Previous Posts: February 2024
300+ Posts Later...
February 2 2024
Picture: Courtauld Gallery via. AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As I have posted well over 300 stories since my return to the blog at the end of last year, I wanted to thank all readers of AHN for sticking with it! It has been enormous fun to get back into the swing of things, alongside lecturing and consulting. I am particularly grateful to those readers who get in touch with stories, comments and suggestions, which makes the process all the more interesting. It never fails to surprise me how widespread the readership of this blog is, despite our corner of the art world being a relatively small one.
Ultimately, what keeps me going is the joy of sharing enthusiasm for the world of art and old masters, be it in the spheres of academia, museums, auction houses, art market and beyond. Scouring the internet for stories every day reminds me how much interest there is in these objects which I know many readers of this blog love, admire, collect and preserve. Being able to share in this common goal, and to encourage and invite others to get involved too, is worth it I think.
Wishing you all a very good weekend ahead.
Become 'Content Manager' at The National Gallery
February 2 2024
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Considering how important websites, social media and videos are for art galleries these days, I thought it would be worth pointing out that The National Gallery in London are currently hiring a Content Manager.
According to the job description:
The National Gallery is looking for a creative and organised digital content professional to find and tell great stories about the National Gallery, its collection, history, artists, and people.
The Content Manager supports the Senior Content Manager in increasing engagement with online audiences and growing the Gallery’s online communities, through content production and website management. They will lead on making the Gallery’s website an engaging destination for stories about our art and care for the collection. This role presents the opportunity to work with a public organisation at a pivotal time in its history: its 200th birthday year.
The job comes with a salary of £41,730 and applications must be in by 18th February 2024.
Good luck if you're applying!
Rijksmuseum Acquire Work in Memory of Ger Luijten
February 2 2024
Picture: via. Matthias Ubl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Rijksmuseum curator Matthias Ubl has announced that the museum has acquired the following Anonymous Netherlandish c. 1550 painting of Jesus and the Canaanite Woman. The work has been acquired in memory of the late art historian Ger Luijten (d. 2022), former Director of the Fondation Custodia. It was acquired with assistance from dealer Bob Haboldt, Lottery Friends and a private donor.
Van Dyck Drawing achieves $2.1m
February 2 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Van Dyck's Portrait of Willem Hondius achieved an impressive $1.7m hammer ($2,107,000 inc. fees) at Christie's New York yesterday afternoon. A quick search through Artnet seems to suggest that this may be a record for a work on paper by the artist.* Quite something for a work that had purportedly dropped off the radar of scholars for many decades!
* - I'm sure readers will get in touch in case I am wrong about this.
Talk & Tour: Women Artists at Goodwood
February 2 2024
Picture: goodwood.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Goodwood House, the ancestral home of the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon (not to mention their outstanding collection of art), is hosting a Talk later in March on the subject of Women Artists at Goodwood.
According to the website:
The Goodwood Collection has works by 18th century female artists including Angelica Kauffmann, Anne Damer and Katherine Read, as well as pictures by contemporary artist Holly Frean. The evening is an opportunity to hear about these women, plus see some of their works. A highlight includes Angelica Kauffmann’s portrait of Mary, Duchess of Richmond, which is not usually on public display.
The talk will be on 19th March 2024 and costs £45 to attend (Champagne and canapé reception included).
Sleeper Alert!
February 2 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following portrait, catalogued as 'Circle of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun', realised an extraordinary $393,700 over its $20k - $30k estimate in the Sotheby's New York Part II sale yesterday afternoon. What makes this price even more unusual is that the painting sold for more than several autograph works by the artist in the aforementioned Joseph Baillio sale the day before last. Is this price an example of the Vigée Le Brun effect?* Or, did bidders see something beyond the 'Circle of' attribution?
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* - In this case, perhaps it is time to start scooping up the many many copies that exist of the Uffizi Self Portrait and start sending them to auction. Regular readers might remember the same fascination for Mona Lisa copies a few years ago.
Philip de László (1869–1937): Master of Elegance at Gainsborough's House
February 2 2024
Picture: gainsborough.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Gainsborough's House in Sudbury will be opening a new exhibition next month dedicated to Philip de László (1869–1937): Master of Elegance.
According to the exhibition blurb:
De László was already one of the most famous portrait painters in Europe when he decided to settle in England in 1907. His relentless energy, charisma and pursuit of perfection in his art saw his circle of patronage widen from Budapest, the city of his birth, via the princely houses of Europe. London attracted him as a city immersed in a golden age and the work he produced there during the next thirty years was bursting with vitality and virtuosity. The period is brought to life through portraiture and landscapes and features a section on his experiences during the First World War.
The exhibition will feature rarely-seen loans from private collections as well as important works from the Royal Collection, including a childhood portrait of Queen Elizabeth II when Princess of York.
The show will run from 23rd March 2024 until 23rd June 2024.
Conserving Petr Brandl in Prague
February 2 2024
Video: Národní galerie Praha
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Národní galerie Praha have produced the following video showing the enormous task of conserving Petr Brandl's Joseph Receives his Brothers in Egypt. This enormous canvas was taken from the castle of Jindřichův Hradec and conserved especially for the gallery's current Brandl exhibition.
Sotheby's Results
February 1 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sotheby's New York Part I Old Master Paintings sale realised $21,022,110 today with 30 out of 53 lots being sold (sell-through rate of 61.2% / or 56.6% inc. withdrawn lots).*
As per yesterday, the auction got off to a rather good start with an early panel by the Master of the Agilolphus Altar realising $1,143,000 (all results inc. fees) over and estimate of $300k - $500k and a Swabian School religious panel making $406,500 over its estimate of $150k - $250k. Later on, a Portrait of the Earl of Buckinghamshire by Gainsborough realised $304,800 over its $100k - $150k estimate, a beautifully preserved Scipio Pulzone portrait realised $406,400 over its $200k - $300k estimate and a handsome Batoni portrait realised $381,000 over $150 - $250k. The top Old Master of the sale (excluding a $3.4m 19th century view of The Western Wall, which was a bit of an outlier) was Van Dyck's Self Portrait sold to a single bidder at $2m hammer (making $2,430,000 inc. fees).
Amongst the top lots that failed to sell was the rediscovered Self Portrait by Rubens, alongside a Murillo, Orazio Gentileschi, Coypel and a withdrawn Baschenis.
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Overall, the results were rather mixed for the 2024 New York season. The relatively large amounts of unsold lots for both auction houses is suggestive that a realignment for values and estimates is probably due on works from certain categories. As ever, paintings that are fresh to the market and in tip-top condition still tend to do best. It seems clear that with the continued rather squeezed supply of fresh and desirable pictures, the competition between the auction houses will be fiercer than ever in order to secure top consignments which can make all the difference (inc. the awaited sale of the $35m Velazquez).
There are still many signs to be hopeful, though! I haven't mentioned the successful A Scholar Collects: The Joseph Baillio Collection sale yesterday, which realised some very impressive prices for works by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. In particular, her Self Portrait made a staggering $3,085,000 over its estimate of $700k - $1m. The Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco has already announced its acquisition of Vigée Le Brun's very intimate The Little Eugène de Montesquiou-Fézensac Asleep which made $215,900 over its $40k - $60k estimate. It seems that works by women artists continue to soar ever higher, a feature of both the Sotheby's and Christie's sales.
* - 4 lots were withdrawn from the sale.
Buy Constable's Home for £4.9m
February 1 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news for fans of John Constable. The artist's former London home is currently up for sale. Constable's Georgian house on Wells Walk near Hampstead Heath, where the artist lived between 1827 and 1837, is being offered for sale with Marcus Parfitt for £4.9m.
According to the report above:
“It’s a little step back in time,” says agent Marcus Parfitt. “The back of the house faces due south and overlooks Gainsborough Gardens, which is the only private garden in the middle of Hampstead village.
"You’re elevated from the upper floors straight over town. The light is wonderful. It feels warm – it ticks so many boxes for a lovely village home.”
I'm sold.
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As an aside, Constable's Old Hall, East Bergholt performed rather well in Christie's New York's Part II sale yesterday, having realised $264,600 (inc. fees) over its estimate of $80k - $120k. Perhaps the buyer might like to buy his old house too?
Dutch Art at the Château de Chantilly
February 1 2024
Picture: Château de Chantilly
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (International network for curators of art from the Low Countries) have published an interesting feature on Dutch Art in the Château de Chantilly. The article, penned by the curator Baptiste Roelly, examines the history of the collection alongside some beautiful illustrations of its most famous works. Here's a fine Willem van de Velde the Younger (pictured) in a typical Demidov collection frame...keep or throw away (the frame, that is)?
Drawing on Blue at the Getty Center
February 1 2024
Picture: The Getty
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Getty Center in Los Angeles opened their latest Old Master Drawings exhibition two days ago entitled Drawing on Blue.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
Blue paper has been a popular artist material since the fifteenth century. Crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, this humble material that required expert knowledge to produce and had a profound impact on early modern European artistic production. As a middle tone, the material allowed artists to easily model forms in light and dark, while also proving to be well suited for working in colored chalks. Through new technical examination of drawings in the Getty’s collection, this exhibition offers fresh insight into the physical properties of blue paper, and its unique contribution to artistic practice from the 15th through 18th centuries.
The show will run until 28th April 2024.
Chicago acquires Antonio d’Este Self Portrait
February 1 2024
Picture: Libson & Yarker
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Institute of Chicago's curator Emerson Bowyer (@emersonbowyer) has announced the organisation's acquisition of Antonio d'Este's Self Portrait. The artist was Canova's most important collaborator and disciple, and this particular example is signed and dated 1810. The work had formerly been with Libson & Yarker (click here to read their catalogue note) and the acquisition was made possible due to the generosity of Jonathan and Ute Kagan.
