Recent Release: Final Volume of Rubens Drawings Catalogue
December 22 2025
Picture: Brepols
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm late to news that the final volume of the Critical Catalogue of the drawings of Rubens was published this autumn. This third volume covers the years 1621-1640 and was edited by Anne-Marie Logan and Kristin Lohse Belkin.
According to the publisher's website:
This is the final volume of the catalogue raisonné of the drawings by Peter Paul Rubens, covering the years 1621–1640. The project is a collaboration between Anne-Marie Logan, to whom belong all the Rubens attributions, and Kristin Lohse Belkin. It is the first publication that presents the artist’s entire drawn oeuvre in chronological order, previous such publications containing only selections of drawings. Accordingly, Volume III consists of the drawings from 1621 to the artist’s death in 1640.
The first decade is characterized by Rubens’s first foreign commission, the paintings for the Luxembourg Palace, Marie de’ Medici, the Queen Mother’s new residence in Paris, and by the demands of the artist’s diplomatic missions to the courts of Madrid and London. In contrast to the works requested by Rubens’s official duties, especially portraiture, a subject not of primary interest to the artist before, are the paintings and drawings of the second decade, predominantly inspired by the elderly painter’s marriage to the young Helena Fourment and the love and deep affection for his wife and her children. Court portraits are replaced by images of his family à trois crayons, Rubens preferred medium in these years. Helena in disguise appears in the artist’s religious, mythological and genre paintings, most gloriously in the series of drawings for The Garden of Love. Commissions for altarpieces continue but unlike the black chalk anatomical studies of the 1610s, preparatory drawings now consist of head studies in black and red chalk, the latter used for the capture and color of skin. At the same time, images of domestic bliss are accompanied by drawings of the Flemish countryside, especially after Rubens’s purchase of the seignorial estate “Het Steen” in 1635.
CFP: Drawing the Frame
December 22 2025
Picture: Louvre via The Frame Blog
Posted by Adam Busiakeiwicz:
News via The Frame Blog that the 2026 Gernsheim Study Days, hosted in Rome, are inviting papers on research that focuses on connections between framing and drawing in the early modern period.
According to the blog post:
We invite papers that treat frames and framing, broadly conceived, as they relate to drawing. Possible topics and questions that we hope to address include:
– Frame design and drawing for the decorative arts
– The role of frames and framing in the making or changing of meaning
– Inscriptions on drawings or, later, passepartouts, as a form of framing
– Marginalia as paratextual frames
– How the frame in drawing complicates our understanding of the frame
– The frame as mediator of drawings
– The frame as a metapictorial device
The conference will run in May 2026 and application documents must be submitted by 16th January 2026.
Painted Mineral Cabinet Soars
December 22 2025
Picture: drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following painted Mineral Cabinet, showing specimens belonging to the King, soared at auction in France last week. Painted by Alexandre-Isidore Leroy, the work flew past its estimate of €20,000 - €30,000 to achieve €530,000 (hammer) at Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés.
Last Judgements in Turin
December 22 2025
Picture: San Marco Museum / Galleria Sabauda
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musei Reali in Turin will be hosting a special exhibition in February bringing together Last Judgements by Fra Angelico and Bartholomeus Spranger. These Renaissance and Mannerist artworks will be compared and contrasted in the flesh for the first time. It will run from 6th February until 3rd May 2026.
Getty Research Institute Prints & Drawings Job
December 20 2025
Picture: getty.edu
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Getty Research Institute are hiring an Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings.
According to the job description:
The Getty Research Institute seeks to appoint an Associate Curator to develop, administer, and present its collection of prints and drawings, which span the Renaissance to the contemporary era. The ideal candidate will be a specialist in Early Modern art history, and possess the capability and willingness to work across the breadth of the collection and with diverse graphic media. Under minimal supervision, develops, administers, and presents the GRI’s special collections of prints and drawings by acquisitions and donations, maintaining and managing them in collaboration with colleagues.
The job comes with an annual salary between $101,895 - $110,972 and no deadline for applications has been published.
Good luck if you're applying!
Reynolds acquired by Birmingham Museum of Art Alabama
December 20 2025
Picture: dickinsongallery via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The London dealers Dickinson have announced on their Instagram page the sale of Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mrs Moses Franks to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama. The picture was exhibited at Frieze back in 2023.
Rhodes, Hart and Aitken sales at Christie's New York
December 20 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
For those of us who are impatiently hanging around the landing pages of the auction houses, waiting for the upcoming New York sales to be uploaded online, Christie's New York have already published quite a few interesting single owner sales for the 2026 Winter season.
The sales of Irene Roosevelt Aitken, which split the pictures between English and French sales, feature some rather fine examples from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (including this shimmering Lawrence pictured above).
Equally, the two sales dedicated to A Life of Discerning Passions: The Collection of H. Rodes Sr. and Patricia Hart feature some rather choice works on paper, including those by Turner, Rubens and Claude, alongside some highlights from the decorative arts.
Griffoni Polyptych Reconstruction
December 19 2025
Video: 12Porte
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Bologna that the Griffoni Polyptych, a large fifteenth century altarpiece which was dispersed in the early-eighteenth century, has been 'reconstructed' in in the Basilica of San Petronio. The panels, undertaken by Ercole de' Roberti and Francesco del Cossa, are now dispersed in museums across the globe and have been reunited in this modern reconstruction with the help of reproductions.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard pre-empted by Palace of Versailles
December 19 2025
Video: tajan_auction via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from France that the aforementioned Self Portrait by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard has been pre-empted by the Palace of Versailles. The work realised €650,000 over its €300k - €500k estimate at Tajan the other day.
Upcoming Publication & Exhibition: Painters, Ports, and Profits: Artists and the East India Company, 1750-1850
December 19 2025
Picture: Yale Center for British Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Yale Center for British Art will be opening a new temporary exhibition in January entitled Painters, Ports, and Profits: Artists and the East India Company, 1750-1850. The show also coincides with a publication of the same name edited by Laurel O. Peterson and Holly Shaffer.
According to the book's description on their website:
Painters, Ports, and Profits: Artists and the East India Company, 1750–1850 tells the story of the remarkable creative exchanges that coincided with the rise of one of the most ruthless and powerful corporations in history. Scholarship on this period often separates Indian, Chinese, and British artists; Painters, Ports, and Profits instead foregrounds the vital interactions between their practices. Artistic experimentation with papers, pigments, and other materials produced works of astonishing beauty and variety. Compelled by new subjects and techniques, these artists, many now unknown, had a profound effect on visual and material culture within and beyond Asia.
The exhibition will run from 8th January until 21st June 2026.
Prado acquire Juan Bautista MaÃno Visitation
December 19 2025
Picture: arsmagazine.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
More acquisition news from the Prado that they have acquired Juan Bautista Maíno's Visitation. The work, dated 1636 and exhibited at the 2022 edition of TEFAF, was acquired from dealer Jaime Eguiguren's gallery for €375,000.
Samuel H. Kress Foundation Grants
December 17 2025
Picture: Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation are inviting applications for their latest round of History of Art Grants.
According to their website:
The History of Art Grants program supports scholarly projects that will enhance the appreciation and understanding of European works of art and architecture from antiquity to the early 19th century. Grants are awarded to projects, including those incorporating the use of digital methodologies and tools, that create and disseminate specialized knowledge, such as archival projects, development and dissemination of scholarly databases, documentation projects, museum exhibitions and publications, photographic campaigns, scholarly catalogues and publications, and technical and scientific studies.
Grants are also awarded for activities that permit art historians to share their expertise through international exchanges, professional meetings, conferences, symposia, consultations, the presentation of research, and other professional events.
Applications must be in by 1st March 2026. Click on the link above to read the full terms and conditions.
Caravaggio in Goa
December 17 2025
Video: National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A collaborative project between the Embassy of Italy in India and the Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai has seen the loan of Caravaggio's Magdalene in Ecstasy to the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. The same painting had been displayed in the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art earlier this year. Here's a video of Dr. Jayaram Poduval's take on the work.
Giotto and St. Francis Exhibition in 2026
December 17 2025
Picture: arte.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Umbria will be opening a special exhibition next March commemorating the 8th centenary since the death of St. Francis of Assisi and the various connections with early Italian artists such as Giotto, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti. The show will feature no fewer than 60 works and will run from 14th March until 14th June 2026.
Palazzo Spinola acquire Castiglione Adoration
December 17 2025
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that the National Gallery of Liguria based at the Palazzo Spinola in Genoa have acquired Salvatore Castiglione's Adoration of the Shepherds (spotted via @mweilc). Recent conservation of the painting revealed the artist's monogram, confirming it not to be the work of his older brother Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.
Turner's Auction Acquisitions
December 17 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's have published an interesting article online by Melissa Chaplin, head of their archives in London, on the acquisitions JMW Turner made at auction. Click on the link to read the full article.
Pietro Antonio Ferro Fresco Restored in Polla
December 16 2025
Video: InfoCliento
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
An early 17th century fresco attributed to Pietro Antonio Ferro in the Franciscan Sanctuary of San Antonio in Polla has been conserved and revealed to the public. The scene, depicting The Descent into Hell, is located in the same church where in 2010 a statue of Saint Anthony was found to be shedding tears.
Rijksmuseum Branch in Eindhoven
December 16 2025
Picture: CODART
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from CODART that the Rijksmuseum are planning to open a new branch in Eindhoven. The 3,500 square meters building, supported in-part by tech company ASML, is expected to open in 6 to 8 years.
Old Masters soar at Stern Sale
December 16 2025
Picture: Christie's Paris
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
There were some Old Masters that performed rather well in the recent Les Stern: une famille de collectionneurs sale at Christie's Paris last week. Works by Hubert Robert, Fragonard and Maria van Oosterwyck soared past their top estimates, with a pair of Robert landscapes reaching €3,720,000 (inc. commission) against their estimate of €300k - 400k.
Jordaens drawing acquired by Snijders&Rockoxhuis
December 16 2025
Picture: @galerie_ldw
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Belgian dealers Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge have shared news on Instagram that Snijders&Rockoxhuis in Antwerp have acquired the following still life drawn by Jacob Jordaens. The work is a preparatory study for The King Drinks.
