The Royal Collection is Hiring!
December 16 2021
Picture: RCT
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Collection Trust are hiring an Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints.
According to the job description:
The Royal Collection contains an internationally important collection of 40,000 drawings and watercolours and 120,000 prints, from the fifteenth century to the present day.
Taking on a wide range of curatorial activities, you’ll ensure that the collection is accessible to all, through study and group visits, public enquiries, learning events, loans and exhibitions.
You’ll develop your expertise and in-depth knowledge, and uncover the stories behind our collection. And you'll share your knowledge through a wide range of platforms, creating and delivering talks and social media content that aim to inspire and engage with the broadest audience possible.
You'll help make sure the records of the collection are expertly maintained and enhanced. And you’ll bring this knowledge to a worldwide audience, keeping our online database up to date and easy to use.
The salary on offer is between £24,000 - £26,000 per annum and applications must be in by 9th January 2022.
Good luck if you're applying!
Forgeries? Forgeries!
December 16 2021
Picture: ngprague.cz
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery Prague opened an exhibition last month at the Sternberg Palace on Forgeries? Forgeries!
According to the exhibition blurb:
The exhibition Forgeries? Forgeries! mounted in Sternberg Palace on HradÄanské námÄ›stí square will show imitations of medieval paintings, sculptures and drawings. It will present forgeries executed in the style of the Dutch Old Masters of the 17th century, as well as fake works allegedly by prominent Czech painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition, there will be objects imitating non-European works of art, such as Oriental carpets and arts-and-crafts objects. Works on paper will also be displayed. The exhibition will include a number of iconic vases from foreign collections that brought worldwide fame to their creators and it will acquaint visitors with forgeries that are in the National Gallery’s holdings. Attention will also be devoted to famous masters’ signatures on paintings, which are no proof whatsoever that the artists had actually painted them.
Visitors to the exhibition will learn in an intriguing way about the methods used to verify the authenticity of works of art. This will give them the opportunity to acquire further knowledge about the “behind-the-scenes” work of the National Gallery’s whole team of specialists â –â from curators, to conservators-restorers, to chemists in the laboratory. The exhibition will explain to visitors the difference between a replica, copy, imitation and forgery, executed for purposes of financial gain.
The show will run until 1st May 2022.
Only 10% of Italy's State Owned Art is on Display
December 16 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has published a piece on Italy's continuing efforts to get more of their state-owned art on view. The most recent project in this vein is the so-called 'One Hundred Works Return Home' initiative, which sees one hundred artworks from fourteen museums head off to lesser-known public museums. Planning for the initiative began in 2015 and €1m has been allocated for conservation, transportation and display costs.
Apologies...
December 16 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for the slow service this week. I'm currently away travelling and it seems that there isn't much news breaking this week. As always, I'm most grateful for all readers who get in touch with stories and other related materials!
2022 Release: Sebastiano and Michelangelo
December 15 2021
Picture: brepols.net
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's an upcoming release that will surely be interesting. Following on from the National Gallery's 2017 exhibition on Michelangelo and Sebastiano del Piombo, curator Matthias Wivel has edited a collection of essays reflecting on the themes of the show. The edition will be published by Brepols in January 2022.
Here is a list of the essays that will be included:
Matthias Wivel — The Compass and the Mirror
Elena Calvillo — Friendship, Medium and the Diverging Lives of Sebastiano del Piombo and Michelangelo
Piers Baker-Bates — Copies and Versions in Sebastiano’s Art? The Christ Carrying the Cross
Sheryl E. Reiss — A Word Portrait of a Medici Maecenas: Giulio de’ Medici (Pope Clement VII) as Patron of Art
Arnold Nesselrath — Raphael: Of Heirs and Pretenders
Matthias Wivel and Rachel Billinge — Sebastiano’s Vich Triptych
Carlo Piga — Da Michelangelo a Sebastiano: antiche suggestioni e moderne invenzioni nel ciclo decorativo della Cappella Borgherini in San Pietro in Montorio a Roma
Stefania Pasti — Aperietur in tempore: Sebastiano del Piombo and the Borgherini Chapel in the Light of Prophetic Readings
Paul Joannides — A New Drawing by Sebastiano del Piombo for the Semi-Dome of the Borgherini Chapel
Costanza Barbieri — Sebastiano as Portraitist and a Case Study: The Portrait of Michelangelo Pointing at His Drawings
Oriana Sartiani — A Portrait of Michelangelo Attributed to Sebastiano del Piombo: Technical Examination, Discoveries, and Treatment
Simonetta Antellini — L’originalità compositiva della Nascita della Vergine di Sebastiano del Piombo
Daniela Luzi — ‘Il bel secreto’: La pittura sperimentale sulla pietra di Sebastiano nella Cappella Chigi
Morten Steen Hansen — The Readings of Angels: Sebastiano del Piombo and the Politics of the Immaculate Conception
Andrea Donati — Marcello Venusti, Michelangelo and the Legacy of Sebastiano del Piombo
Charles Robertson — Michelangelo’s Last Judgement: Sebastiano del Piombo’s Contribution
A Late Caravaggio (?) on Display in Camaiore
December 15 2021
Picture: Finestresullarte
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a curious story from Italy. The Museo di Arte Sacra in Camaiore, Italy, are exhibition a painting of Saint John the Baptist from a Maltese private collection. Some scholars suggest that the work could be one of the paintings Caravaggio had in his workshop right at the end of his life. The painting was very badly damaged in the past and various restorations have left areas (particularly the face) looking rather disfigured. Scholars Roberta Lapucci and Mina Gregori have been in favour of an attribution to Caravaggio, however, Pietro Di Loreto and Vittorio Sgarbi have been against.
Click on the link above to read the full story.
The painting will be on display until 31st December 2021, in case any readers of AHN want to go and have a look to make up their own minds.
Pontormo Drawings Exhibition in Rome
December 15 2021
Picture: grafica.beniculturali.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition of drawings by Pontormo opened at the Istituto Centrale per La Grafica in Rome yesterday. This is the first time all of the institute's drawings by the artist have been on display at the same time. Many, due to their state of preservation, have never been on public display before.
The show will run until 20th March 2022.
Lead White to help Date Dutch Paintings?
December 13 2021
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
For those who love the scientific geekery of art history, then here's another interesting article which has appeared this month. The journal Science Advances have just published an article penned by Paolo D’Imporzano, Katrien Keune, Janne M. Koornneef, Erma Hermens, Petria Noble, A. L. S. Vandivere and Gareth R. Davies entitled Time-dependent variation of lead isotopes of lead white in 17th century Dutch paintings.
Here's the abstract:
This study investigates how lead isotopes in lead white pigment can be used as an additional diagnostic tool to constrain the production time of 17th century Dutch paintings. Analysis of 77 well-dated paintings from 27 different Dutch artists reveal significant change in the source of lead used in lead white at the start, middle, and end of the 17th century. Isotopic shifts are related to major historical and socioeconomical events such as the English Civil War and Anglo-Dutch-French conflicts. These observations offer the prospect that lead isotope analysis of lead white could aid attribution and authentication of Dutch 17th century paintings and provide insights into artists’ international travels as well as lead production and trading.
Angelica Kauffman's Self-Portrait in Bregenzerwald Costume
December 13 2021
Video: finestresullarte
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Finestresullarte have teamed up with the director of the Tiroler Landesmuseen, Peter Assmann, to create this video (in Italian) describing Angelica Kauffman's Self-Portrait in Bregenzerwald Costume. This cosutme reflects the dress from the area in which she was born, and the painting itself is now preserved in the Tiroler Landesmuseen, Innsbruck.
Latest Edition: Jordaens Van Dyck Journal
December 13 2021
Picture: JVDPPP
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Jordaens Van Dyck Panel Paintings Project (JVDPPP) have published the latest edition of their journal for free online. As you'll see, this particular edition is filled with some fascinating new research by the group including several discoveries.
Here are the contents:
Ingrid Moortgat: Close family and guild ties: the Gabron dynasty of panel makers in seventeenth-century Antwerp
Justin Davies: Van Dyck’s use of panels made by the Gabron family: occurrences and new findings
Joost Vander Auwera: The 1660–1661 Antwerp court case about a series of Van Dyck’s Apostles: two new documents and some reflections on the course of justice and the potential for new discoveries
Joost Vander Auwera: The 1660–1661 court case on the Apostles series by Van Dyck: A Who’s Who of the Antwerp artistic scene in the post-Rubens and post-Van Dyck era
Andrea Seim: The Remigius van Leemput series in the Royal Collection: its importance for dating small panels
Justin Davies: The impact of JVDPPP’s dendrochronological findings for the dating and attribution of the small panels related to Van Dyck’s Iconography
Justin Davies: Anthony Van Dyck, his panels and panel makers: identifications and patterns
Joost Vander Auwera: Jordaens’s re-use and enlargement of panels in light of the studio practices and art theory of his day: the example of The Adoration of the Shepherds in Bristol
Justin Davies: The Adoration of the Shepherds: now found to have hung in Jordaens’s house in Antwerp
Alexis Merle du Bourg & Rafaella Besta: Reflections on the history of Van Dyck’s “Böhler Apostles”
Joost Vander Auwera: An Old Woman in the Fitzwilliam Museum: Jordaens not Van Dyck
UK Export Ban on Rare Portrait
December 10 2021
Picture: Trevanion Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The UK Government has placed a temporary export ban on a rare seventeenth century double portrait highlighted on this blog earlier in the summer. The painting, depicting two ladies with kabbalistic symbols glued to their faces, achieved £220,000 (hammer price) at auction over its top estimate of £4,000.
Cultural institutions are being asked whether they'd like to make a bid to keep it in the country.
According to committee members Pippa Shirley and Christopher Baker:
This anonymous painting is a great rarity in British art, as a mid-seventeenth-century work that depicts a black woman and a white woman with equal status. It is not a portrait of real people, as far as we know, but the inscription reveals that it is in fact a sternly moralising picture that condemns the use of cosmetics, and specifically elaborate beauty patches, which were in vogue at the time.
Although not distinguished artistically, its imagery relates in fascinating ways to contemporary stereotypes of women, fashion, and, through the juxtaposition of the figures, race. The fact that it has only recently emerged, and only one other related painting is known so far, and that it could be used to explore important aspects of black culture in seventeenth-century Britain, makes it particularly important that it remains in this country so that its meaning can be widely studied and understood.
Further research could reveal how the picture connects with contemporary print culture and texts, and the contexts and purposes for which it might have been created and displayed.
Interested parties have until 9th March 2022 to find £272,800 to save the work for the nation.
Conserved Van Gogh Self-Portrait to be Exhibited in London
December 10 2021
Picture: Kröller-Müller Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper have published an interesting article on news that a recently conserved Self-Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh will be included within the Courtauld Gallery's upcoming Van Gogh Self-Portraits exhibition (opening in February 2022). The work in question is the 1887 Self Portrait owned by the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands (pictured).
According to the article:
The self-portrait was varnished in the mid-20th century and this coating eventually became yellowed and dirty, obscuring much of Van Gogh’s detail and deadening its full impact. A photograph of the work nearly half completed, in November, shows quite what a difference this makes.
Although most of Van Gogh’s paintings are on canvas, this was done on cardboard. Hardly surprisingly, the edges of the board have become fragile, so earlier this year it was decided to mount the cardboard on a supportive backing.
...
Many of Van Gogh’s paintings have suffered colour changes, particularly with fading red pigments, due to light exposure. The Kröller-Müller self-portrait is no exception, and traces of the original stronger tones can be seen on the very edge of the board, where the image was protected by the framing.
Baroque Brilliance: Drawings and Prints by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
December 10 2021
Picture: @KunsthausZurich
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Kunsthaus Zurich have just opened their latest exhibition entitled Baroque Brilliance: Drawings and Prints by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
Castiglione embodies everything that makes the Baroque so enduringly fascinating: its celebration of inspired artistic brilliance, opulent magnificence and a striving to enrapture the viewer’s senses. Yet Castiglione, who hailed from Genoa and was also dubbed ‘Il Grechetto’, has been overshadowed by Italy’s more celebrated artists. The last comprehensive exhibition to focus on his graphic works called him a ‘lost genius’. He carved out a path of his own between Titian, Bernini and Poussin – artists whom he greatly admired – and left behind a highly individual body of work that curators Jonas Beyer and Timothy J. Standring have condensed into a representative exhibition of some 80 works on paper. It is the first monographic presentation of Castiglione’s graphic oeuvre in a German-speaking country.
The show will run until 6th March 2022.
Christie's £10.41m vs. Sotheby's £18.86m
December 10 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This week saw the major Old Master Paintings sales in London.
Christie's Evening Sale on Tuesday realised £10.41m (all figures inc. commission) with roughly 70.22% of lots sold.*
The two lots that soared away in the Christie's sale were Peter Brueghel the Younger's Massacre of the Innocents which realised £2,422,500 (all amounts inc. commission) over its £1m - £1.5m estimate and a Florentine School c.1500 tondo (pictured) which made £500,000 over its £80k - £120k estimate.
Sotheby's Evening Sale on Wednesday realised £18.86m with roughly 81.82% of lots sold.**
Van Dyck's two portraits of Jacob de Witte and Maria Nutius managed to hit the top end of their estimate by achieving £6,172,800 over their £4m - £6m estimate. Quite a few of the Sotheby's pictures that sold managed to break through their high estimates, including Rubens's The Abduction of Ganymede which realised 716,800 over its £300k - £400k estimate; Turner's Cilgerran Castle which realised £1,043,500 over its £300k - £500k estimate; A marine by Constable which realised £813,600 over its £200k - £300k estimate and one of a pair of Boucher and Studio scenes which realised £195,300 over its £60k - £80k estimate.
The standout picture of the day sale, the aforementioned Portrait of an Old Man 'Attributed to Frans Hals', smashed through its estimate of £80k - £120k to realise £1,951,000.
Perhaps the most disappointing results were the two major Constables of Salisbury Cathedral and the rediscovered Glebe Farm that failed to find buyers. This was despite the large amount of press both pictures received in the press.
The Art Newspaper run a piece on the sales with the title that 'There are too many auctions and not enough collectors.' The articles places the blame on sluggish sales on the lack of supply of good pictures, the rising infection rate and the difficulties encountered due to Britain leaving the EU.
* - This amount is calculated by missing lot numbers.
** - This % does not include 3 missing lot numbers.
MET Removes Sackler Name from Exhibits
December 10 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are the latest cultural institution to reconsider who they receive donations from. The museum have decided to remove the Sackler family name from their exhibits due ongoing lawsuits relating to the family "being blamed for fueling the deadly opioids crisis in America..."
According to the article linked above:
The museum’s decision follows several years of hundreds of civil lawsuits and civil and criminal investigations into some members of the Sackler family who own the Connecticut-based company Purdue Pharma, which makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin.
...
The Met announced that the families of the late Mortimer Sackler and the late Raymond Sackler “have mutually agreed to take this action” in order to allow the museum to further its “core mission”.
A statement from the descendants of the two brothers said: “Our families have always strongly supported The Met, and we believe this to be in the best interest of the Museum and the important mission that it serves.”
The statement added: “The earliest of these gifts were made almost 50 years ago, and now we are passing the torch to others who might wish to step forward to support the Museum.”
Zaganelli Acquisition Celebrated with Exhibition
December 10 2021
Picture: Museo Civico Luigi Varoli
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museo Civico Luigi Varoli, Palazzo Sforza, in Cotignola, Italy, will be opening a special exhibition tomorrow to celebrate their recent acquisition of Bernardino and Francesco Zaganelli's Christ Carrying the Cross (pictured). The picture, dating to c.1510, was produced by the brothers who were born in the town. Three of the nine variations of the work will be on display for visitors to compare and contrast along with other works including contemporary interpretations of the picture.
The show will run until 6th March 2022.
Rijksmusem Set to Pay €175m for Rembrandt?
December 10 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It seems that the Dutch government is ready to assist the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in purchasing the Rothchild Standard Bearer by Rembrandt for €175m. The museum itself is reportedly ready to put forward €10m while the Dutch State (and taxpayers) will put up the rest. The painting, which has been with the Rothchild family since 1844, will complete a tour of the Netherlands before being hung in the Rijksmuseum.
France Pulls out of Rembrandt Purchase
December 8 2021
Picture: @mweilc
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for the slow service, I'm currently away lecturing. I'll share some news as and when I can.
However, very interesting news from France that the French State (i.e. the Louvre) have pulled out of buying Rembrandt's The Standard Bearer (pictured). The painting was put up for sale by the Rothchilds two and a half years ago and had been declared a national treasure by the French ministry of culture. This means the painting can now be placed back onto the art market and thus leave France.
Christopher Walken Destroys Banksy
December 7 2021
Video: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for missing this rather amusing story last month. The BBC's new tv drama / comedy The Outlaws made the headlines for showing Hollywood actor Christopher Walken destroying a genuine Banksy mural. Walken's character, who was serving community service in the show, painted over and destroyed a graffiti rat painted by the world-famous artist. As it turns out, Banksy seems to have created the mural especially for the series. I wonder if anyone has been searching for set location to chip the painting off the wall and remove the overpaint!
Treating Frescos with Light?
December 6 2021
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Interesting news from Italy that scholars from the University of Bologna and the Spanish firm CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) have invented and patented a new technique to treat painted frescos. The technique involved coating frescos with a certain solution that is then subjected to light of a specific wavelength that helps dissolve calcium carbonate crystals. Such crystals are said to be one of the main causes for frescos to deteriorate. This method, it seems, can be used in a very precise way and is equally rather cost effective too.
The image pictured purports to show frescos treated using this very technique.
