Return Journey. Art of the Americas in Spain
November 2 2021
Picture: Prado
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Prado in Madrid opened a new exhibition last month called Return Journey. Art of the Americas in Spain.
According to the museum's website:
Return Journey. Art of the Americas in Spain, sponsored by Fundación AXA, recounts a little known phenomenon: the fact that following the conquest of Latin America and until its independence, more works of art arrived in Spain from that continent than from Flanders or Italy and that the movement of works was not one-directional, from Spain to Latin America, as is generally suggested. These thousands of objects, many of them created by indigenous or mestizo artists, often make use of materials, subjects and techniques unknown in Spain, while their creation reflects a range of intentions: reaffirmation of the dominance of the imperial power or the identitary aspirations of the Creole elites, as well as documentary, devotional and aesthetic reasons.
The exhibition will run until 13th February 2022. For who can't make it, the museum's website features a virtual tour at a cost of €2.50.
2020 Release: Rembrandt: Studies in His Varied Approaches to Italian Art
November 2 2021
Picture: Brill
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Historians of Netherlandish Art have published an interesting online review of Amy Golahny's 2020 publication entitled Rembrandt: Studies in His Varied Approaches to Italian Art (Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History).
To quote the opening paragraph of the review:
Constantijn Huygens’s oft-cited remarks about the young Rembrandt’s (and Lievens’s) disinterest in traveling to Italy, justified in part by the wealth of Italian art that could then be found in the Dutch Republic, have anchored a multitude of studies addressing Rembrandt’s engagement with the work of his predecessors and contemporaries south of the Alps. Over the course of more than three decades, Amy Golahny has contributed numerous publications to this literature.[1] Her latest book, Rembrandt: Studies in His Varied Approaches to Italian Art, encapsulates and builds on her previous studies to offer a comprehensive treatment of the subject.
Restoration Reveals 'Erased Boy'
November 1 2021
Picture: theadvertiser.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I've spotted this rather interesting article recently published on eu.theadvertiser.com regarding the restoration of a painting sold in 2005 by the New Orleans Museum of Art.
The c.1837 painting depicting Bélizaire and the Frey Children, attributed to Jacques Guillame Lucien Amans (1801-1888), was donated by descendants of the Frey family to the New Orleans Museum of Art in 1972. It was kept in storage until it was sold by the museum in 2005. The work was then purchased by an antique dealer and was subsequently cleaned.
Restoration revealed that a black house servant had been painted over and 'erased' from the painting. Recent undertaken with Katy Morlas Shannon, the head of history and interpretation at the Evergreen Plantation in Louisiana, has finally managed to piece together the history of this young boy.
According to the article:
The boy who was nearly erased has a name: Bélizaire.
He was 15 and a house servant in the Frey household. He was the only child in the painting to live on into adulthood.
....
The portrait of the four children now in Simien’s collection was never shown at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The painting was in very poor condition and would have required restoration, cleaning, and repair, said Lisa Rotondo-McCord, NOMA’s Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs. There is no record of a request from scholars or a conservator to view the painting, which might have prompted the museum to conduct further research or restoration of the painting, she said.
The museum had hoped to locate the painting several years after it was sold to include it in a 2019 exhibit called “Inventing Acadia” curated by Katie Pfohl, which featured 19th century Louisiana landscape paintings. Simien at the time was also trying to locate the painting, which by that point had been restored to its original form.
Dorotheum November Sale
November 1 2021
Picture: Dorotheum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Dorotheum auction house in Vienna have published their November Old Master Paintings Sale online. The auction will be held on 10th November 2021.
Amongst the many interesting lots is this Portrait of a Man with a Red Beard by Giovanni Battista Moroni (pictured). This painting was featured within the RA's Moroni exhibition in 2014 and carries and estimate of €300k - €400k.
Update - I also wanted to point out this rather special 'Self Portrait' of the ceramic painter Marie-Victoire Jaquotot (1772-1855) at work on a monumental vase. One imagines that this painting might well soar past its €12k - €18k estimate.
Hogarth's Repainting to Halt Productions of Fakes
November 1 2021
Picture: The Sunday Times
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sunday Times published a story yesterday on new research which shows how William Hogarth often repainted his famous pictures in order to halt the production of unofficial knock-off prints.
According to the article:
X-rays and infrared scans of Hogarth’s best-known works, A Rake’s Progress, show he changed some of the eight paintings in the series after completion, when knock-off prints started appearing before he had published his own.
After creating his originals, Hogarth would have smaller engravings made to be printed and sold. Plagiarism was rife, however, and pirate copies of his previous work, A Harlot’s Progress, had appeared a little over a week after prints had been delivered to his subscribers.
This new research will appear in the forthcoming Tate exhibition Hogarth and Europe which opens on 3rd November 2021.
National Gallery of Ireland Unveils Conserved Lavinia Fontana
October 31 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin have unveiled Lavinia Fontana's recently restored The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. The work has reappeared after an 18-month conservation and research project funded in-part by The Bank of America. The removal of old varnish has revealed several interesting and overlooked details, including an inscription and 1599 date painted onto the base of a clock.
Furthermore, the work will be included in the gallery's forthcoming exhibition entitled Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker which is set to open in May 2023.
Update - I would recommend heading over to the gallery's YouTube Channel where they have uploaded many fascinating videos featuring the conservation of the painting.
Restituted Pictures head to Christie's
October 31 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnews.com have published an article on a set of restituted paintings which will feature in Christie's December Old Master Paintings sale in London. The works, including paintings by the likes of El Greco (pictured) and Emmanuel de Witte are being offered by the heirs of Julius and Camilla Priester, whose collection of paintings were seized by the Nazis in 1944. The recent restitution of the pictures was made possible with assistance from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE), who spotted several paintings with various art dealers.
The El Greco Portrait of a Gentleman (pictured) will be offered for sale at Christie's London on 7th December 2021 carrying an estimate of £800k - £1.2m.
New Release: Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings at Wilton House
October 30 2021
Picture: archaeopress.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
If any readers are stuck for Christmas present ideas this year, this recent release looks like catnip to any art lover.
Archaeopress Publishing Ltd have recently published a new Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings at Wilton House. This fabulous looking catalogue has been written by Francis Russell, Deputy Chairman at Christie's and author of several books on art and travel.
To quote the book's blurb:
The collection of pictures at Wilton has been celebrated since the seventeenth century; and its historic arrangement is uniquely well documented in a series of catalogues of which the first, issued in 1731, was the earliest such publication about any private collection in England. Of successive owners of the house, three made significant contributions: William, 4th Earl of Pembroke, who commissioned van Dyck’s monumental portrait of his family that dominates the Double Cube Room he had created; his grandson, Thomas, 8th Earl of Pembroke who assembled what was in some respects a pioneering collection of old master pictures for the house; and his grandson, Henry, 10th Earl of Pembroke, patron of Reynolds and Wilson, among others. Such masterpieces as Lucas van Leyden’s Card Players, Cesare da Sesto’s Leda – long attributed to Leonardo – and Ribera’s Democritus are matched by remarkable portrait drawings by Raphael and Holbein. These are complemented by a substantial deposit of family portraits and other pictures that attest to the tastes and interests of successive generations of the Herbert family.
Cleaning Fragonard's The Swing
October 30 2021
Picture: TAN
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper have published an article on the ongoing conservation treatment of Fragonard's The Swing. This iconic painting from The Wallace Collection in London has been treated by the restorer Martin Wyld, former Director of Conservation at the National Gallery in London.
It will be back on display in the museum on 3rd November 2021 and is set to be featured within a future Fragonard exhibition held by the institution (TBA).
The National Gallery cleans a Frans Hals
October 30 2021
Video: National Gallery London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London have published a rather satisfying video showing the conservation of a Portrait of a Lady by Frans Hals. The video features a full explanation presented by conservator Paul Ackroyd.
I'd also recommend this earlier published video giving a 'first look' at Thomas Lawrence's The Red Boy, a painting acquired by the gallery earlier in the year.
Sleeper Alert!
October 29 2021
Picture: Tajan Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News on Twitter (via. @auctionradar) that the following drawing of Juno catalogued as 'Florentine School, follower of Rosso Fiorentino' achieved €300,000 over its €500 - €700 estimate at Tajan Auctions in Paris yesterday.
One imagines that the new owner is hoping that this is the original drawing which this print by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio is after.
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opens in November
October 29 2021
Video: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It looks like a cultural institution in the Netherlands is about the show-off exactly how the storage of art can be transformed for public access. The topic of getting art out of vast stores and into galleries is one that this blog has been passionate about for a long time now.
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam is set to open its new publicly accessible art storage facility on 6th November 2021. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen claims to be the first of its kind, allowing visitors to not only have unprecedented access to the art in its stores (around 151,000 objects) but also be able to view the activities that go into preserving and caring for such a vast collection.
Let's hope museums and galleries around the world take note.
Alcaraz Restoration Reveals Original Sixteenth Century Paintings
October 29 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Spain that a thorough restoration of an altarpiece has revealed the original paintings by Juan de Borgoña (1470-1535). The eight panels, preserved in the Church of la Santísima Trinidad in Alcaraz, Spain, had been practically hidden under crude overpaint and gilding from later centuries. It had been assumed by some scholars that the original paintings had been lost.
Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia Announces Acquisition
October 26 2021
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence have announced their acquisition of an Angel and the Virgin by Giovanni Francesco Toscani (1372-1430).* The two paintings are fragments of a grand altarpiece painted for the Ardinghelli Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Trinita in Florence. Other surviving panels are located in Florence, Baltimore and Philadelphia respectively. The work was purchased by the museum for €400,000.
* - Apologies, my previous post indicated that there was only one painting instead of two.
Conservation in Action at the Queen's House Greenwich
October 26 2021
Picture: Royal Museums Greenwich
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Museums Greenwich have opened a new live exhibit entitled Conservation in Action. Visitors to the Queen's House in Greenwich will have the opportunity to watch conservators working on A Royal Visit to the Fleet in the Thames Estuary by Willem van de Velde the Younger. The painting has not been on display in recent years due to its condition.
Tickets are free but must be booked in advanced. The live exhibit will run until 3rd December 2021.
Frescoed Villa Aurora Up for Sale
October 26 2021
Picture: wantedinrome.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The press has been awash with news that the Villa Aurora in Rome is coming up for sale in January next year. Famously, the building contains unique frescos by the likes of Caravaggio and Guercino and has been in the hands of the Ludovisi family since the sixteenth-century. The asking price for the Villa will be in the region of €471m.
XXL Mattia Preti Removed from Maltese Church for Restoration
October 25 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Malta that a large painting by Mattia Preti (1613-1699) has been removed from the Å»urrieq’s Parish Church in preparation for conservation. Curiously, the restoration of Pretti's Saints Roque, Blaise, Dominic and Nicholas of Tolentino interceding for the plague stricken will be financed by the Malta Airport Foundation. The work, under the leadership of conservator Anthony Spagnol, will take until the third quarter of 2022 to complete.
Sleeper Alert!
October 25 2021
Picture: New Orleans Auction Galleries
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News on Twitter over the weekend (via. @Claudia05086940) that the above painting catalogued as 'Italo-Flemish School (16th/ 17th Century)' realised $170,000 over its $2.5k - $4k estimate at the New Orleans Auctions Galleries on Saturday.
Candlelight at the Museum Gouda
October 25 2021
Picture: Museum Gouda
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museum Gouda in the Netherlands will be opening an exhibition dedicated to candlelight paintings in November. This will surely be an interesting show and one wonders exactly how the paintings will be displayed to make the most of these subtle lighting effects.
According to the museum's website (forgive the translation):
Experience a journey through centuries of candlelight in art. Let yourself be transported to an intimate world full of nocturnal tension and drama.
There are few Dutch artists who mastered the play of light and dark as convincingly as Rembrandt van Rijn, Gerard van Honthorst and Godfried Schalcken. They used the candle in many of their paintings as a direct or indirect source of light. Their paintings are still able to enchant the viewer and, as it were, draw them into the performance.
The exhibition will run from 13th November 2021 till 27th March 2022.
Update - A reader has been in touch with the following recommendation:
I might add that December 10, 2021 is Candle Night in Gouda. I have experienced the event many years ago and it was beautiful! My parents are from a small town not far from Gouda and it’s famous candles (they do not drip) and a visit near Christmas was magical for any child.
New Leiden Collection Rembrandt
October 24 2021
Picture: The Leiden Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Leiden Collection have uploaded a full catalogue note for their recently acquired Bust of a Young Bearded Man by Rembrandt.
The painting has a rather interesting history. It was first recorded with the Dukes of Ancaster at Grimsthorpe Castle in the early nineteenth century and was sold at various points during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The work was subsequently 'neglected' in the Rembrandt literature since the 1930s and had previously bore some eighteenth-century additions including a hat and large white collar which have since been removed:
The last time the picture was last sold in 2004 at Sotheby's Olympia, London, where the picture was catalogued as 'Rembrandt School, Seventeenth Century'. It achieved a mere £33,600 in this sale.
Shortly after the sale a detailed restoration and set of scientific analysis was initiated at University College London. However, it was in 2020 when conservator Michel van de Laar took another look at the work identifying several pentimento and techniques suggesting Rembrandt's own hand. This included the application of Rembrandt's signature when the painting was still wet, along with other marks suggesting the artist was working at speed.
The painting had been on loan to the National Trust in recent years. Indeed, someone should probably tell the NT as the painting is still featured on their collections website.
