Private View of Versailles Animals Exhibition
November 9 2021
Video: Scribe Accroupi
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A private tour of the current Versailles exhibition Les Animaux du Roi has been published online. The video, which is in French, features interviews with Versailles and Louvre curators Alexandre Maral and Nicolas Milovanovic.
Constable Oil Sketch at Christie's
November 9 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have shared news that they will be offering a £2m - £3m oil sketch by John Constable in their December sale. Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds is the last known version of the scene in private hands and will be auctioned for the first time in its history (although it had been with dealer Simon Dickinson in the past).
According to the article linked above:
Constable first did a pencil sketch of this view in 1811 and then made an en plein air oil sketch in 1820. As Clementine Sinclair, the head of Old Masters Evening Sale at Christie’s London, says: "The bishop [of Salisbury] commissioned a finished painting of that view on the basis of the oil sketch, and that finished painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy [of Arts in London (RA)] in 1823." It now resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, while the oil sketch is in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. "The bishop's daughter gets engaged and she requests a version of this painting, so Bishop Fisher commissions a second version from Constable," Sinclair says. "But Constable being Constable doesn't just do a slavish copy, he actually wants to improve on his initial exhibition painting. So he executes this sketch as a full scale compositional sketch." Two years later, Bishop Fisher commissioned a third version of the subject, the sketch for which is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the finished painting in the Frick Collection, New York.
Vatican Opens New Contemporary Art Gallery
November 9 2021
Video: Vatican News
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Vatican have recently opened a contemporary art exhibition in the Vatican Apostolic Library. The space, featuring historic decorated interiors, is usually only accessible to scholars.
According to press reports:
The inaugural show, titled “Tutti. Umanità in cammino” or “Everyone: Humanity on Its Way,” features work by Italian artist Pietro Ruffo inspired by the most recent papal encyclical, an open letter released to the Catholic clergy and laity that expresses the pope’s views on a particular aspect of church doctrine. The document, titled Fratelli Tutti and published last October, includes the pope’s thoughts on brotherhood and “social friendship”, based on the writings of Saint Francis of Assisi.
£7.5m Sargent at Risk of Leaving UK
November 5 2021
Picture: Wikipedia
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport have issued a press release regarding the risk of John Singer Sargent's 1899 portrait of The Earl of Dalhousie leaving the country. An export bar has been placed on the picture until 3rd March 2022 allowing a British Institution a few months to find £7.5m to keep the painting in the country.
To quote reviewing committee member Christopher Baker:
Sargent’s The Earl of Dalhousie evokes a brilliant transitional moment in British portraiture, being late Victorian in date but strikingly modern in appearance. The artist injected a new dynamism into such paintings; he had a profound knowledge of both the grandest traditions of portraiture and recent innovations and combined here a nod to the achievement of Van Dyck (in terms of pose and setting) with energised, bravura brushwork and incisive characterisation. Such skills were to prove irresistible to a generation of British patrons.
Dalhousie was a Scottish aristocrat and his portrait is one of the finest of all Sargent’s studies of male subjects; an image of hauteur perhaps tinged by uncertainty, it is a coming of age painting, created when the subject turned twenty-one, and, as recent research has shown, it was paid for by his tenants. Outstanding aesthetically and in terms of the study of the art and culture of the period, it would be a profound misfortune if this scintillating work were not secured for a British collection.
Louvre Acquires 25 Works of Art
November 5 2021
Picture: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Louvre in Paris has announced its acquisition of 25 works of art across four departments over the past few months. The paintings side of things includes works by the likes of Hyacinthe Rigaud (pictured), Louis II de Boullogne, Nicolas de Bar, Jean Daret and Frederik Ernst, known as Fritz, Petzholdt. Follow the link above to view the full list.
Antoine Watteau: Art - Market - Crafts
November 5 2021
Video: Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition dedicated to Antoine Watteau opened in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin last month. The show is entitled ANTOINE WATTEAU. ART – MARKET – CRAFTS and will run until 9th January 2022.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
2021 is the 300th anniversary of the death of the French painter Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). The fame of the artist, who was already celebrated in his lifetime, extends down to this day, and his works are coveted collector’s items. After the Louvre in Paris, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg has the most important collection of this artist’s paintings. Under the motto “Art – Market – Crafts” a special exhibition at Charlottenburg Palace will honour this outstanding 18th century painter. At the centre of the exhibition stands one of Watteau’s major works: the Shop Sign of the Art Dealer Gersaint. Purchased by Frederick the Great (1712-1786) in 1746, the painting has been considered a masterpiece since its creation. Originally designed as a means of commercial advertising and as the Parisian dealer’s “shop sign”, to this day the picture raises questions of contemporary relevance concerning the marketing, trading, and collecting of art, as well as our intellectual engagement with it.
Lecture: 'More perfect and excellent than men' - The Women Artists of Bologna
November 5 2021
Picture: NGA
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This year's Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art, hosted by the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., will feature the topic of “‘More perfect and excellent than men’: The Women Artists of Bologna presented by Babette Bohn. The live free lecture, broadcast via. Zoom, will be premiered today (5th November 2021) at 1pm (Eastern Time). Registration is required.
According to the blurb:
Early modern Bologna was exceptional for its many talented women artists. Thanks to a long-standing tradition of honoring accomplished women, several attentive artistic biographers, strong local interest in collecting women’s work, and permissive attitudes toward women studying with male artists who were not family members, Bologna was home to more women artists than any other city in early modern Italy. Bolognese women artists were unusual not only for their large numbers but also for their varied specializations and frequent public success. They painted altarpieces, nudes, mythologies, allegories, portraits, and self-portraits, creating sculptures, drawings, prints, embroidery, and paintings. This lecture challenges some common assumptions about women artists, suggesting productive approaches for future research.
Back of the Night Watch on View
November 5 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Ever been curious about what the back of Rembrandt's The Night Watch looks like? Well, The Rijksmuseum's latest phase of 'Operation Night Watch' has seen the arrangement of a new display to show the back of the canvas and stretcher. This rare opportunity is due to work by conservators to study the rear of the painting.
If you really want to see the back of the picture, then you only have until the 23rd November to do so!
Dostoevsky and the Old Masters
November 5 2021
Picture: Apollo
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apollo have published a short article online regarding the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's interest in Old Master Paintings. The piece by Rosamund Bartlett explains the various paintings that held great significance for the writer, including works by the likes of Raphael, Holbein and Claude Lorrain.
Constable to lead Sotheby's December Sale
November 5 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's London have uploaded a few the highlights from their upcoming Old Master Paintings sale in December. The top lot seems to be John Constable's The Glebe Farm, estimated at £3m - £5m. Other lots featured include works by Rubens, Rachel Ruysch, Jacques Linard and Jacopo del Sellaio. The evening sale will be held on 8th December 2021.
NPG Acquire Isaac Oliver Miniature
November 5 2021
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery in London, has announced that the NPG has acquired Isaac Oliver's portrait miniature of Lucy Harington. Harington, a collection and patron of the artists and writers (including John Donne), will be on view once the gallery reopens. The work was acquired with assistance from Sir Harry Djanogly and had appeared for sale at Sotheby's in September of this year.
Female Power at Schiphol Airport
November 4 2021
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Visitors of Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands will be able to enjoy a new display dedicated to the portrayal of women and pictures by women artists from the 17th - 19th centuries. The Rijksmuseum Schiphol have recently installed a temporary exhibition entitled Female Power which will run for an entire year.
According to the press release:
The Rijksmuseum is keen to devote greater attention to the under-acknowledged part played by women in Dutch cultural history. As part of this process, this year we hung three works by female artists in the museum’s Gallery of Honour. The Rijksmuseum has also initiated multipronged research into the role of women in Dutch cultural history and the representativeness of the Rijksmuseum collection. As part of this research we are conducting a survey of the number of female makers and artists and tracing their life stories, while also finding more detailed information about the women depicted in the paintings. In addition, female collectors, patrons, donors and curators will be scrutinising the collection and the institutional history of the museum.
...
The works on display include paintings by the female artists Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) and Cornelia van der Mijn (1709-1782), as well as portrayals of strong women such as Salome and Maria Magdalen. A particularly interesting story lies behind the double portrait of the two close friends Josina Clara van Citters and Anna Maria Gool, who are exemplary of women in Dutch history who dared to go off the beaten path; they lived together for a large part of their lives.
____________
Frustratingly, I can't seem to find any pictures of the paintings in the airport itself. I'd be grateful to any reader who might be passing through it in the near future with a camera phone!
Giovan Francesco Caroto Exhibition for 2022
November 4 2021
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona will be hosting a major exhibition dedicated to Giovan Francesco Caroto (c.1480-1555) in 2022. The exhibition will be organised into nine sections and will contain over 100 works in total by Caroto and his contemporaries.
The show will run from 12th May 2022 - 2nd October 2022.
Another Leiden Collection Rembrandt Catalogued
November 3 2021
Picture: The Leiden Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Leiden Collection have announced that they have added another full catalogue for one of their paintings to their website.
Lara Yeager-Crasselt's note for Portrait of a Young Woman (“The Middendorf Rembrandt”) (pictured) is particularly interesting due to the discussion regarding the various changes in attribution over the years. The painting had been rejected by the Rembrandt Research Project in 1986 and was relegated to a work by an assistant working in the artist's studio. However, the note also goes on to explain the evolution in views surrounding the painting and Rembrandt's working method. The oil on panel has since been given back to Rembrandt in full.
Paul Mellon Centre Photo Archive Online 8th November
November 3 2021
Picture: PMC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Paul Mellon Centre has announced that its new online digitized Photo Archive, which includes the The Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive and The Tate Photographic Archive, will be launched on Monday 8th November 2021. These archives contain roughly 150,000 reference photographs of British paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints.
The National Trust 'Richer than Ever'
November 2 2021
Picture: TAN
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bendor's latest Diary of an Art Historian piece for The Art Newspaper examines the latest financial report of The National Trust. The article places the charity's relative financial health against the mass redundancies pursued by the Trust last year.
To quote the article:
What the Trust calls its “primary measure of financial performance”, its Operating Margin, was 19.8% during the pandemic, not much less than its average margin in good years. It is true total income declined significantly, from £680m to £507m. But there were also reductions in spending that would have occurred had properties been open as normal, such as seasonal staff. A pause of £85m of conservation projects helped bring total expenditure down to £514m (from £699m the year before). The furlough scheme provided a cushion of almost £50m, and membership income remained stable, at £267m. Shrewd investment decisions, and the stock market’s recovery, have seen the endowment perform well, against the Trust's expectations at the beginning of the pandemic. In all, the total funds stand at £1.46bn, an increase of £175m on the year before.
Rediscovered Ribera Up for Sale in Paris
November 2 2021
Picture: Drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Drouot Paris have drawn attention to the above unpublished painting of The Penitent Saint Peter by Jusepe de Ribera (1588-1656) which is coming up for auction next month. The work, which was rediscovered in a private collection, bears the collectors seals of Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1631-1693) and eventually came into the collection of Blaise Léon Rochette de Lempdes (1809-1876) where it descended to the present owners.
The painting will be offered by the auctioneers Gros & Delettrez on 13th December 2021 carrying an estimate of €200k - €300k.
Printing Plates Masterclass
November 2 2021
Picture: Twitter via @chiara_beta
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Weston Library and Ashmolean Museum will be hosting a rather interesting masterclass next February on the subject of printing with copper plates. The masterclass features lectures by respected scholars in the field and looks to be a must for those fascinated by prints. The masterclass will be held on 21st February 2022 and more details can be found here.
A Picasso (?) Reappears in Bolton?
November 2 2021
Picture: The Bolton News
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Lancashire that a man from Bolton has discovered what he believes might be a lost Picasso (pictured). Martin Barton was encouraged to look again at a painting he had hanging in his house after seeing news about the sale of Picassos from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
According to the article linked above:
Martin said: “I had forgotten all about it and nearly fainted when I saw the picture in the paper, because I thought, I’m sure I have something similar.
“It was also the signature at the bottom of the painting that made me think it could be genuine. So I had a closer look with my magnifying glass. It has been a really enjoyable few days thinking about this.”
He was so excited he phoned his friend who told him he “didn’t know what to think, but he didn’t know anyone else who had discovered this” and suggested Martin went to a specialist.
Martin added: “I might go to Bolton Museum just to see if it’s right or wrong, but that will be the end of it.”
Coincidentally, Bolton was the base of the notorious forger Shaun Greenhalgh, a point which might have added further depth to the article linked above...
Rubens: Picturing Antiquity
November 2 2021
Picture: Getty Publications
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Getty Villa in Los Angeles will be opening their latest exhibition next week entitled Rubens: Picturing Antiquity.
According to the exhibition's blurb:
Passion for the art and literature of classical antiquity inspired the dynamic Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). Presented amid the antiquities collection at the Getty Villa, this exhibition juxtaposes the artist’s exhilarating drawings, oil sketches, and monumental paintings with rarely shown ancient objects, including exquisite gems owned by Rubens himself. Heroic nudes, fierce hunts, splendid military processions, and Bacchic revels attest to the artist’s extraordinary ability to translate an array of sources into new subjects.
The exhibition will run from 10th November 2021 until 24th January 2022. The exhibition catalogue, edited by Anne T. Woollett, Davide Gasparotto, and Jeffrey Spier, is already available to purchase online.
