Donatello at the V&A
February 5 2023
Video: V&A
This looks good - the V&A has a new exhibition on Donatello, opening 11th February. Says the museum;
The first major UK exhibition to explore the exceptional talents of the Renaissance master Donatello, arguably the greatest sculptor of all time. Experience a fresh vision of the artist and his influence on subsequent generations.
In the (excellent) video above, Lead Curator Peta Motture looks at the V&A's own marble by Donatello, 'The Ascension with Christ giving the Keys to St Peter'. You can book tickets here
In the Observer, Lauram Cumming looks forward to what she calls an 'epochal show'.
Botticelli in San Francisco
February 5 2023
Picture: De Young/Legion of Honour
A new exhibition of Botticelli drawings will open in San Francisco in November, including, they say (but don't illustrate) five newly attributed works. More here.
'Pythagorean Visions' at Paul Mellon Centre
February 1 2023
Picture: PMC
There's a talk on the role of maths and geometry in 18th Century British art on February 10th at the Paul Mellon Centre, by Dominic Bate. Says the PMC:
In the early eighteenth century, an eclectic group of artists and architects working primarily in London believed that they could improve the arts by placing their working practices on an unassailable mathematical footing. In this endeavour they were inspired by a concept of universal harmony, which held that the entire cosmos was organised by God according to the rules of arithmetic and geometry. This concept had ancient roots, being associated with the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, among others, but it assumed a new significance in Hanoverian Britain thanks to the work of antiquarians and natural philosophers such as Isaac Newton, whose scientific discoveries were hailed in terms of the recovery of lost knowledge.
It's online and free, and you can reserve a spot here.
€43m Caillebotte for Musée D’Orsay
February 1 2023
Picture: Forbes
From Paris, news of an astonishing donation to the Musée D’Orsay of a work by Caillebotte. "La Partie de bateau" was acquired byt he LVMH group directly from Caillebotte's heirs, and donated to the museum. More here from Alexandra Bregman in Forbes.
Bouts pair restituted to Poland
February 1 2023
Two paintings from the workshop of Dieric Bouts have been restituted to Poland from a museum in Spain. The Mater Dolorosa and Ecce Homo had formerly been in the Czartoryski collection in the Polish village of Gołuchów, but disappeared during World War Two. (Of course, the greatest Czartoryski treasure still missing is Raphael's Portrait of a Man, so we can keep dreaming it might still be out there somewhere). James Jackson has the story in The Art Newspaper.
New Burlington Magazine
February 1 2023
Picture: HRP
The February Burlington Magazine is out, and is full of articles right up AHN's street. There are pieces on Van Dyck by Justin Davies, a newly discovered Rubens by Emilie den Tonkelaar, and Jacobite portraits by Edward Corp, all of which are worth the subscription alone.
There's also a fascinating review by Christine Slottvied Kimbriel of research carried out on the Duke of Buccleuch's Portrait of Sir Nicholas Carew. (Regular readers may remember that Adam covered the cleaning of this picture when it was sent on loan to a recent Historic Royal Palaces exhibition.) This painting was once attributed to Holbein, but was downgraded with some controversy by the late John Rowlands in his 1985 Holbein catalogue raisonne. I remember John telling me how upset the then Duke of Buccleuch was at the news. The latest technical analysis reveals however that John was entirely right, for the painting is not only not by Holbein, but from considerably later in the 16th Century. A key reason is the dendrochronology date; Ian Tyers' recent analysis shows the panel used to make the painting comes from a tree cut down no earlier than c.1585. Ian's analysis updates the findings of John Fletcher, one of the pioneers of dendrochronology, who in 1983 dated the panel to c.1528.
Rare Tudor chain discovered
February 1 2023
There's news here in the UK this morning of a most spectacular metal detectorist's find; a gold tudor chain and pendant decorated with the initials of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. From The Guardian:
Charlie Clarke [above] had been metal detecting for just six months when he stumbled across what he calls his “once in a lifetime – no, once in 30 lifetimes”, find. He was exploring a Warwickshire field, turning up “junk” and about to call it a day, when a clear beep on his detector led him to dig to the depth of his elbow. What he saw there caused him to shriek “like a little schoolgirl, to be honest. My voice went pretty high-pitched”.
What the Birmingham cafe owner had discovered was a huge and quite spectacular early Tudor pendant and chain, made in gold and enamel and bearing the initials and symbols of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
It's now on display at the British Museum. Though check before you go, since the BM is now closed for a while due to strike action.
National Gallery acquires Cavallino
February 1 2023
Picture: Sotheby's
The National Gallery in London has announced its acquisition of a Saint Bartholomew by Bernardo Cavallino. It was sold last week at Sotheby's in New York, from the Fisch Davidson collection, for $3.9m. Personally, I'd have bought the Van Dyck of St Jerome if I was in the market for naked old saint; I suspect the Cavallino is very much in the Director's taste. But the main thing is, it's good to see the NG bidding for important pictures at auction like this. Here's the Sotheby's catalogue entry. There's no press release or further information on the NG site.
Job opportunities, New York
January 20 2023
Picture: Christie's
Christie's Old Master department in New York is looking for two new people. First, a Specialist, which, says the application site:
[...] is a transactional business getter, responsible for bringing in business, selling both at auction and by private sale, and developing and managing client relationships internationally. They are also responsible for writing-up and researching auction lots at and around sale deadlines. This role requires a high level of expertise across the broad category of Old masters and excellent internal inter-personal skills with a willingness to share information and communicate proactively.
The salary range is $80k-$120k, and by the look of it, quite a few benefits too.
The second is a Cataloguer:
Cataloguing, researching and note writing for lots in the New York Old Masters online Day and Live Evening sales, Private sales and Collections/House sales.
Salary range, $47k-$52k.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum in New York is looking for an Associate Curator in the European Paintings Department:
The Department of European Paintings seeks an ambitious, creative, forward-looking art historian specializing in Northern Renaissance paintings with a demonstrated interest in Italian painting, as well. In this role, the Assistant/Associate curator will be responsible for the research, display, study, growth, and care of this area of the European Paintings collection. The ideal candidate will be passionately interested in paintings and in shaping the department’s future for the next generation and in keeping to the Museum’s mission of public engagement and outreach by creating exhibitions, and studying and growing this area of the collection.
More details here. The salary range for this post is $72k-$95k. Which is somewhat more generous than the Assistant Curator role at the V&A in London which I posted yesterday, at £25k-£27k.
If you're applying, good luck!
Have you seen this man?
January 20 2023
Picture: Codart
For an exhibition at the newly opened KMSKA in Atwerp, curator Nico van Hout is looking for the above picture by Brouwer, last seen at auction in Milan 2009. If it's yours, get in touch here.
Job opportunity
January 19 2023
Picture: Ashmolean
Two new curatorial posts are available in the UK: Assistant Curator, Paintings and Drawings at the V&A (£25k-£27k): and Director of Collections at the Ashmolean (£73k). Good luck!
Brexit and the art market (ctd.)
January 19 2023
Picture: Masterpiece
The Masterpiece fair, which was launched in 2010 and had become London's major summer fine art fair, has been cancelled. Brexit was explicitly cited as a reason. Increased costs in getting artworks into and out of the UK have fuelled an almost total collapse in the number of international galleries wanting to participate. Without them, the fair cannot operate, highlighting how dependent London's art market is on European trade and collectors. From the Antiques Trade Gazette:
In a statement Emanuel Kuhn, head of corporate communications at MCH Group, said: “Escalating costs and a decline in the number of international exhibitors mean that the event is not commercially viable this year.
“Brexit has certainly had an impact on the fair. The number of international galleries that applied for the 2023 edition has decreased by 86%.”
He said jewellers in particular have been affected by the UK government’s abolition of VAT refunds for international customers in 2020.
The closure leaves London without a major fair in the summer, since the Olympia fair has been cancelled too (Brexit cited as a reason). It's very sad to see London slowly losing its place as the capital of the European art market, and nobody in the government wanting to do anything about it. Or indeed the Opposition, since Labour now seems just as committed to Brexit as the Conservatives. Frieze Masters, in October, is still due to go ahead. Let's see if it does.
Sleeper alert
January 19 2023
Picture: ATG
The Antiques Trade Gazette has news of a trio of pictures which have recently raced away from their auction estimates, including the above previously unknown portrait by George Romney, from early in his career, about 1760. 'Mrs Daniel Wilson' made €33,000 against an estimate of €1500-€3000. More here.
Lucas Cranach the Younger at Christie's
January 19 2023
Video: Christie's
Here's a video from Christie's Old Master specialist Jonquil O'Reilly, about a pair of portraits coming up for sale in the New York sales next week, 25th January (est $3m-$5m). The portraits are of Christian I of Saxony, and his sister, Marie of Saxony, who holds the 16th Century equivalent of a Barbie. It's a great video; if it was up to me, all Christie's and Sotheby's Old Master videos would be like this. You can see why I once tried to persuade the BBC to put Jonquil on the telly.
Doig or didn't he? (ctd.)
January 19 2023
Picture: New York Times
Long-time readers may remember a case from back in 2016, where the British artist was sued by a US dealer and collector over claims he was wrongfully disowning a work he had painted in his youth, while in prison. Doig was obliged to prove he hadn't been in jail, and hadn't painted the picture, and that it was in fact by someone entirely different, who had been in the jail at the time, called Peter Doige. Anyway, the case rumbled on and on, and finally Doig has been awarded $2.5m for his troubles. More here in The Art Newspaper.
'Heroines of the Brush'
January 19 2023
Picture: Robert Simon Fine Art
The New York dealer Robert Simon has a new exhibition and catalogue of works entirely by women artists, from the Renaissance to the 20th Century, including a still-life by Fede Galizia (who, by the way, is responsible for the earliest signed and dated still-life in Italian art), and a Madonna & Child by Elisabetta Sirani (above).
Anne Dawson Damer
January 19 2023
Picture: Libson Yarker
London based dealers Lowell Libson and Jonny Yarker have a new catalogue out. It includes a rare bust by Anne Seymour Damer, of Caroline Campbell, above. They're currently exhibiting at the Winter Show at the Armoury in New York. More here.
Sarah Miriam Peale
January 19 2023
Picture: Christie's
There was an auction of 19th Century American pictures in the US today, among which a still life by Sarah Miriam Peale, 'considered [say Christie's] to be the first independent female professional artist in the United States', made $277,000, against an estimate of $40-$60k. The auction also saw a new record for a George Washington portrait by Charles Peale Polk, making $630,000 (est. $200k-$400k).
New York Old Master sales
January 16 2023
Video: Sotheby's
There are some fine pictures on offer at the New York Old Master sales. And not least because this year Christie's have moved their sales back to January to coincide with Sotheby's sales, having experimented with a Classic Week sale later in the Spring since 2016. (Very long-suffering readers may remember I wasn't convinced by the idea back then. Though, as is often the case these days, I'm embarrassed to see how I wrote about it).
Sotheby's have their usual Old Master part I & II sales, but also two dedicated collection sales (both 26th Jan): the Fisch Davidson collection, and the Theiline Scheumann collection. Sotheby's David Pollack discusses the latter in the above video. David is good at these, they should let him do more.
The Fisch Davidson sale includes the $25m-$35m Rubens of Salome and the head of John the Baptist, and a $4m-$6m Orazio Gentileschi of the Penitent Magdalene. It looks to me as if the entire sale has been guaranteed, at over $50m. If that guarantee has been underwritten by the auction house, and not a third party, itrepresents quite an investment by Sotheby's, as well as faith in the market; none of the estimates are what I would call 'enticing', they're all serious prices. The Rubens is labelled as a 'premium lot', which means if you want to bid on it, you have go through extra hoops to demonstrate you've got the cash.
In Sotheby's regular Old Master sale (26th Jan) they have a newly discovered late Titian, Ecce Homo, ($1.5m-$2m) which is unfinished and gives a great glimpse into Titian's technique towards the end of his life. If you're interested in the market for British art, there's two reassuringly expensive portraits to keep an eye on: a $200-$300k Peter Lely and a $400k-$600k Joshua Reynolds. By the way, it's 300 years since Reynolds was born.
The picture I'd most covet at Sotheby's is their previously unknown study of an old man by Van Dyck (above, $2m-$3m). It's from early in Van Dyck's career, about 1618-20, and relates to his series of pictures of St Jerome, in particular an example at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Painted in oil on canvas, later laid onto panel, the study is an extraordinary example of Van Dyck's genius in handling oil paint, even at the age of 18, as well as his sensitivity to his subjects. In the finished picture of St Jerome, the same sitter appears with no less attention to detail, in terms of his age and the folds of his skin, but is nonetheless given the spiritual inner strength one would expect in such an important biblical figure. In the newly discovered study, however, we see merely an old man; dignified, yes, but pathetic too, as Van Dyck's brush explores unsparingly the details of his body. Incidentally, AHN has played a role in the emergence of this painting; over a decade ago, the painting's late owner, Albert Roberts, responded to an article I'd written on here about Van Dyck connoisseurship, and asked what I thought of his picture, which he'd bought in a minor auction for $600. I told him I thought it looked like a Van Dyck! And over the following years helped him get it established as such, including in an article in The Burlington Magazine by the Rev. Dr. Susan Barnes.
Sotheby's has some great 18th Century pastels in their drawing sale, including a basket of apples by Liotard estimated at $1.2m-$1.8m.
At Christie's (25th Jan), there's a $2.5m-$3.5m) Pieter Brueghel the Younger, a previously unknown Christ crowned with Thorns by Leonardo's pupil Marco D'Oggiono, and an impressive pair of portraits by Goya at $15m-$20m. A lost landscape by Watteau which surfaced in Paris at auction as just 'Ecole Francaise', despite having belonged to the Wildensteins as a known Watteau (and looted by Nazis during the war) is estimated at $2.5m-$3.5m, and testament to how even well known paintings can lose their attribution. If you're after a potential bargain, keep an eye on their J. E. Safra collection sale, which includes works like this Turner of The Splugen Pass estimated at $1.5m-$2m, but all being offered without reserve. So you never know... For some reason, the catalogue for Christie's day/online sale of Old Masters has not yet been published. Sotheby's part II is here.
Restoring the King Arthur tapestry
January 16 2023
Video: Met
At the Metropolitan Museum, they're restoring a series of c.1400 Netherlandish tapestries, the so-called 'Heroes' set. Some of them were once turned into curtains in the 19th Century, so they need some TLC. In the video above you can see the tapestries being cleaned, which involves hoses, and detergent. I sometimes wish we could clean paintings like that. Back in the day, I once read, they used to rub them (tapestries, not paintings) with breadcrumbs. More here.
