The Ashmolean is Hiring!
June 24 2020
Picture: The Ashmolean
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is looking for a Research Assistant. The post will be based in the Department of Western Art and be connected with the upcoming exhibition The Colour Revolution: Turner to Whistler.
The 24 month contract comes with a salary of between £32,817 - £40,322 per annum. Closing date for applications is 20 July 2020.
Good luck if you're applying!
Facebook Bans Antiquities Trade
June 24 2020
Picture: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The BBC reports that social media giant Facebook has banned all trade in ancient artefacts on its platforms. This follows a successful campaign exposing how looted antiquities from war-torn zones of the Middle East have been experiencing a boom in trade online.
Specifically, the ban includes any content that:
encourages or attempts to buy, sell or trade historical artefacts or attempts to solicit historical artefacts.
This seems to be trying to deal specifically in the realms of antiquities, which has been haunted by such problems for a long time. Let's hope these new rules don't eventually spill over the world of fine art and antiques. It is remarkable how popular buying through the Facebook-owned platform Instagram has become.
Brighton Pavilion and Museum Looking for CEO
June 23 2020
Picture: Brighton Pavilion and Museum Trust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Pavilion and Museum Trust in Brighton is looking to hire a new CEO. It seems this position is tied into a larger scheme to restructure the entire Brighton Museums trust from a council-run museum into an independent sustainable charity. The salary on offer is £90k + depending on experience.
Applications end on 26 June 2020.
Good luck if you're applying!
Museums Reopening
June 23 2020
Picture: @yjaegle
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The British Government is preparing to give the go ahead for museums to reopen next month. This will presumably happen as of the 4th July, which some here have dubbed 'Super Saturday'. It seems that social distancing will be enforced although there are rumours that restrictions might soon be relaxed in this regard too.
I spotted this photograph on Twitter this morning (posted by @yjaegle) showing the labyrinth constructed in the Louvre to manage the socially distanced visitor flow in front of the Mona Lisa. Very few renaissance masters were capable of conjuring such visions of man-made hell, but, it seems that this is the price art lovers will have to pay for now.
Dodgy Restoration Strikes Again!
June 23 2020
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News broke last night of another botched painting restoration incident in Spain. This time, a copy after Murillo's Immaculate Conception was left in a disfigured state after a private collector paid €1,200 to a furniture restorer to have the work cleaned. (Note - the image on the left is the original on which this copy was based, the two on the right show the two attempts at 'restoration'.)
This comes only a few years after the so-called 'Monkey-Christ' incident in Borja, north-eastern Spain. Art professionals in the country have called for new regulations to stop this from happening again.
Personally, I think this story might be a little overblown. Firstly, the articles do not present an image of the private collector's painting before restoration. As any art historian knows, copies can dramatically vary in quality. Some copies manage to capture the spirit of the original, yet some can make figures and faces appear like taxidermy. The conservation and restoration of a bad copy might have only accentuated the poor quality of the painting. As you old saying goes, you can't polish a (you know what).
Update - There are some images floating around on the internet purporting to show the painting before restoration. It's difficult to tell whether these show the same painting. The canvas and finishing on the 'restored' pictures suggests that the 'copy' might not have been as old or as valuable as the reports suggest.
Facelifts at the Mauritshuis
June 22 2020
Picture: Mauritshuis, The Hague
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Have you begun organising your 2021 diary yet? If so, this upcoming exhibition at the Mauritshuis should definitely be pencilled in.
Facelifts & make-overs is the upcoming Mauritshuis exhibition dedicated to showcasing the conservation projects undertaken by the museum's inhouse team of conservators.
As the website explains;
In Facelifts and Makeovers the most intriguing restorations of the past twenty years will be unveiled, including paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Steen and Rubens, but also by some lesser-known artists such as Cornelis de Heem and Jacob Ochtervelt. Restoring centuries-old paintings appeals to the imagination. What does it involve? What can we learn from conservation treatment? What do paintings look like ‘before’ and ‘after’? And what have been the most surprising findings?
The exhibition has been postponed due to the current crisis and will run from 7 October 2021 - 9 January 2022.
Europe's Oldest Wooden Statue ?
June 22 2020
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
ArtDaily has reported that an eight foot tall wooden crucifix known as 'Volto Santo de Lucca' might be Europe's oldest surviving wooden statue.
The sculpture had previously been thought by scholars to date to the 12th century. This was based on stylistic grounds, assuming the piece may have been a copy of a much older original. New carbon dating undertaken in Florence, taken from several areas of the work, suggests that the wood dates:
“to the end of the seventh century and the middle of the ninth,”
Accompanying photos suggest to me that the statue must have had several makeovers during the past few centuries.
Degas Copies Thomas Lawrence
June 22 2020
Picture: Hampel Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A copy of Thomas Lawrence's Miss Murray by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is coming up for sale in Munich next month. Lawrence's original, which is now at Kenwood House, was created between 1824-26 and is a superb piece of painting. The flowers which she holds had always struck me as being entirely proto-impressionistic. As a painter of ballerinas, I can understand why Degas must have been drawn to this image.
Degas's picture carries an estimate of €420,000 - €500,000. The same work sold at Sotheby's as recently as last year where it made £200,000 (inc. fees).
Christie's Results
June 22 2020
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's recent online old master paintings sale in NY made $2.95m (including fees) with approximately 69.7% of lots sold.*
This is marginally more that the $2.89m Sotheby's made the previous week although 12.6% down on lots sold.
A few of the most impressive results (all prices inc. fees): a limoges plaque by either Jean or Joseph Limousin made $225,000 over $30k-$50k, a sixteenth century Netherlandish School Head of Christ made $162,500 over $15k-$20k, a rather dark Jacob de Backer made $399,000 over $80k-120k (pictured).
In a previous post I highlighted a beautiful Fragonard portrait of a child that Christie's had up for private sale with an asking price of $125,000. The same picture was included in the sale and made $50,000.
It was this painting of a man holding a recorder that intrigued me the most. Catalogued as 'French School' it seems likely to be some sort of forgotten self-portrait. I showed it to a learned recorder player last week who informed me that the gentleman probably wasn't a genuine player due to the fact his hands are the wrong way around.
* - This is an approximate number, as Christie's remove unsold lots from their website. 97 out of 139 lots are shown as sold.
'Proof of Life' for Stolen Van Gogh
June 19 2020
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
An art detective looking into the fate of a Van Gogh, stolen from the Singer Laren Museum earlier this year, has received the following pictures from individuals purporting to be in possession of the work.
The photograph features a copy of the New York Times, dated 30 May, and a copy of a book on the convicted art thief Octave 'Okkie' Durham.
This is a sign, it is claimed, that the work has not been destroyed as often happens when offloading stolen artworks doesn't prove as easy as hoped. The work is believed to be valued around €6m.
Picasso's Palette
June 19 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A palette used by Pablo Picasso made £56,250 (inc. fees) yesterday at Sotheby's. The reverse of the palette bears the date of 17th June 1961 and had descended with the artist's granddaughter.
Study for Versailles Painting up for Auction
June 19 2020
Picture: Millon
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This very fine unpublished head study by François Lemoyne (1688-1737) is coming up for sale at Millon in France on 1st July. It relates Lemoyne's masterpiece The Apotheosis of Hercules (1731-6) which graces the ceiling of the Hercules Room at the Palace of Versailles. There is another related head study by the artist in the British Museum.
The estimate for this work on paper is €40,000 - €60,000, and has been given its own sale by the looks of it. One to keep your eye on!
The Wallace Collection turns 120
June 19 2020
Picture: The Wallace Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Wallace Collection in London turns 120 next week. To celebrate this anniversary the museum's director Dr Xavier Bray will be giving a free online talk charting how the Collection transformed from one of the most enviable private collections in the world into a public collection.
The talk is on 25th June 2020 at 3.00pm (BST). Attendance is free but registration is required.
History of Dyes and Pigments Webinar
June 18 2020
Picture: SDC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) are running two interesting webinars on the history of dyes and pigments in art from ancient history to the present day.
A History of Dyes: from Ancient Egypt to modern times will take place on Tuesday 23rd June and A History of Pigments: from cave paintings to the present day will take place on Tuesday 30th June. Both webinars will take place at 2.00pm (UK time). Both are led by the pigment scholar Dr Christine Holdstock, formerly of the University of Leeds.
The webinars cost £5 to attend for non-members of the SDC.
Rijksmuseum Reidentify Isabella
June 18 2020
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Rijksmuseum have shared some new research into a portrait by the Dutch Neo-Impressionist Simon Maris (1873-1935) in their collection. For many years the portrait, dated to 1906, was labelled by the museum as 'Young Woman with a Fan'. However, a photograph has been found in the painter's archive which records the young girl's name as Isabella. The museum are still trying to find more details about the family name and life of this young sitter.
Sleeper Alert!
June 18 2020
Picture: Aguttes
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News on Twitter (via @AuctionRadar) that this portrait catalogued as 'Workshop of Rembrandt' just made €350,000 over an estimate of €12,000 - €15,000 at the auction house Aguttes in France.
Fourteenth Century Sculpture Found in River
June 18 2020
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A sculpture of the Virgin Mary has been pulled out a river on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Some experts believe the sculpture to date to the fourteenth century.
The fisherman who found the sculpture gave the following interview:
“I noticed the stone was square—which is odd in a river,” the fisherman, Fernando Brey, told local newspaper La Voz de Galicia. “And then I looked at its lines, at the cape and at the shape of the head. And I said to myself: ‘There’s something here.’”
Curiously, lots of medieval swords end up being discovered in river beds either due to ferry accidents or ritualistic offerings. Mud and silt help preserve them in relatively good condition.
Historic Royal Palaces Need Help
June 17 2020
Picture: @HRP_Palaces
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the independent charity who look after six historic properties on behalf of the Crown, have made a rather unprecedented public appeal for help.
Their recent posts on Twitter explain that the lockdown has left them with a £95m shortfall. They are encouraging public support in the form of buying membership and making purchases from their online shop. Several of the grounds and gardens of their properties will soon be reopened for members of the public to enjoy once more.
There have been some interesting questions raised online as to who exactly should dip into their pockets to help bail them out. To give a bit of background, the HRP was established by the British government in 1989 in order to care for five royal palaces. As an independent charity (as of 1998) it receives no state money with all funds being raised by visitors. The charity have a statutory obligation to care for the properties, which are in fact still owned by the Queen 'in Right of Crown'.
The model has worked very well up until now and been entirely self-sufficient. Yet, it seems possible that the current lockdown crisis is the first true test the organisation has had to undergo.
Hampton Court, for example, is very clearly run as an entirely independent venture. Although, all of the properties rely on vast loans of objects and artworks from the Royal Collection Trust. The charity's independence this is not so straight forward with all properties such as the Tower of London, which has a Governor and Chaplain* directly appointed by the Queen.
* - Hampton Court also has a Chaplain appointed by the monarch.
Masterpiece Online
June 17 2020
Picture: Masterpiece Online
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Masterpiece 2020, London's luxury art fair that takes place each year in the grounds of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, was cancelled earlier this year due to the COVID crisis.
Despite this, the fair has rebranded itself as Masterpiece Online. Its website will be hosting a wide variety of online panel discussions, virtual tours and the facilitation of private views over the period 22 - 28 June. The programme of panel discussions is very impressive, and well worth looking through.
BA to Sell Off Art Collection
June 17 2020
Picture: Artwise Curators
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
My attention has been drawn to the news that British Airways have announced plans to sell off the company's art collection. The collection includes art by Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley and Peter Doig. Ten works have been identified for sale, in order to raise a seven figure sum, presumably intended to help plug the gap in the airline's finances due to the COVID crisis.
The picture above shows a silk tapestry by Gary Hume (1998) which hangs in BA's Lounge at Heathrow Airport. I can hardly imagine a less inspiring place.
I'm sure a fine old master painting or two would enhance their lounges!
