attained enormous success among collectors and amateurs in 17th-century Europe.”
Musée Massey Exhibit Stolen Works Prior to Restitution
April 24 2024
Picture: francetv.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from France that the Musée Massey in Tarbes will be exhibiting a group of works from their collections which were stolen during WWII. The paintings, which will be on display until 26th May 2024, will then be returned to the descendants of the painting's owners following a new law which was passed last summer. The display will include this rather beautiful later work by Cornelius Johnson (pictured) of an unknown sitter.
Free London Art Week Talks
April 24 2024
Picture: LAW
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
London Art Week are hosting two free online talks today and tomorrow as part of their Art History in Focus series.
Tonight's talk focuses on Framing Impressionism, featuring guests Lynn Roberts, Paul & Mark Mitchell and Matthew Reeves.
Tomorrow's talk focuses on Philip Mould & Co.'s upcoming Mary Beale exhibition, featuring guests Christopher Baker (The Burlington Magazine), Lucy West (Dulwich Picture Gallery) and Ellie Smith (Philip Mould & Co.).
The talks will be available on Zoom and registration is required.
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The fellow in the fur hat above might be recognisable to some readers from a post on AHN back in September.
AI Recreates Destroyed Velázquez
April 23 2024
Picture: El Pais
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's an interesting story which I failed to spot earlier on this month. A project, undertaken by the artist Fernando Sánchez Castillo, has recreated Velázquez's Expulsion of the Moriscos which was destroyed by a fire in 1734. Essentially, detailed descriptions were used, alongside a rediscovered sketch, to build up the image produced on the right.
According to the article linked above:
Armed with Palomino’s text and the preliminary sketch that Velázquez would use as a starting point for his larger painting, Sánchez turned next to Paula García, a student at the Complutense University of Madrid who wrote her thesis on AI applied to contemporary sculpture. Using a blend of history and technology, the two spent over 100 hours reconstructing Velázquez’s Expulsion of the Moriscos. They say 80% of the result is derived from artistic creations and 20% is due to AI. “People always have this natural suspicion about artificial intelligence,” said Sánchez.
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Well, from what I can see the image does look a bit stiff and odd! However, I suppose it's a good start of sorts.
Holkham are Hiring!
April 23 2024
Picture: Holkham
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Holkham Hall in Norfolk, which houses a very fine historic collection of artworks, are hiring a Collections Co-ordinator.
According to the job description the roles include:
• Have primary responsibility for day-to-day management of the collections, to be the first point of call within the hall and respond to any needs as required and seeking guidance from the wider Collections Team where necessary.
• To have a good working knowledge of Qi, the bespoke collections management system, creation of manuals as appropriate, and using the system to record the comprehensive management of the collection and associated activities.
• To respond in a timely fashion to requests from the family and senior management regarding the collections.
• To be the contact for conservators and other collection specialists requiring or requesting access to the collection; supervising visits and responding to questions.
• To answer enquiries and supervise researchers while using the collection as required.
• (Represent the Holkham Estate in meetings and discussions of the Treasure House Housekeeping Forum, Private Houses Curators Group and other such organisations as requested.)
• Assist the Head of Collections with loan requests as required.
The job comes with a salary between £26,000 - £27,000 and applications must be in by 13th May 2024.
Good luck if you're applying!
Christie's New York May Sale
April 23 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's New York have published their upcoming May Old Master Paintings sale.
Top lots in the sale include a Workshop of Hans Memling Virgin and Child, an unpublished St Jerome by Van Dyck, a Guardi View of the Piazzetta in Venice, and a Moretto da Brescia of a Virgin and Child. There are also a good group of English pictures, including works by Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Stubbs, John Constable and Sir Peter Lely.
Alongside this sale is also a private collection of Old Master and European Paintings which are being offered without reserve (many bargains to be had I'm sure!).
Both sales will take place on 23rd May 2024.
Upcoming Release: Gesina ter Borch
April 22 2024
Picture: lundhumphries.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Lund Humphries will be publishing a new book by MET curator Adam Eaker on the seventeenth century artist Gesina ter Borch in October 2024. The publication claims to be the first major biography, in any language, on the artist.
According to the blurb:
Gesina ter Borch (1631-1690) was a Dutch watercolourist and draughtswoman whose work survives primarily in the form of three albums of watercolours and calligraphy, now held at the Rijksmuseum. Despite the fact that her oeuvre is securely attributed and thoroughly catalogued, Ter Borch has surprisingly never been the subject of a dedicated monograph, until now. For the first time, this book highlights Ter Borch’s watercolours and calligraphy in their own right, as well as her work as an art teacher, an archivist, and an artist’s model, and questions a historiography of women’s art that frequently values oil painting over other media, and work for the market over 'amateur' production.
Adam Eaker revisits Gesina ter Borch’s role in the genesis of Dutch 'high-life' genre painting and its construction of gender and social class, comparing her art with that of her brother Gerard, and in so doing allows for a more nuanced understanding of the ideologies and achievements of Dutch genre painting.
The book will be released on 15th October 2024 and is available for pre-order.
Kelmscott Manor Raising last £40,000 to Conserve Tapestries
April 22 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Kelmscott Manor, the former Oxfordshire country house of William Morris, is raising the last £40,000 to conserve and reinstate their set of 17th century tapestries. They have already raised £306,000, which is quite an effort, but are asking the public for help to complete the full amount.
According to the website linked above:
One of the Manor’s most important spaces is the Tapestry Room, with its 17th-century Dutch tapestries, a rare survival of its Manor’s pre-Morris interiors. Originally a bedroom, the Tapestry Room acquired an added significance when William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti took on the joint tenancy of Kelmscott Manor in 1871.
Morris loved these rare wall-hangings mellowed by age, declaring that they gave the Tapestry Room ‘an air of romance which nothing else would quite do’. He gravitated there, using it as both workspace and sitting room. It was tapestries such as these that inspired him to learn the technique himself and set about reinventing it.
Click on the link above if you'd like to help and made a donation.
The National Gallery acquire work by Eva Gonzalès
April 22 2024
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London announced their acquisition of a work by Eva Gonzalès last week. The purchased was made possible by three generous legacy gifts from Mrs Martha Doris Bailey, Miss Gillian Cleaver, and Ms Sheila Mary Holmes, and the National Gallery Trust, and cost the gallery £1,492,000 through a tax advantageous private treaty sale.
According to their press release:
Christopher Riopelle, The Neil Westreich Curator of Post 1800 Paintings at the National Gallery, says: ‘Remarkably, this important rediscovery by an artist who captures increasing international attention has been in a private British collection, unseen in public for more than seventy years. We are excited that it has come to the National Gallery. The world of Impressionist studies, and of women artists studies is, if anything, even more excited.’
Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: ‘Joining Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzalès, this work by the artist herself helps to enrich the story the Gallery tells about 19th-century French painting. Eva died young and her works are rare. We are grateful to the legacy-givers who have enabled us to buy it.’
The YCBA are Hiring!
April 22 2024
Picture: Yale University
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Yale Center for British Art are hiring a Senior Curatorial Assistant.
According to the job description:
Working independently under the guidance of the Chief Curator and the Curatorial Project Manager, the Senior Curatorial Assistant provides robust curatorial support for exhibitions and special projects during the term of the position. The Senior Curatorial Assistant will be involved in all phases of exhibition management, from conducting scholarly research and writing, to organizing meetings, creating PowerPoint presentations, assisting with exhibition layouts, as well as performing general logistical and administrative tasks in support of the Chief Curator’s projects. More specifically, the postholder will have an opportunity to contribute to two upcoming contemporary art exhibitions, on Tracey Emin and Hew Locke, in addition to other projects.
Neither a wage indication (as far as I can work out) or a deadline for applications has been posted.
Stolen Christ Church Painting Recovered in Romania
April 19 2024
Picture: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Breaking news this morning that one of the three stolen old masters from the Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford has been recovered by police in Romania. Salvator Rosa's A Rocky Coast was stolen during the covid crisis back in 2020 and has recently been handed in to the authorities in Bucharest.
According to reports:
Romanian police were contacted by a man in possession of the Rosa painting, who had sold on the other two artworks in the country. [...]
The man chose to return the Rosa painting, which dates to the late 1640s, to the authorities and has been treated as a witness. He has not been arrested.
It was recovered by Thames Valley Police and the gallery's curator, Jacqueline Thalmann, in Bucharest last month. [...]
Thames Valley Police's Det Ch Insp James Mather said officers were working with Eurojust and Europol to gather further intelligence, including forensic analysis, into where the other two artworks were.
He said officers had a "significant forensic harvest" from the recovered painting, which now needs to be analysed.
But he said he was "optimistic" it could provide police with some lines of inquiry.
Quite incredible to imagine that these two masterpieces are floating around in Romania at present, I wonder how much the alleged 'witness' sold them for?
18th Century Masterpieces from the Uffizi in Shanghai
April 18 2024
Video: International Channel Shanghai
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Bund One Art Museum in Shanghai opened a new exhibition last week of 18th Century Masterpieces from the Uffizi in Florence. The show contains no fewer than 80 paintings including works by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Bernardo Bellotto, Jean-Étienne Liotard, Giuseppe Maria Crespi and others.
The show will run until 25th August 2024.
Ruskin Drawings with Guy Peppiatt
April 18 2024
Picture: Guy Peppiatt
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The London dealer Guy Peppiatt will be opening a selling exhibition of drawings by John Ruskin from a private collection in a few days' time. The display of 46 works will be on view in Mason's Yard, Duke Street, from 22nd April until 3rd May 2024. Click here to see the full catalogue of works.
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Please do get in touch if there are any interesting dealer exhibition / catalogues that are worth featuring on the blog!
Free MET Talk on Mistakes, Fakes, and Second Takes
April 18 2024
Picture: MET
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
In case any readers in the US are looking for something to do in New York tomorrow evening, the Metropolitan Museum of Art are hosting a free talk with the fascinating title The Michael and Juliet Rubenstein Lectures on Connoisseurship—Drawing Connoisseurship from the Art Market to the British Museum: Mistakes, Fakes, and Second Takes.
According to the museum's website:
In the second Michael and Juliet Rubenstein Lecture on Connoisseurship, Hugo Chapman [Simon Sainsbury Keeper of Prints and Drawings, The British Museum] discusses how he fell under the spell of Raphael's drawings as a student, the ups and downs of working in an auction house, and the challenges of putting a name to every Italian drawing in the British Museum when the collection was digitized. Learn how connoisseurship has become a more collaborative exercise and how close looking can still yield surprising discoveries.
The talk will take place tomorrow (19th April 2024) between 6pm - 7pm local time.
Women Artists Installations at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
April 18 2024
Picture: MMFA
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts have organised a new series of installations in their galleries to draw attention to works by female artists (spotted via. @artherstory). Entitled Spotlight : Women Artists in the Early Modern European Art Collection, the displays promise to spark new conversations about 'what and who defines great art'.
According to their website:
Did you know women make up less than 1% of the named artists in the MMFA’s collection of historical European paintings, sculptures and works on paper? Most of their works have rarely, if ever, been exhibited at the Museum. [...]
Bringing together collection highlights, new acquisitions and never-exhibited works from storage, this presentation curated by Chloé M. Pelletier, Curator of European Art (before 1800), showcases women artists in the Museum’s permanent collection while questioning the value systems that kept them in the shadows for so long.
Greuze and Michelangelo Soar at Christie's
April 18 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
There were some encouraging results in yesterday's A Park Avenue Collection at Christie's New York.
Amongst the lots that soared was Greuze's A girl weeping over her dead bird (pictured), which realised $2,470,000 over its $600k - $800k estimate. It is worth having a good look at the painting on a big screen, and zooming into the beautifully preserved areas of impasto found throughout this picture - I'm sure it must have looked brilliant in the flesh!
Other works that soared included a charming Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun drawing of a Boy, which realised $176,400 over its $60k - $80k estimate, and a Veronese Adoration which made $352,800 over its $80k - $120k estimate.
Amongst the most surprising results was an enormous price made for a tiny scrap of paper featuring a rectangular block of marble drawn by Michelangelo. The object made $201,600 over its estimate of $6,000 - $8,000. I suppose for certain collectors this sort of thing might be like buying a clipped autograph on paper, of sorts.
