Turner's 'ghost ship' sails again
October 10 2016
Picture: Whitworth Art Gallery/Sunday Times
There's a new exhibition on at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, called 'Adventures in Colour'. One of the exhibits is a very rarely seen sketch by Turner (above) which has been called 'the phantom ship', on account of the ghostly set of sails in the distance. The picture is actually a view of Margate beach.
Despite being found in the house of Turner's Margate 'companion', Mrs Booth, the status of the picture has been doubted, leading to the picture remaining in storage at Whitworth art gallery, which owns the picture. But the leading Turner expert Ian Warrell is a longstanding champion of the painting, and has included it in the new Turner Contemporary show. Warrell links the pictures to the three Margate scenes we investigated in an early episode of 'Fake or Fortune?' More details here and here.
Brexit and the Art Market (ctd.)
October 10 2016
Picture: TAN
Gareth Harris has a sanguine and open-eyed piece in The Art Newspaper on the uncertainties in the UK art market caused by Brexit. While many are relaxed about London's short to medium term place as a thriving cultural centre, there's rightly concern about details like import Vat. The London dealer Guy Stair Sainty warns:
“If the government does not abolish import VAT, I would have to reconsider remaining in the UK because 95% of my inventory comes from the EU, which means it would have to be bonded or on temporary import,” he says.
The London-based art lawyer Pierre Valentin says, meanwhile, that moving art from the UK to the EU could trigger import VAT when it enters Europe. “If it did, this would discourage EU citizens from buying art in the UK,” he says.
The latter point is what Sotheby's and Christie's will be watching like a hawk.
Clean bill of health for US museum's Murillos
October 10 2016
Picture: Meadows Museum
The Meadows museum in Dallas has unravelled a provenance mystery of two paintings by Murillo (including the St. Rufina, above), which have long been dogged by accusations they were Nazi loot. It turns out they were, but the pictures were properly restituted and the sold. More details here on Art Daily.
Extension for Gainsborough's House
October 10 2016
Picture: Museum Association
Gainsborough's House museum in Sudbury in Suffolk (where the artist was born) is one of my favourite museums. I'm glad to report that this morning they have announced the allocation of a grant of £4.73m from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a £7.5m restoration and extension project. This will involve buying a neighbouring building and uilding a three level exhibition space, which will include:
A Major Gainsborough Display Gallery to show more of the museum’s collection and some of his greatest paintings from museum stores around the UK, not often seen.
An Exhibition Gallery that can deliver large-scale exhibitions and be a major draw for repeat visitors and new visitors from further afield. Exciting partnerships are already being developed with the national and leading regional galleries in the UK and Europe.
A Landscape Studio connecting the building with countryside that Gainsborough painted through panoramic viewing points and a camera obscura. Situated on a third level, this multi-functional learning space will give stunning views over the rooftops and allow for an imaginative programme of learning activities.
A Community Gallery to complement the printmaking workshop on site, this is a space where visitors can view and purchase a vibrant, contemporary response to Gainsborough and Suffolk. Gainsborough himself was an innovative printmaker.
As a champion of getting pictures from the store rooms of major museums out to the regions, I am very pleased to see that this is a key platform of Gainsborough House's agenda. You can read more about the plans here.
'Beyond Caravaggio' (ctd.)
October 10 2016
Picture: National Gallery
Good but perhaps mixed reviews so far for the National Gallery's 'Beyond Caravaggio' show: five stars in The Guardian; four in the Evening Standard; and three each in The Telegraph and Times.
Next week on 'Britain's Lost Masterpieces'
October 7 2016
Video: BBC
Spoiler alert! Here's one of the pictures we're investigating in next week's episode.
Swansea museum visitor numbers 'soar'
October 7 2016
Picture: South Wales Evening Post
When we set out to make Britain's Lost Masterpieces, a key aim was to spark new interest in regional museums and their collections. Regular readers will know that Britain's local art galleries are facing unprecedented financial pressure. So we have been very pleased to hear of increased visitor numbers at Swansea Museum, where we featured the work of Jacob Jordaens and Jozef Hermann. And there's also been suggestions that the local council may not now be able to wield their axe quite as much as may had been feared, thanks to the spotlight shone on the museum
Caravaggio's first public commission
October 7 2016
Video: National Gallery
I love this video from the National Gallery, ahead of their new 'Beyond Caravaggio' exhibition (opens 12th October). It begins with the rector of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Francois Bousquet. I always like it when we hear about religious art from a cleric (is that the right term?), someone for whom the subject is deeply meaningful, and for want of a better term, 'real'. I once had a tutorial about all the great paintings (Titian, Bellini) in the Frari in Venice from the priest there - unforgettable.
Royal Collection 'selfie' discovery
October 7 2016
Picture: Telegraph/Royal Collection
Here's a great story; a conservator at the Royal Collection has noticed and successfully revealed an obscured self-portrait by Pieter Gerrtisz van Roestraten from one of the artist's still lifes. The self-portrait shows the artist in his studio, reflected in a glass orb (above). The painting, a Vanitas, had been hanging at Highgrove, the country house of the Prince of Wales. It will now be featuring in a new Royal Collection exhibition, 'Portrait of the Artist', which opens in London at the Queen's Gallery on 4th November.
More on the Roestraten story in the Telegraph here. You can zoom in ont he picture here.
Rare Flaxman drawings given to the BM
October 7 2016
Picture: ACE
The legendary London art dealer Daniel Katz has donated a folio of 37 pen an ink drawings by John Flaxman to the British Museum. It's the first donation of its kind under the government's new Cultural Gifts Scheme. Danny has also donated a gilt-bronze writing casket to the Ashmolean. Bravo! More details here.
Pound falls (ctd.)
October 7 2016
Video: Via You Tube
The pound continues its precipitous fall on the world markets. It's a sign of how topsy turvy UK politics has become that the most recent drop (to a new low of $1.22) has come as a direct result of speeches by the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer - but few seem to think this a problem. The pound has now devalued more than when, back in the 1970s, Harold Wilson was obliged to go on national television and make his famous 'pound in your pocket speech' (above).
Anyway, this all has an effect on the art market here in the UK. At the moment the low pound looks to be helping sales at the London sale rooms - recent auctions, on varied material, have all been unusually strong. But it's not good for Brits buying, as James Tarmy reports in Bloomberg:
As the pound dropped to levels unseen since the mid-1980s, a line of several hundred people snaked out of London’s Frieze Art Fair minutes before the VIP opening on Wednesday. Overheard were French, German, and American speakers, but British accents were few and far between. “We’ve had interest from quite a few Americans and a few Europeans,” said Angela Westwater, whose gallery, Sperone Westwater, had a booth in the main fair. “No British so far.”
Fakes, fakes everywhere? (ctd.)
October 7 2016
Picture: FT
The revelation that Sotheby's had declared the above 'Hals' a fake made the front page of the Financial Times yesterday. The story was was then on BBC Radio 4's World at One, in an interview with yours truly. Here's the BBC News take on the story, with astute comments by Will Gompertz on the need for decent provenance.
The news has obviously become a major story, and there will be more press in days to come. I'll have a piece in the FT about it on Saturday. I'll also be writing more about it here on AHN in some depth. In the meantime, here is the latest from Vincent Noce, the French journalist who has done more than anyone to break the story, and has been doggedly pursuing all the leads for months.
There is alas more to come. Much more. The headlines have so far been along the lines of 'Old Master market reels'. But how do we know this clever faker, who has a genius-like ability to mimic a wide range of artistic styles, was not also involved in other areas. Why would he or she not have had a go at, say, Impressionists, where the ageing problems are less of a challenge.
Update - a reader writes:
It seems there is a need for an open and transparent passport system, post sale, so that one can honestly and genuinely track provenance. It is clear that "provable" provenance is going to be increasingly important in the future.
Apologies...
October 5 2016
Picture: Sotheby's/ATG/Weiss Gallery
Sorry for the lack of action yesterday. I was in London. Big news broke last night, which will keep me tied up for some time today - Sotheby's confirmed to the Antiques Trade Gazette that the Hals linked to the fakes scandal (above, and see AHN passim) is definitely a forgery. This is the first proof we've had that there's a master faker on the loose. In my opinion, the best ever. I'll be writing more about this soon in the Financial Times. It's hard to over-estimate the repercussions of this news.
In the meantime, tonight sees the second episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces at 9pm on BBC4. Do join us if you can.
'Britain's Lost Masterpieces' (ctd.)
October 2 2016
Picture: Tern/BBC
More on this soon, but in today's Guardian you can read news of what we're up to in the next episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces. Could the above painting of a Madonna, in Haddo House in Aberdeenshire, be by Raphael?
Update - enjoying the comments section in the Guardian today:
'Zurbaran Centre' announced in UK
September 30 2016
Picture: BBC
The philanthropist and lover of Spanish art, Jonathan Ruffer, has announced a new part of his project to make the North East of Britain a centre for the study of Spanish art. The 'Zurbaran Project' has been launched between Auckland Castle Trust (which Ruffer funds, and which owns Zurbaran's series Jacob and his Sons, above) and Durham University to:
[...] provide a direct link between research and exhibition programming, creating student opportunities and allowing visitors to benefit from world-class research.
Postgraduate students will work alongside Auckland Castle’s curatorial staff, ensuring that the next generation of curators and museum professionals benefit from a hands-on experience of an evolving collection.
It is envisaged that the centre, which will also host major conferences and workshops, will raise the public profile and understanding of Spanish and Latin American art, both in the UK and globally.
Additional funding also comes from Santander. Thanks to Ruffer's efforts, County Durham is now home to the UK's largest collection of Spanish paintings outside London. For earlier AHN on Ruffer's visionary plans, see here and here.
'Britain's Lost Masterpieces' (ctd.)
September 30 2016
Picture: BBC
Thank you to the 514,800 people who watched the first episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces. Judging by the reception on Twitter and the fact that we won our slot in the schedules, the audience seemed to like what they saw. Thank you also to AHNers for all your kind emails. If you missed it, you can catch up here on iPlayer.
Only two more weeks of relentless plugs to go, then it'll be back to normal AHN service.
Strippers at the Uffizi?
September 30 2016
Picture: Wikimedia Commons/ArtNet news
Artnet News reports that the Italian press has complained about a 'wild bachelor party' at the Uffizi gallery in Florence. It looks as if there's hardly any substance to the story. And the backdrop of course is the continuing reform programme at Italian museums, which has angered many who preferred the gentle and slow pace of life that used to exist.
Van Gogh Museum eye-tracking project
September 30 2016
Video: Francesco Walker/You Tube
Researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam have teamed up with the Van Gogh Museum to use a mobile eye-tracker to see how people look at paintings. They did this because:
Many of us appreciate art, but no-one really knows how or why we do so. Researchers in the field of empirical aesthetics attempt to answer such questions. The way people look at paintings is often studied by letting participants look at images on a computer screen in a laboratory setting, during which their gaze is tracked using a stationary, bulky, eye tracker. Obviously this is not a ‘natural setting’ in which people normally view paintings or appreciate art, so the question remains how well viewing behaviour in such laboratory settings approaches that of real life.
Part of the research's purpose was to see how children and adults look at pictures differently. I'm not sure, however, that following our eyes can really tell us that much about 'how we appreciate art'. This may sound daft, but there's much more to appreciating art than which part of the canvas your eye actually looks at, and in which order. While our eye is looking at a picture, our minds are processing any number of other thoughts, such as an appreciation of beauty, an examination of technical achievement, and of course (and perhaps more powerfully) our emotional interactions. To further complicate matters, all of the above may in turn may be driven by our own beliefs, faith and a lifetime of unique experience.
Stolen Van Gogh paintings recovered
September 30 2016
Picture: BBC/Van Gogh Museum
Two paintings stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002 have been recovered by police in Italy. The BBC reports:
Italian police have recovered two Van Gogh paintings stolen during a dramatic raid on an Amsterdam museum in 2002.
The works were recovered from the Naples mafia, they said.
The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam said the works were found during a "massive, continuing investigation" by Italian prosecutors and organised crime officials.
The paintings were taken when thieves used a ladder and sledgehammers to break into the museum.
They were among assets worth millions of euros seized from the Camorra group, Italian reports said.
A new museum for Basra
September 29 2016
Video: You Tube/Ruptly
Some good cultural news from Iraq; a new museum in Basra has been opened. Much of the funding and expertise has come via the British Museum, and in particular Dr John Curtis, a former Keeper at the British Museum, reports the Art Newspaper:
The city’s old museum, in Basra’s historic centre, was looted during the first Gulf War in 1991 and damaged during the 2003 invasion. Fortunately, much of the collection had already been evacuated to Baghdad. The museum’s former director, Mudhar Abd Alhay, was shot dead amid communal violence in 2005.
Three years later, Alhay’s successor, Qahtan Alabeed, took up the dream of re-establishing a museum in Basra. The British Army and the British Museum agreed to help create a new museum with proper security, climate control, regular opening hours and modern displays. The plan was to take over the 1990 Lakeside Palace, which had been used by the British Army after the overthrow of Saddam.
Progress has been slow, largely because of fundraising problems in Iraq. At an early stage, the Basra Provincial Council promised a $3m contribution but, because of budgetary problems, the funds were never provided. Most of the funding has been supplied by the UK-based Friends of Basrah Museum. The charity, founded by John Curtis, a former keeper at the British Museum, has raised nearly £500,000, largely through contributions from the oil company BP.
The museum still lacks the funds to open fully. Alabeed has decided instead to launch the project piecemeal, beginning with a gallery dedicated to the history of the Basra region from around BC300 to the 19th century. The remaining three spaces—which cover Sumer, Babylon and Assyria—are expected to open in the next few years. The museum estimates the project will cost an additional £450,000 to complete. A grant under consideration by the UK’s Cultural Protection Fund would provide the necessary funds; a decision is expected in late November.
Bravo Dr. Curtis - you deserve a knighthood. In the meantime, AHN declares you a "Hero of Art History".
