Previous Posts: January 2024
Introducing Gettychella
January 18 2024
Picture: Getty Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Are loud Californian desert music festivals your cup of tea? No, mine neither. However, the Getty Center have created this rather fine *spoof* music festival entitled Gettychella - imitating of course the more widely known Coachella festival. I suppose it was time that Artemisia was the headlining act, above Rubens, Rembrandt and Titian...although I'm sure this scheduling choice will be controversial amongst some!
'Lost Threads' places Fabric in front of Paintings
January 18 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Guardian have published an extended piece on the Holburne Museum in Bath's latest contemporary art installation by Lubaina Himid. Himid's installation entitled Lost Threads places vibrant fabrics around the museum, mostly dotted about on the floors it seems (pictured).
According to the article:
Hanging in the Holburne are paintings that bear witness to this past: Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait of George Byam, a third-generation plantation owner in Antigua, and his wife Louisa, whose grandfather was involved in the Royal African Company and East India Company. Another, by Johan Zoffany, depicts a tea party in the garden of James Peter Auriol, an administrator in the East India Company. “The cloths are made for African women to make dresses for special occasions,” says Himid says. “But now they are telling an alternative history: the history of those people on the walls, how they gained their wealth, what they used it for. The installation is trying to talk to them.”
The display will continue until 21st April 2024.
Unfair Art Sales?
January 18 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The website Observer.com has published a rather interesting piece on the question of 'unfair' art sales. The text by Daniel Grant investigates what constitutes an illegal or fraudulent sale, particularly in light of recent stories in the courts and press.
Christie's New York Old Master Drawings
January 18 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I forgot to mention that the upcoming Christie's New York Old Master Drawings sale has been published. One of the December highlights in London was Anthony Van Dyck's Portrait of Willem Hondius, a superbly executed and preserved drawing which has only recently remerged onto the market after being in a private collection for about 50 years or so. It will be offered with an estimate of $800,000 - $1,200,000, which is actually more than several of his fully autograph paintings have sold for.
Amongst the other interesting lots is this Portrait of the painter Higiemond by Joachim Sandrart (pictured), a quasi-mythical figure taken from the artist's history of painting representing an artist known as 'the Indian Higiemondo'. The catalogue note is a very interesting one, click on the link above to read in full.
Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy
January 17 2024
Picture: The Royal Academy
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Academy is due to open its latest exhibition next month. Entangled Pasts, 1768–now: Art, Colonialism and Change promises to open conversations by putting together historic works of art with contemporary pieces exploring the themes outlined above.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
This spring, we bring together over 100 major contemporary and historic works as part of a conversation about art and its role in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition and colonialism – and how it may help set a course for the future.
Artworks by leading contemporary artists including Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling, John Akomfrah and Isaac Julien will be on display alongside works by artists from the past 250 years including Joshua Reynolds, J.M.W.Turner and John Singleton Copley – creating connections across time which explore questions of power, representation and history.
...
Informed by our ongoing research of the RA and its colonial past, this exhibition engages around 50 artists connected to the RA to explore themes of migration, exchange, artistic traditions, identity and belonging.
Musée d’Orsay acquires Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale
January 17 2024
Picture: martinbeislyfineart.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Paris that the Musée d’Orsay has acquired a painting by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale (1871-1945). The signed work entitled The pale complexion of true love is inspired by Shakespeare's As You Like It and is the first work by the artist in the museum's collection. It had sold at Christie's in 1993 and was more recently with the dealer Martin Beisly Fine Art. It's acquisition was supported by the Meyer Louis-Dreyfus fund.
Mysterious Salvator Mundi Foundation Established...
January 17 2024
Picture: salvatormundifoundation.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The art critic and author Ben Lewis has shared news on 'X' (formerly Twitter) that a mysterious Salvator Mundi Foundation has been established.
The foundation's website explains that:
The purpose of the foundation is to investigate the evidence that Leonardo da Vinci painted portions/versions of the Salvator Mundi portrait and to present the art history, scientific research and comparative studies of each portrait, historically referred to as the ‘Male Mona Lisa’.
There is no list of who the members or advisory board consist of, although it claims to be registered with its seat in Amsterdam. The foundation's website promises that it will be putting on exhibitions examining the themes above. Most curious.
Update - A reader has kindly been in touch with the following:
What makes it even weirder is the fact that the castle depicted is castle Bolenstein in Maarssen (not Amsterdam) and that the place is on the market by an estate agent in a private sale.
Charles II's Forest Still Life Identified
January 17 2024
Picture: rkdstudies.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has very kindly pointed out an interesting article from the RKD's January newsletter. The piece by Rieke van Leeuwen and Anna Preußinger examines a recently identified Forest Still Life with an Otter and two Fish by Matthias Withoos (c. 1627-1703), which research shows was once part of the collection of King Charles II. The painting (pictured above) corresponds directly to a description in Charles II's inventory at Whitehall, and appears to have left the Royal Collection at some point during the eighteenth or nineteenth century. It was last sold at Sotheby's in 1984, so eyes peeled!
Rubens' Workshop at the Prado
January 16 2024
Picture: Prado
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Prado in Madrid will be opening an exhibition on the subject of Rubens' Workshop in October this year. The museum's website promises that the show will investigate exactly how the artist's successful workshop operated, considering the vast output it achieved. This will include how his canvases were prepared, what brushes and palettes he used, and which objects in his personal collection he drew inspiration from.
The exhibition will run from 15th October 2024 until 26th February 2025.
Sleeper Alert!
January 15 2024
Picture: Clarke Auction Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News via @AuctionRadar that the following painting offered as 'Circle of Giovanni Batista Tiepolo' realised $75,000 over its $600 - $900 estimate at Clarke Auction Gallery in New York yesterday.
Boucher Acquired by Besançon Museum
January 15 2024
Picture: La Tribune de l'Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Tribune de l'Art have published news that the musée des beaux-arts et d’archéologie in the town of Besançon have acquired a decorative Chinoiserie painting by François Boucher. The work was acquired at auction in December where the painting made €115,000.
Turner Watercolours from the Henry Vaughan Bequest
January 15 2024
Picture: National Gallery of Ireland
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
January is the only month of the year when the National Gallery of Ireland place a selection of Turner watercolours from the Vaughan Bequest on display. This year a selection of 31 works will be on show, complimenting the galleries current Turner: The Sun is God exhibition.
The Vaughan Bequest works will be on exhibited until 31st January 2024.
Guillaume Lethière Exhibition at The Clark Institute in June
January 15 2024
Picture: The Clark Art Institute
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, will be opening an exhibition dedicated to Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760–1832) later this summer. The show will feature around 80 paintings, drawings and prints.
According to materials on the institute's website:
Born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760–1832), the son of a government official and plantation owner and a formerly enslaved woman of color, was a key figure in the history of art during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. As a painter, Lethière achieved the highest levels of recognition in his time. A favorite artist of Napoleon’s brother, Lucien Bonaparte, he served as director of the Académie de France in Rome from 1807 to 1816, as a member of the Institut de France beginning in 1818, and as a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts beginning in 1819. Despite his fame and influence during his lifetime, Lethière’s story has been all but lost to history.
The Clark’s exhibition is the first major museum presentation on Lethière’s remarkable life and achievements and will provide new insights into questions relevant in the artist’s time regarding the reception and assessment of Caribbean art.
The exhibition will open on 15th June 2024.
Italian Culture Minister Accused of Theft
January 12 2024
Picture: The Telegraph
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Curious news from Italy that a Culture Minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, has been accused by officials of taking a painting by Rutilio Manetti from a castle in the northern region of Piedmont in 2013. The seventeenth century work was purportedly replaced with a photocopy.
The most curious part of the story is:
It is claimed that Mr Sgarbi acquired the artwork and hired a professional art restorer to paint a burning torch attached to a wall bracket in the top left of the painting to make it less identifiable.
Sgarbi claims that the work is a later copy and that he acquired it elsewhere. The case is being investigated.
Elton John Sales at Christie's
January 12 2024
Video: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Following on from the ever-increasing interest in celebrity ephemera, see the recent Freddie Mercury sales for evidence of that, Christie's New York have announced a significant 8 auction series dedicated to the collection of Sir Elton John. Sir Elton has had periodic moments of selling parts of his collection, including his art nouveau and art deco collections in the 1980s, but, this seems to be far more extensive and eclectic than any previous sales. It seems only a matter of time before the media circus kicks in, and art lovers will be aghast at the amount that 'stage-worn' shoes, boots, outfits and 'sneakers' will be selling for.
Schiele Drawing Questions in Chicago
January 12 2024
Picture: The Art Institute of Chicago
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Chicago that the city's Art Institute will be defending its ownership of a valuable drawing by Egon Schiele later in April. A claim has been made by the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, a performer and songwriter who perished at Dachau in 1941. His heirs claim that Grünbaum was forced to hand over his art collection under duress, a collection which included this drawing amongst several others by Schiele. Two have already been returned, however, the Russian War Prisoner (pictured) remains at the museum.
According to reports:
A spokesperson for the museum said in a statement that it had done “extensive research” on the provenance of the work and that officials were “confident” in their lawful ownership of the piece.
“Fritz Grünbaum’s sister-in-law, Mathilde Lukacs, inherited Egon Schiele’s ‘Russian War Prisoner’ and subsequently sold it in 1956,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also pointed to a yearslong federal court case involving another piece of Schiele’s artwork that ultimately went against Grünbaum’s heirs in 2012 and raised questions as to whether his collection was actually stolen.
Similar arguments were made in court by an attorney representing an art dealer in a case involving two of Schiele’s works in New York in 2018. The judge dismissed the contention that Grünbaum voluntarily relinquished his collection in the first place and ordered the works returned to his heirs.
British Museum acquires £1.4m Rembrandt Drawing via AIL
January 12 2024
Picture: The British Musuem
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The British Museum have announced its acquisition of a drawing by Rembrandt as part of the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme. The drawing of A baby sleeping in a cradle came from the estate of Nancy Rae-Smith and its acceptance settled £1,406,250 of tax.
According to the museum's press release:
The newly acquired work, A baby in a cap sleeping in a cradle was drawn from life, and Rembrandt used it as a study for the Christ child in his painting of the Holy Family (signed and dated 1645, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg). This is characteristic of the artist, who drew inspiration from the domestic sphere, and interpreted biblical stories in a touchingly human way – which contributes to his enduring popularity. The drawing was long thought to depict Rembrandt’s son Titus, although he was born in 1641 and therefore older than the depicted child.
...
The early reception of Rembrandt in Britain is integrally connected to the history of the collection at the British Museum. The newly acquired drawing was owned by some of the most important British collectors, including the Victorian painter, Sir Frederic Leighton. It is therefore significant to the broader history of British tastes and collecting, and to the reception of Rembrandt in Britain.
Open Access Publication: The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art
January 12 2024
Picture: taylorfrancis.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The publishers Routledge have made their latest publication Open Access and freely available online. The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art was edited by Stephen J. Campbell and Stephanie Porras and features a vast array of fascinating essays on the subject of 'the Global Renaissance'.
According to the book's blurb:
This companion examines the global Renaissance through object-based case studies of artistic production from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe in the early modern period.
The international group of contributors take an art historical approach characterized by close analysis of form and meaning as well as function, and a focus on questions of crosscultural dialogue and adaptation. Seeking to de-emphasize the traditional focus on Europe, this book is a critical guide to the literature and the state of the field. Chapters outline new questions and agendas while pushing beyond familiar material. Main themes include workshops, the migrations of artists, objects, technologies, diplomatic gifts, imperial ideologies, ethnicity and indigeneity, sacred spaces and image cults, as well as engaging with the open questions of "the Renaissance" and "the global."
Neglected Genius Thomas Frye: An Irish Artist in London
January 12 2024
Picture: dublincastle.ie
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition opened in Dublin last month dedicated to the artist Thomas Frye. Neglected Genius Thomas Frye: An Irish Artist in London focuses on the many varying pursuits of this eighteenth century artist.
According to Dublin Castle's website:
Born in 1710, most likely in Edenderry, County Offaly, Frye moved to London as a young man, where he quickly established himself as a successful portrait painter. From the mid-1740s Frye ran a factory in Bow, just east of the City of London, set up to recreate Chinese porcelain which had been admired in Europe for centuries. Under Frye’s management the Bow factory thrived, producing inexpensive ceramics both decorative and utilitarian in a variety of designs.
Frye was among the earliest European artists to collapse the distinction between ‘high’ art and factory-produced design. In an age of increasing specialisation, the manner in which he ranged freely across multiple techniques and media was unique.
Although his name is scarcely known today outside specialist circles, Frye has a strong claim to the title of Ireland’s most successful printmaker, industrial artist and design entrepreneur. At the same time Frye’s career in London illustrates the incipient globalization of the period. Frye attempted to emulate Chinese technology with raw materials from north America.
This exhibition sets side-by-side his portraiture in oil, his enamel miniatures, his mezzotints and the production of the Bow porcelain factory under his management. For the first time equal emphasis is afforded to each facet of this supremely gifted and highly innovative Irish artist.
The exhibition will run until 19th March 2024.
Tapestry Mystery!
January 11 2024
Picture: Carlton Hobbs
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The furniture dealers Carlton Hobbs have put out an appeal on Instagram to find out if anyone can identify this mystery figure in a set of embroidered wall hangings they are researching. It is possible that this gentleman may provide a clue as to the patron or original commission behind the scheme. The precise origin of the hangings are also not yet known.
Considering how wide the readership of AHN spans, there's a chance someone out there will know!
