New Jordaens Van Dyck Journal Out Next Week!
July 23 2021
Picture: JVDPPP
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that the Jordaens Van Dyck Panel Paintings Project's new Journal will be out next week. This open-access journal will be made available online and print on demand.
I'll post a link as soon as it is published!
Musée Fabre Quietly Acquires 2 Fragonards
July 23 2021
Picture: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Tribune de l'Art have published an article on news that the Musée Fabre in Montpellier seems to have quietly acquired 2 Fragonard landscapes. The article shows that the paintings have been on the Louvre's online database for a few weeks, although they have not yet provided any details regarding their acquisition.
Update - A reader has kindly forwarded this official press release which gives more background information regarding the acquisition of the works which was made with assistance from the Louvre.
Future Release: 17th cent. French Paintings in the Louvre
July 23 2021
Picture: Gallimard
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a future release that might be of interest to some readers. A new catalogue of French Seventeenth Century Paintings in the Louvre will be published and released on 7th October 2021. This new scholarly catalogue was edited by curator Nicolas Milovanovic.
WWII Provenance of Houston Bellotto Questioned
July 22 2021
Picture: markets.businessinsider.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Claims by the the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, into the wartime provenance of Bellotto's The Market Place at Pirna (pictured), have appeared in the press this week.
The foundation claims that the work in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, part of the Kress Foundation, should be restituted to the heirs of Dr Max J Emden. In particular, the foundation has accused the museum of not being transparent with the work's provenance, which they claim was purchased from Emden by the dealer Karl Haberstock for Hitler's Führermuseum.
The museum has previously refuted claims that the work was in Emden's collection, claiming there was no physical evidence to suggest this provenance was correct alongside citing multiple versions of the scene. The foundation have pointed to a painting inventory mark (featured at the bottom right of the image) as new evidence to suggest otherwise.
BBC's Repair Shop Conserves Henrietta Maria (?)
July 22 2021
Picture: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The BBC's popular tv show The Repair Shop continues to delve into the world of restoring Old Master Paintings.
This week's episode, available on IPlayer, saw the transformation of a portrait of Charles I's Queen Henrietta Maria in mourning. The removal of overpaint and the conservation process in general revealed that many of the features of mourning were later additions, a practise often done with portraits of historic figures.
Overall, the quality of the portrait looks rather handsome. At a glance, it seems to have been executed by a capable hand, from what I can tell from my small screen anyway. Furthermore, the work seems to be loosely based on a Van Dyck prototype (a painting last recorded in the collection of the Earls of Radnor), although the differences between the two would encourage me question the identity perhaps.
Update - Bendor, whose opinion on these things is of much greater value, has written in with the suggestion that it might be a much later seventeenth or early eighteenth-century work based on the aforementioned Van Dyck.
Picasso in the Prado
July 22 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I've spotted this rather interesting article (via. @Boro_RR on Twitter) concerning the historic and continuing controversy surrounding the inclusion of a portrait by Picasso into the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid. After a donation made in 2004, the hang raised a great commotion due to the fact the museum's rules said that no post-1881 works could enter the collection of the museum. The rules were bent somewhat and the painting was hung alongside works by the likes of Velázquez and El Greco (pictured). The museum's current director Miguel Falomir has continued to support the painting's inclusion in the museum's collection.
National Gallery to acquire Lawrence's Red Boy
July 22 2021
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Some significant news today that the National Gallery in London is set to acquire Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Charles William Lambton, known affectionately as The Red Boy.
The sale of the portrait, valued at £9.3m, is being brokered by Christie's and will officially become the property of the gallery when the sale is completed in December 2021. Also of interest is news that the painting will be conserved in the gallery's conservation studios before going on display. I hope they'll make a video showing the transformation, which will surely be quite outstanding.
'600 - '700 Venetian Art
July 21 2021
Picture: ansa.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice will be hosting a large-scale exhibition dedicated to seventeenth and eighteenth century Venetian painting later this autumn. The show will feature 63 works including newly restored canvases by the likes of Tiepolo (pictured), Luca Giordano and Gianantonio Guardi. Press reports claim the entire exhibition, with the various restoration projects, have been funded by the organisation Venetian Heritage.
The exhibition will open in September 2021.
The Paul Mellon Centre is Hiring!
July 21 2021
Picture: PMC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Paul Mellon Centre in London is hiring a Head of Research and Learning.
According to their online post:
Following an internal review of roles and responsibilities, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art has created the new role of Head of Research and Learning to join the team at a time of transformation for the Centre and the arts sector more broadly. This is a senior position within the organisation, and the post-holder will also join the Centre’s Senior Leadership Team and contribute to our broader strategic development. The Centre runs an active research and learning programme that is known for its innovation, generosity and rigour. We are looking for a Head of Research and Learning to shape and direct the next phase in the Centre’s commitment to sharing knowledge about British art and its histories.
The role is accompanied by a salary of between £60k - £65k per annum and applications must be in by 5th September 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
UK Export Report
July 21 2021
Picture: artscouncil.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport have released their report on the Export of Objects of Cultural Interest for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The top headline is that 12 objects representing a value of £7.6m were saved by the nation. £99.9m worth of deferred objects, including works by Joseph Wright of Derby, Canova, John Singer Sargent, Monet and Turner were not saved.
This stark comparison seems rather alarming, especially as only one painting out of the eleven deferred was saved. Let's hope this isn't a growing trend (!)
Better Late than Never...
July 21 2021
Picture: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Russia that the Louvre's La Belle Jardinière by Raphael has finally made it to Saint Petersburg. The painting was due to be included within their recent Raphael exhibition that opened last year, however, 'difficulties encountered at customs' prevented this from happening.
The painting will be on display in the State Hermitage Museum from today until 19th September 2021.
Provenance Hunting in the Louvre
July 19 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The New York Times have run an article at the weekend on the work being conducted by Emmanuelle Polack (pictured). Polack was hired by the Louvre in 2020 to investigate restitutions and has since uncovered several works with questionable war-time provenances.
As the article explains:
In March, the Louvre put a catalog of its entire collection online — nearly half a million artworks. There is a separate category for a mini-collection of more than 1,700 stolen artworks returned to France after World War II that the museum still holds because no rightful owners have come forward. Other French museums hold several hundred more works.
Their presence is still an embarrassment for France. After World War II, about 61,000 stolen paintings, sculptures and other artworks were returned; the postwar government swiftly turned over 45,000 of them to survivors and heirs, but sold thousands more and kept the funds. The ones that remain in French museums are sometimes known as the “orphans.”
Observing Weather Patterns in Art
July 19 2021
Picture: The Washington Post
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Washington Post have published an interesting full-length article on observing weather patterns in art. The piece is written by the art critic Philip Kennicott and meteorologist Matthew Cappucci as they look at the weather depicted in several paintings throughout the centuries.
As the piece explains:
Weather is more than incidental to art, especially in the past few centuries, as scientists, poets and painters have squabbled over how best to process and make sense of the natural world. But look at art with a meteorologist, and you quickly learn that the clues to making atmospheric sense of an image go far beyond vapor in the air. What direction is the sun coming from? Is the grass wet? What do the trees tell us about the season, or the larger climate conditions? From what direction is the wind coming, and how are people dressed?
It seems that the piece eventually comes to realise that paintings are not photographs, as my favourite line explains:
Some images didn’t seem to make much sense, meteorologically.
The V&A is Hiring!
July 19 2021
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is hiring a Assistant Curator, Sculpture.
According to the job description:
This is one of seven Assistant Curator posts that sit in the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department. As such, the main purpose of the job is to provide curatorial support in the development, care of, documentation and research, presentation and interpretation of a part of V&A’s Collection, in this case the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department. Assistant Curators spend a significant portion of their time working on object-related activity that pertains to the care and display of collections, maintaining documentation and developing interpretation to allow for their presentation to wide audiences.
As a member of the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department, the postholder will also play a role in the wider work of the V&A, contributing to policy, projects and public programmes and supporting fundraising and income generation. Assistant Curators also play a role in their relevant department and will be part of the community supporting the museum’s scholarship in the Decorative Art and Sculpture Department. In short, this is a wide-ranging role in which the postholder will be able to develop their skills in all aspects of museum curation.
This full-time role comes with a salary of between £22,627 - £26,341 per annum and applications must be in by 23rd July 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
The NPG is Hiring!
July 19 2021
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Portrait Gallery in London is looking for an Assistant Curator (part time).
According to the job description:
The post holder will provide administrative and curatorial support to a team of senior curatorial staff, working across the Tudor – Contemporary periods. You will support both the Tudor- Regency and the Victorian – Contemporary teams on the Inspiring People project whilst also working on commissions, acquisitions and touring exhibitions.
This 21 hour per week role comes with a salary of £13,871 per annum, and the deadline for applications is 23rd July 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
The Rijksmuseum is Hiring!
July 16 2021
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is hiring a Curator of 18th and 19th century drawings.
According to the job description:
The curator will work within the team of twelve curators and researchers of the Rijksprentenkabinet, as well as with the museum’s curators, conservators, information specialists and registrars. The curator is responsible for the museum’s holdings of 18th- and 19th-century drawings and is closely involved in all aspects of the scholarly research, publication and interpretation of works in this subject area. The curator is also responsible for recommending potential new acquisitions and plays a major role in exhibitions and displays in this field.
The monthly salary on offer is between €3,744 - €5,214 and applications must be in by 1st September 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
Selldorf Architects win National Gallery Contest
July 16 2021
Picture: selldorf.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The New York based Selldorf Architects have won the National Gallery's NG200 contest to redesign the entrance of the Salisbury Wing. This £25 - £30m project will "remodel the Sainsbury Wing’s front gates, ground-floor entrance sequence, lobby and first-floor spaces; create a research centre within the nearby west wing of the Wilkins Building and deliver a series of public realm upgrades to enhance the gallery’s presence on Trafalgar Square."
According to the article linked above:
Once described as the ‘go-to architect for major art destinations’, Selldorf Architects has worked on numerous gallery projects, including for David Zwirner (pictured), Hauser & Wirth and Thaddaeus Ropac. The firm, which was founded in 1988, can also list the Frick Collection, Luma Arles, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the Smithsonian American Art Museum among its roster of significant cultural clients.
Exhibition Dedicated to Art Recovered by Italian Police
July 16 2021
Picture: beniculturali.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Regular readers of AHN will know that the Italian Police seem to excell in press photographs showing off recovered cultural artifacts.
Their efforts are being celebrated in a new exhibition held in Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo. Il mondo salverà la bellezza? / Will the World Save Beauty? will feature recovered artworks by the likes of Bruegel and Veronese all in an effort to highlight the war against art theft. Furthermore, the exhibition will also contain displays of new prevention and safeguarding systems in use at museums around Italy.*
The show opened on 12th July and will run until 4th November 2021.
* - Seems like the perfect place for art criminals to swat up, don't you think?
Audley End Painting Cleaned
July 16 2021
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Guardian have reported on news that a painting in Audley End in Essex, run by English Heritage, has been conserved and redisplayed (pictured in its restored state). The media seems to have led the story with news that the removal of overpaint has in fact removed the smile from the young lady's face:
The transformation of the picture rather impressive, especially as layers of overpaint and an upper extension to the canvas have been removed. The vibrant greens, a colour which usually doesn't survive that well over the centuries, are glorious. Furthermore, a new attribution to Joachim Beuckelaer has also been suggested now that the original paint surface has re-emerged.
Private Visit: Le retour des portraits de la Renaissance
July 15 2021
Video: Scribe Accroupi
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's another brilliant private viewing (in French) of the latest exhibition at the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau in France entitled Le retour des portraits de la Renaissance. This presentation is delivered by Mathieu Deldicque, curator of the musée Condé
The exhibition features renaissance portraits from the collection of the Marquis de Biencourt, a former owner of the Château, and will run until 19th September 2021.
