Category: Research
Recent Release: Venice in Blue
January 9 2025
Picture: olschki.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm a little late to news of this interesting sounding book dedicated to the use of blue paper in Italy entitled Venice in Blue. The volume was edited by Alexa McCarthy, Laura Moretti and Paolo Sachet.
According to the blurb:
This volume is the first of its kind to focus solely on the material of handmade blue paper in Italy, shedding new light on its significance and transcultural impact. Bringing together perspectives from art and book historians, paper conservators and paper historians, this publication explores the proliferation of the use of blue paper for drawings, prints, and printed books in Veneto and beyond during the first half of the 16th century.
New Release: The Farnese Drawings Collection
January 8 2025
Picture: Editori Paparo srl
Curate Illuminated Manuscripts at The British Library
January 6 2025
Picture: jobs.ac.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The British Library are hiring a Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts.
According to the job description:
The British Library has an internationally renowned collection of illuminated manuscripts made in Britain and Europe before 1600. We have an exciting opportunity for a permanent Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts, based in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts team.
You will help to develop, manage and interpret the Library’s collection of illuminated manuscripts. You will be responsible for cataloguing these manuscripts and presenting them to a variety of audiences, through online resources, writing blog posts, answering specialist enquiries, and contributing to exhibitions and the public programme. You will oversee digitisation projects, including the selection of manuscripts to be digitised. You will also contribute to fund-raising initiatives, and strategic communications with our stakeholders.
The job comes with an annual salary of £34,608 per annum* and applications must be in by 9th February 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
______________
* - I don't usually comment on salaries for jobs I posted here, but I'm rather baffled exactly how one of the world's greatest collections of manuscripts can value a position like this so lowly. In comparison a 'Product Manager' role (something vaguely tech related that doesn't require a degree let alone the 'doctoral degree' required for the curator position) at the BL received a salary of up to £40,950.
Sir Thomas Lawrence's love child?
January 3 2025
Picture: Royal Academy / Art Institute of Chicago
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm sure Bendor would want me to point out this interesting article (here's versions from The Times and Artnet) which was published over the Christmas period, drawing attention to some overlooked aspect of Sir Thomas Lawrence's relationship to Isabella Wolff (pictured). Indeed, the article focuses on research which suggests that Isabella's son Hermann may have been fathered by Lawrence and not her husband Jens Wolff. Click on the links, or find a copy of Bendor's book The Invention of British Art, to read more!
Upcoming Exhibition & Release: The Solomon Collection
January 3 2025
Picture: Yale Books
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that the Harvard Art Museums will be celebrating their acceptance (from back in 2021) of 260 works from Arthur and Marny Solomon collection with a brand-new publication and temporary exhibition. The exhibition is due to open in May 2025 and the book will be published in June 2025.
According to the book's blurb:
Arthur and Marny Solomon assembled a superlative art collection spanning Old Master prints, nineteenth-century French paintings, and trailblazing contemporary works. This book documents for the first time some of the finest examples from the more than 260 works in the collection, gifted to the Harvard Art Museums by bequest in 2021. Full-page illustrations and new research accompany the works, some never before published, by Dürer, Tiepolo, Fragonard, Géricault, Corot, Delacroix, Degas, Cézanne, Renoir, Henry Moore, David Smith, Kenneth Noland, and Larry Poons, among many others.
Lecture on Ralph Sheldon's Henry VIII Portrait
January 3 2025
Picture: Warwickshire County Council
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Just in case any readers might be dropping by the Midlands later in March, I'm giving a lecture for the Warwickshire County Council on Ralph Sheldon's recently rediscovered portrait of Henry VIII. It will hopefully feature some new research about the painting, including details of how it was made, its provenance and what might happen to it next. I'll be joined by my friend and colleague Aaron Manning (from HRP) who will discussing some of his own research into one of England's most recognisable monarchs. The lecture will be on 1st March 2025 at Warwick Old Shire Hall (where the painting was hanging) and will cost £11.29 to attend.
I might also mention this other rather fascinating work, which has had a mini-upgrade from 'attributed to' to by the artist 'in full'. Can any reader identify the painter?
Update - Well done to all of you who got in touch to point out this is a painting by Sir Peter Lely. Intriguingly, the picture was previously given to Mary Beale (which I think in this market would make it a touch more valuable I suspect), and the Woburn Abbey provenance is still being investigated as it does not appear in the 1951 Duke of Bedford sale.
Research Project Reveals Giorgione in Alte Pinakothek
December 21 2024
Picture: Alte Pinakothek
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Alte Pinakothek in Munich has revealed the results of a research project into the following Double Portrait, which recent technical and art historical analysis has shown to be a rare work by the Venetian painter Giorgione. The picture had been hanging in a gallery in the city's Residenz, where many overflow artworks from the museum are kept, until a recent exhibition on Venetian art prompted further investigation. Click on the link above to view some very interesting x-rays and infrared images, which show that the composition was reworked several times during its creation.
New Release: Frans Hals Iconography – Technique – Reputation
December 21 2024
Picture: Amsterdam University Press
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Amsterdam University Press has just released a new volume of essays entitled Frans Hals Iconography – Technique – Reputation.
Remarkably, the collection has been published as Open Access, meaning that it is completely free to download!
According to the blurb:
Frans Hals (1582/83-1666) is rightfully considered one of the most important seventeenth-century Dutch painters. His portraits are admired for their virtuoso brushwork and their seemingly spontaneous character. This volume, with fourteen contributions by twenty-six specialists on Hals’s paintings and his artistic network in Haarlem and beyond, presents a rich palette of new research.
The authors introduce subjects such as the artist's clientele - from clergymen and fellow painters to governors of charitable institutions - as well as stylistic and technical aspects of individual paintings. Results of recent restorations are discussed, but also how advanced digital technologies contribute to our understanding of the painter's style and artistic development. A final section is dedicated to the rediscovery of Frans Hals in the second half of the nineteenth century and to the following art historical debate among connoisseurs about the artist’s oeuvre.
The V&A are Hiring!
December 21 2024
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London are hiring a Research Assistant - The Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection.
According to the job description:
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection is one of the most comprehensive collections of decorative arts built by private collectors in the 20th century, celebrated notably for its unique collection of stone and glass mosaics. The V&A has planned an extensive refurbishment of its galleries which requests contribution from a research assistant.
The Research Assistant will join an enthusiastic curatorial team and benefit from a remarkable exposure to the various responsibilities of such a capital project. The appointed candidate will contribute to the research and delivery of interpretation outcome alongside the design, project and interpretation teams. In short, this is a rare and exciting opportunity for someone to develop and advance their career in the museum world.
The job comes with a salary of £27,528 - £31,854 per annum and applications must be in by 5th January 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
New Paintings catalogue for Catedral de Segovia
December 13 2024
Picture: Catedral de Segovia
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Catedral de Segovia in Spain has just released a new catalogue on its collection of paintings. The Cathedral is home to 39 important works of art, mostly drawn from Flemish and Castilian artists from the 15th - 17th centuries. The catalogue contains contributions from 11 different authors and scholars and is available for purchase through the link above.
Seminar Series: Gold and its Uses in Early Modern Painting
December 13 2024
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The French National Institute for Art History (INHA) in Paris is running a very interesting seminar series next year on the subject of Gold and its Uses in Early Modern Painting. The series is the culmination of a research collaboration which was begun in 2021 by the AORUM project (Analysis of Gold and its Uses as a Painting Material). Click on the links above to find out more about the series which will run from January until June 2025.
Upcoming Release: Northern European Art in the Norton Simon Museum
December 13 2024
Picture: Yale Books
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that in May 2025 the Norton Simon Museum will be releasing a new catalogue of their Northern European Art collection. The volume has been edited by Amy Walsh and contains contributions from a long list of scholars.
According to the book's blurb:
This book features Dutch, Flemish, Early Netherlandish, and German paintings and works on paper from the fifteenth through the eighteenth century, including preeminent names such as Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as lesser-known artists such as Sebastian Stoskopff and Johannes Verspronck. Illuminating one of the finest collections of Northern European art in the United States, the book traces the histories of ninety-five extraordinary paintings and drawings, shedding new light on the artistic significance and material properties of these objects. Works of art that emphasize the humanity of their subjects—and the capacity of oil paint to render these qualities almost achingly real—is a throughline that unites the paintings featured here, from the tender gaze of Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Boy (1655–60) to the freshly cut flowers and curious insects in Rachel Ruysch’s Nosegay on a Marble Plinth (ca. 1695), to the recently conserved masterpieces Adam and Eve (ca. 1530) by Lucas Cranach.
Nicolaes Gillis Catalogue Raisonné
December 12 2024
Picture: primaverapapers.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that a new monograph and catalogue raisonné on the still life painter Nicolaes Gillis has just been published. Written by Alexander Thijs, the book is the first publication to define the artist's small but distinctive oeuvre.
As is the custom on this blog, this effort will win Thijs a spot in the prestigious 'Heroes of Art History' section on AHN.
The Paul Mellon Centre are Hiring!
December 12 2024
Picture: paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Paul Mellon Centre in London are hiring a Head of Research Resources & Publications (Senior Leadership Team position).
According to their website:
A new role of Head of Research Resources & Publications has been created at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (PMC). We are seeking a dynamic and knowledgeable professional who will contribute to the direction and strategy of PMC by overseeing its publications, library, archives, records and data protection responsibilities. This a Senior Leadership Team position with responsibility for advising PMC’s Director on operations, planning and policy across the Centre.
The Head of Research Resources & Publications will line manage activities that span the lifecycle of research, from collecting and cataloguing, to consulting materials, evaluating research, communicating it in publications and displays, and preserving records. Overall, the postholder will ensure and enhance PMC’s role in fostering an innovative and enriching research culture. Working closely with department leads, the postholder will develop and deliver strategic thinking and planning, and advocate vigorously across sectors for PMC’s activities in publications, library, archives and records.
The job comes with an annual salary of £75,000 - £85,000 and applications must be in by 13th January 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
May 2025 Release: John Singer Sargent - The Charcoal Portraits
December 6 2024
Picture: Yale Books
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that a new volume on John Singer Sargent's Charcoal Portraits will be published in May 2025.
According to the book's blurb:
In comparison with his portraits in oil, John Singer Sargent’s charcoal portraits are relatively little known. In this authoritative new volume, Richard Ormond documents the nearly 700 drawings that make up this distinct strand of Sargent’s oeuvre. These portraits capture the essence of British and American high society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, portraying an elite clientele that includes aristocracy, royalty, politicians, artists, writers, actors, financiers, and philanthropists. Among Sargent’s subjects are such prominent figures as the Astors, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Du Ponts, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Ethel Barrymore, W. B. Yeats, and Winston Churchill.
Though renowned for his paintings of women, these charcoal portraits also reveal Sargent’s interest in depicting athletes across a variety of sports, from cricket and fencing to football and polo. This shift in subject matter from prewar to postwar, along with a sparser style characteristic of his charcoal work, casts new light on Sargent’s depictions of the period’s social landscape.
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo Catalogue Raisonné
December 4 2024
Picture: Soncino
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I seemed to have missed news last year of a new catalogue raisonné dedicated to the sixteenth century painter Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo (c. 1480-1548). The volume, written by Alberto Maria Casciello, contains a full list of the artist's work alongside a thorough biography.
As usual with such projects, this will earn Casciello a place in the much-coveted Heroes of Art History section of this blog.
2024 Berger Prize Winner
December 4 2024
Picture: walpolesociety.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The 2024 Berger Prize has been award to Tom Young's book entitled Unmaking the East India Company: British Art and Political Reform in Colonial India, c.1813–1858 and published by Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
According to the Walpole Society's website:
This revelatory book explores how the visual culture of members of the East India Company prompted significant structural change, nimbly traversing the complex world of post-colonial scholarship. for a modern audience. It explores fresh material from a compelling new angle, charting the ways in which new artistic forms and practices presaged shifts in the governance of the Company and its relationship with the people it governed.
Update - (Bendor adds) there's an excellent podcast with Tom Young (to whom, many congratulations) and also with the rest of the shortlisted authors, called British Art Matters. Available here on Apple Podcasts.
New Release: Ange Laurent from La Live de Jully
December 4 2024
Picture: lienarteditions.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new publication on the amateur artist, patron and collector Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully (1725 –1779) has just been published in France (under the general direction of Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, curator at the Palace of Versailles). The volume, with vast amounts of contributions from scholars working in the sphere of 18th century France, examines many aspects relating to his aesthetic and intellectual pursuits.
Burlington - December Issue
December 4 2024
Picture: burlington.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Burlington Magazine's December 2024 issue is running with the theme of 'Collecting in Britain' this month.
Here's a list of the main articles featured within:
Veiled in precious cloth: a seal bag from Westminster Abbey and its connections with Charlemagne’s shrine in Aachen - By Corinne Mühlemann, Matthew Payne, Helen Wyld
A crazy cook: Menander’s ‘Fake Herakles’ on a Roman gem - By Ittai Gradel
Unclogging the eye: Matisse, the ‘Joy of life’ and ‘Japonisme’ - By Nicole M. Holland
New evidence concerning the original version of Robert Delaunay’s ‘The runners’ - By Anne Greeley
Georg Himmelheber (1929–2024) - By Simon Jervis
Studentship to Study Artists’ Networks in late 19th-Britain and Belgium
November 28 2024
Picture: Coventry University
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Coventry University are inviting applications for a fully-funded studentship to pursue a PhD on the subject of Art, Memory and Circles of Connection – Artists’ Networks in late 19th-British and Belgian Spaces of Exchange. The studentship is is offered in partnership with KU Leuven and will also require the candidate to undertake research in Belgium.
According to the University's website:
Focusing on artist interactions between London, Brussels and other key loci of exchange, including in the art press and art criticism, this study’s key aim is to shed light on why and how interconnecting, transnational artistic visions and practices stimulated cultural arenas for new projections of modernity. A first area of consideration for this PhD is to explore expanded contexts of art reception between key British and Belgian cultural sites; this may include international responses to Pre-Raphaelite circles, and to John Ruskin’s writings. Second, will be to consider interactions between these networks and gender in creating opportunities for women as artists, designers and craftswomen, operating within and beyond perceived constructs of ‘separate spheres’ of male and female artistic activity. A third, related key area of enquiry will be to examine the significance and porous identities of cultural spaces in expanding circles of artistic exchange, and in their uses by artists across geo-cultural borders as sites of cultural memory, gender and identity-construction. As well as through exhibitions and other public spaces of display – notably museums and art galleries, this study will develop understanding of an expanded range of sites of art via private collections, intimate spaces of ateliers, workshops, artists’ homes or indeed, in letters, diaries and journals. Taken together, this PhD will open insights into pivotal artistic and geo-cultural ecologies between Britain and Belgium as arenas of artistic innovation and exchange to shape cross-cultural sites of modernity, gender and artistic agency.
Applications must be in by 15th January 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
