The National Gallery Open-Air
August 12 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London have decided to hang some of their masterpieces outside in the open-air on Trafalgar Square. Worry not, they're only 'reproductions' and are part of Westminster Council's Inside Out Festival to bring visitors back into the capital.
Considering that we are living in an age where technology is increasingly attempting to replace the physical original with the virtual, let's hope these copies have the desired effect and lead people within the gallery's doors!
The British Library are Hiring!
August 12 2021
Picture: BL
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The British Library in London are looking for a Curator of Prints and Drawings.
According to the job description:
The British Library is looking to recruit a full-time Curator with a specialist interest in 16th-18th century prints. This post is supported by a grant from the Getty Foundation as part of its Paper Project initiative. It offers an exceptional scholarly and professional development opportunity to an emerging works-on-paper curator who will create records for prints in our national collection which have remained hidden and under-studied, categorised to date as books, maps, manuscripts or music. They will be a fully integrated member of the curatorial staff of the Printed Heritage department and supported by colleagues across the Library.
The salary on offer is £26,000 per annum* and the deadline for applications is 12th September 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
* - As a side note, here's an equivalent position at the Rijksmuseum that was advertised last month. The salaries are not so equivalent, as you'll be able to see...
Uffizi Director offers to send Art Works to Mars
August 11 2021
Picture: Uffizi
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Italian Press have been sharing news of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk's visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence today (pictured). Musk and his partner Grimes were said to have been particularly taken with works by Paulo Uccello, Beato Angelico and Piero della Francesca.
In addition, Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt has been quoted (a rough translation) offering to send artworks to Mars as part of his plans to decentralise the Uffizi:
When you install a space station on Mars, we'd like to bring you some works for our project of the Diffusi Uffizi.
SMK Update Online Collections Website
August 11 2021
Picture: open.smk.dk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst) have revamped their online collections database on their website. It seems that one is now able to search through and to zoom into many of their beautiful works of art with ease. Furthermore, a great deal of their collection is in the Public Domain - a significant bonus for art historians!
Upcoming Release: Everyday Rococo
August 11 2021
Picture: Unicorn Press
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's an upcoming release that might be of interest. Dame Rosalind Savill's new book Everyday Rococo: Madame de Pompadour & Sèvres Porcelain will be published by Unicorn Press later in October. To celebrate, the French Porcelain Society will be holding a what will surely be a fascinating two-day symposium on the subject at The Wallace Collection in December.
The Grey Horse on display in Munnings Museum
August 10 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Alfred Munnings' famous painting The Grey Horse, Ned Osborne on Grey Tick has gone on display in the Munnings Museum in Dedham, Essex. Despite this picture being one of the artist's most iconic works the painting is rarely seen due to it remaining in a private collection. The article above provides more details about the horse and sitter, whose story is being celebrated during this temporary loan.
Carving Grinling Gibbons' Cravat
August 10 2021
Video: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have published this rather excellent video showing the processes behind Grinling Gibbons' superb carved wooden laced cravat. The video features the work of woodcarver Clunnie Fretton, who provides some lovely insights into the way Gibbons would have worked.
The original lace cravat, owned by the V&A, is currently on display in the free Gibbons exhibition being held at Bonhams in London. This leg of the exhibition will continue until 27th August 2021 until it moves to Compton Verney in late September.
Meadows Museum acquires Spanish Portrait
August 10 2021
Picture: Meadows Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has emerged (via. @Mweilc and arsmagazine.com) that the Meadows Museum in Dallas has acquired a Portrait of a Lady by Bartolomé González Serrano (1564-1627). The painting was acquired in part to celebrate the 15 years Mark Roglán has been head of the institution, alongside providing a vital gap between the works of Antonis Mor, Pantoja de la Cruz and Velázquez. It was purchased from Christie's in December 2020 and has since been restored.
New Series of 'Fake or Fortune?'
August 9 2021
Picture: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies, in my absence I forgot to mention that the BBC has begun broadcasting a new series of Fake or Fortune? Both Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould have already investigated two potential works by Henry Moore and Jean-Léon Gérôme. The next episode, which airs on Wednesday at 9pm, will examine a work that may or may not be by the famous painter of animals, Sir Edwin Landseer.
The NGA Acquires Sustris Drawing
August 9 2021
Picture: NGA
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in Washington D.C. has acquired a drawing by Friedrich Sustris (c.1540-1599).
According to their press release:
Of Netherlandish origin but born in Padua, Italy, Sustris trained with his father, Lambert, a painter in Titian’s circle. He worked briefly in Rome and went on to spent four years in the painter Giorgio Vasari’s studio in Florence. His first decorative project was in the Fugger Palace (1568–1573) for a powerful banking family in Augsburg, Germany.
One of the very few studies that can be directly connected to that project, the drawing depicts Euterpe, the muse of music, holding a lyre and organ pipes. Sustris combined Italianate iconography with a technique reminiscent of Vasari and an extreme refinement of form found in works by Parmigianino. This drawing provides evidence of the original appearance and rare beauty of the fresco cycle, which was badly damaged in World War II.
Regis University are Hiring!
August 9 2021
Picture: Regis University
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Regis University in Colorado are hiring an Assistant Professor in Art History.
According to the job description:
This position will be the sole full time Art Historian within a Fine Arts Department of eight full time faculty members (four in Visual Art and four in Music). As a result, our Art Historian position will have a great deal of autonomy in shaping the Art History program. The search is open to all specializations within Art History, but we would particularly welcome a candidate with a dual background in Western and Non-Western Art History (desirable areas of specialization/research include, but are not limited to Indigenous, African, Latin-American, Non-Western art history), who would feel comfortable teaching Non-Western upper division courses. This position will suit an art historian who identifies as a generalist and is excited to teach a wide variety of classes.
The salary on offer is $58,000 per annum and applications must be in by 15th November 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
Recent Release: Polish XVI Century Portraits
August 9 2021
Picture: wilanow-palac.pl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Professor Przemysław Mrozowski, a director of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, has recently published a new book on Portraits in Sixteenth Century Poland. The publication focuses on placing early Polish portraits within its European context, alongside catalogue notes of significant examples of the period.
Apologies...
August 9 2021
Picture: AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for the non-existent service last week. I’m off visiting one of my favourite cities, Saint Petersburg. Personally speaking, I think this city offers as much culture and beauty as any other in Europe.
Drifting through the streets and alongside canals, one truly has the feeling you have passed through into another age. The historic character of the city is remarkably preserved, which lends itself well to almost every cultural and aesthetic pursuit. A short distance outside the centre are marvellous palaces, whose architectural qualities seem to be often underappreciated further west.
The State Hermitage Museum is a palace for art lovers. The building and collections are absolutely vast and filled to the brim with masterpieces from every national school. I spent a good five hours yesterday enjoying solely the Dutch and Flemish pictures in nearly empty galleries guarded by Russian бабушки. Most casual visitors will head straight for the Rembrandts, however, it was a real education to spend time focusing in on the innumerable canvases on display.
I’m very much looking forward to heading back during the next few days to spend equal time examining the French and Italian pictures.
I would heartily recommend a visit to anyone, if you ever get the chance. Don’t let the faff with visas put you off, as the experience of enjoying this historic cultural marvel is very much worth it. From my own experiences here, the people are friendly and warm hearted, and the food is excellent too.
NAL Survey
July 30 2021
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Art Library (NAL) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has published a survey giving readers a chance to have their say regarding future services. As highlighted previously on this blog, the NAL is of enormous importance to art researchers in both academia and the art market. Let's hope their voices are heard!
JVDPPP Journal Online!
July 30 2021
Picture: JVDPPP
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Jordaens Van Dyck Panels Painting Project (JVDPPP) has finally uploaded their new Journal online! This online journal is open access with print-on-demand copies available too.
There's a wealth of information and new research to comb through. Congratulations to the JVDPPP team for this very fine publication!
Christie's to sell $200m Cox Collection
July 29 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's has announced that it will be selling twenty-five masterpieces from the collection of businessman, collector, and philanthropist Edwin Lochridge Cox. This will include several pieces by significant Impressionist artists including works by Van Gogh and Cézanne. Understandably, one of the standout pieces of the sale will be Gustave Caillebotte's Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (pictured) which is rumoured to carry an estimate of $50m. The whole sale is believed to carry a pre-sale estimate of around $200m.
The sales will be held in November and December 2021.
The McManus Acquires a Katherine Read Portrait
July 29 2021
Video: @McManusDundee
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The McManus Art Gallery & Museum in Dundee have announced that they have acquired Katherine Read's portrait of Willielma Campbell, Lady Glenorchy. The painting was acquired from a private collection with National Fund for Acquisitions and Art Fund support.
Here's a video the gallery made in 2019 when the painting was on loan to the museum.
Frans Hals: The Male Portrait
July 29 2021
Picture: Bloomsbury
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Although the Wallace Collection's upcoming exhibition Frans Hals The Male Portrait opens on 22nd September 2021, Bloomsbury have already made their accompanying book available for pre-order. The publication is the work of Lelia Packer and Ashok Roy.
According to the book's blurb:
Frans Hals is one of the greatest portrait painters of all time and, together with Rembrandt, is one of the most eminent seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Published to coincide with the Wallace Collection's exhibition of the same name, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait explores the artist's highly innovative approach to male portraiture, from the beginning of his career in the 1610s until the end of his life in 1666.
Through pose, expression and virtuosic painterly technique, Hals revolutionised the male portrait into something entirely new and fresh, capturing and revealing his sitters' characters like no one else before him. This book includes the first in-depth study of Hals's great masterpiece, The Laughing Cavalier, from 1624. The extravagantly dressed young man, confidently posed with his left arm akimbo in the extreme foreground of the picture and seemingly penetrating into the viewer's space, has been charming audiences for over a century.
Richly illustrated, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait situates The Laughing Cavalier within the artist's larger oeuvre and demonstrates how, at a relatively early point in his career, Hals was able to achieve this great masterpiece.
Recent Release: The Renaissance Restored
July 29 2021
Picture: Getty Publications
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a recent release that looks like a must-read for those interested in the history of paintings conservation. Getty Publication's new book by Matthew Hayes is entitled The Renaissance Restored - Paintings Conservation and the Birth of Modern Art History in Nineteenth-Century Europe.
According to the blurb:
This handsomely illustrated volume traces the intersections of art history and paintings restoration in nineteenth-century Europe. Repairing works of art and writing about them-the practices that became art conservation and art history-share a common ancestry. By the nineteenth century the two fields had become inseparably linked. While the art historical scholarship of this period has been widely studied, its restoration practices have received less scrutiny-until now. This book charts the intersections between art history and conservation in the treatment of Italian Renaissance paintings in nineteenth-century Europe. Initial chapters discuss the restoration of works by Giotto and Titian, framed by the contemporary scholarship of art historians such as Jacob Burckhardt, G. B. Cavalcaselle, and Joseph Crowe that was redefining the earlier age. Subsequent chapters recount how paintings conservation was integrated into museum settings. The narrative uses period texts, unpublished archival materials, and historical photographs in probing how paintings looked at a time when scholars were writing the foundational texts of art history, and how, simultaneously, contemporary restorers were negotiating the appearances of these works. The book proposes a model for a new conservation history, object focused yet enriched by consideration of a wider cultural horizon.
Update on the Potential Caravaggio (?)
July 28 2021
Picture: elpais.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Spanish newspaper El País have published an article providing an update on the potential Caravaggio that resurfaced earlier this year. The article explains that experts from different parts of the globe have descended on Madrid to examine the picture. It is reported that visits by said specialists have been limited to a maximum of thirty minutes. Furthermore, the article delves into the provenance research undertaken by the art historian Maria Cristina Terzaghi, which has uncovered several interesting lines of enquiry although does not account for the painting during the Napoleonic Wars. A preliminary report is expected in September.
