Previous Posts: December 2020
Sleeper Alert!
December 4 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The above painting of Saint Paul catalogued as 'Studio of Rubens' made €201,600 over its €20k - €30k estimate yesterday at Sotheby's Paris.
The cataloguing gives a very interesting account of the thought process behind the attribution. The matter is complicated further by the fact that the original central panel had been added to in the past, which was the fate of many head studies by Rubens and Van Dyck. Despite its rejection by the current Rubens authorities, I personally find it a very compelling image indeed.
A brief aside...
December 3 2020
Picture: Hampel Fine Art Auction
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As I've just contributed my 500th post for AHN, I wanted to thank you all for sticking with this blog. My special thanks for those of you who have been in touch with suggestions for stories, comments and messages of encouragement.
I do hope AHN continues to be of interest and provides some sort of refuge during these awfully strange times we're living in. I for one cannot wait to get back to visiting some Old Master previews and in front of some paintings again.
As ever, do get in touch if you have a story, piece of research or project that is worth highlighting. The contributions of readers keeps this blog alive as much as anything else!
Formerly Confiscated Sorolla Turns up at Sotheby's (?)
December 3 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
In October I posted a story regarding a large painting by Joaquín Sorolla that had been confiscated by the Spanish authorities in Brussels. Antes de la corrida (Before the Bullfight) was painted in c.1900 and is a rare example of the artist's interest in the genre. The reports back in October suggested that it was seized due to an insolvency crime. It now looks as if the Spanish authorities have handed the picture back to its owner, as it is featured the upcoming Sotheby's European Art Sale carrying an estimate of £650,000 - £850,000.
Hiscox Online Art Trade Rerpot (pt.2)
December 3 2020
Picture: Hiscox
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The insurance company Hiscox have published the second part of their 2020 Online Trade Report. The report is absolutely free to read.
Some of the most interesting facts contained within:
- A majority of millennial and new buyers have expressed increased confidence in buying art online since the COVID crisis.
- Eight out of ten new buyers have purchased art works online between March and September 2020.
- More than 55% of buyers have purchased art through online auctions, compared with 37% last year.
- Over two-thirds of respondents expressed that Instagram was their social media platform of choice for art.
Georges de La Tour at Lempertz
December 3 2020
Video: Lempertz
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The German auction house Lempertz has released the following video highlighting a work by Georges de La Tour in an upcoming sale. A Girl Blowing on a Brazier will be featured in their Bischoff Collection sale on 8th December 2020 and will carry an estimate of €3m - €4m. Works by de La Tour rarely come onto the market, so we'll see how much this painting fetches! It's quite astounding that this painting last made £17,850 when it last came up for sale at Christie's in 1975.
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As a side note, and speaking as someone who is particularly sensitive to music, I wonder why on earth they picked Handel's Zadok the Priest to accompany this mysterious chiaroscuro scene? Considering how much wonderfully haunting and beautiful seventeenth century music there is out there, I find this very eighteenth century piece rather jarring.
Update - The painting made €3,600,000 (hammer price).
Louvre Acquires Tiepolo Ceiling Painting
December 2 2020
Picture: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Louvre in Paris has announced that it has acquired a ceiling painting by Giambattista Tiepolo. Juno in the Midst of Clouds, dating to c.1735, was originally commissioned for the Sagredo Palace in Venice. It was dismantled from its original position in the late nineteenth century where it eventually made its way to Paris. The large scale oil on canvas was acquired from a private collection at a cost of €1.5m and plugs a gap in the museum's collection of Venetian painting. The purchase was made possible by a generous donation from the Amis du Louvre.
Client Confidentiality Overturned in London Court
December 2 2020
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has reported on a ruling by London's High Court to overturn client confidentiality in relation to a fraud case.
The story revolves around a painting by Paul Signac which passed through the hands of the convicted New York art dealer Timothy Sammons. Sammons had helped broker the sale of the $4.85m picture owned by collector Linda Hickox through the London dealer Simon Dickinson. Sammons failed to pay Hickox after the eventual sale, and so the collector has pursued Dickinson in the courts to find out who the painting was sold to. The court in London ruled in favour of Hickox and Dickinson has since handed over the information.
Although court's decision is this particular case seems entirely reasonable, client confidentiality is and has forever been one of the corner stones of the art market. We'll wait and see if this ruling has any long term implications on the trade.
Irina Antonova (1922-2020)
December 2 2020
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
There have been lots of extended articles in the press celebrating the life of the recently deceased Russian art historian and curator Irina Antonova (1922-2020). Antonova served as Director of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow between the years 1961-2013 (!) and staged several exhibitions of Western Art in the Soviet Union during the 1970s. Her insistence of bringing cubist and impressionist works out of the vaults of Russian museums proved a significant moment in the reappraisal of European art in the country.
Sixteenth Century Flemish Miniature Soars
December 2 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a work of art that has received a lot of worthy attention over the past few weeks. This exceptional miniature on vellum, given to the Flemish artist Simon Bening, achieved £1,467,000 (inc. commission) over its £150k - £250k estimate yesterday at Sotheby's. Such quality and condition of a work this age is rarely ever matched. The catalogue note is a must read.
As a side note, it would have been interesting to know exactly how the decision was made to include the work within a Music, Books and Manuscript sale rather than a traditional Old Master Paintings auction. One might imagine that the appeal of such an impressive work would stretch beyond the usually boundaries of manuscript collectors. Alternatively, might a such a delicate work have been lost in a full blown Old Masters sale?
Conserving the National Gallery's Oldest Painting
December 1 2020
Video: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London has published the above video describing recent work undertaken by Kristina Mandy to conserve Margarito d'Arezzo's The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Narrative Scenes. Dating to 1263-4 this painting is the oldest in the National Gallery's collection.
The Watercolours that Inspired Developments in Photography
December 1 2020
Picture: Watercolourworld.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Times has run an amusing story relating to the artistic jealousy of William Henry Fox Talbot (d.1877). It was while producing watercolours alongside his wife in the 1830s when Talbot decided that his efforts (pictured) were a "melancholic" mess and needed vast improvement.
It was this failure which is said to have inspired his experiments with early cameras. He eventually laid down ground-breaking work in the negative-positive process which became a key element of modern photography.
Lacock Abbey, now owned by the National Trust, have completed digitising over 1,000 watercolours from the Talbot family collection. The results of this brilliant work have been published on Watercolourworld.org, and really are worth having a look through.
Desmond Shawe-Taylor on Vermeer and Lotto
December 1 2020
Video: Royal Collection Trust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Collection Trust has posted another interesting video on some of the Queen's pictures that will feature in Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace. In this particular example we hear Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, giving some thoughts on Realism, Use of Materials, Design and Expression in two works by Vermeer and Lorenzo Lotto.
Jan Brueghel Landscape Acquired by NGA
December 1 2020
Picture: NGA
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. has acquired a landscape by Jan Brueghel the Elder. Dating to 1610 Wooded Landscape with Travelers joins two other works by the artist in their collection.
The painting had been owned by the emigree art dealer Max Stern who fled Germany in 1937. The picture was later acquired by dealer David Koetser who reached a settlement with the Stern Foundation before the NGA acquired the work from him. The acquisition was funded by through The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund.
Bid for the Louvre
December 1 2020
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Louvre in Paris has teamed up with Christie's for a particularly intriguing fundraising event called Bid for the Louvre. The museum is raising money for its social and educational programmes, including the funding of a new space called Studio which will open in Autumn 2021.
In order to raise money for these projects the museum will be auctioning off artworks especially donated by several contemporary artists including Johan Creten, Candida Höfer, Eva Jospin, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Pierre Soulages and Xavier Veilhan.
However, of greater interest to AHN are the unique experiences that the museum are putting up for sale. This includes the opportunity to bid for an opportunity to be present at the annual inspection of the Mona Lisa. In other words, the chance to get closer to the museum's most iconic work than any other member of the public in the past decades. Also mentioned is the possibility of a private tour of the roof tops of the museum.
No estimates or further details have been given as of yet, but I'll update the post as soon as they are. The online auction will run between 1st - 15th December 2020.
Update - Louvre Director Jean-Luc Martinez has given an interview with La Gazette Drouot giving more details about the scheme:
The 26 lots up for sale include not only works of art donated by contemporary artists with close ties to the museum, but also immersive experiences within the walls of the palace, like a night-time flashlight tour, a discovery of hidden gems in the Drawing Department and a private concert in the Caryatids Room. Some are world firsts, like attending the annual examination of the Mona Lisa outside its protective showcase with Jean-Luc Martinez, or following street artist JR onto the rooftops of the building. Lots contributed by the museum's patrons and partners also include a "within the walls" section, like an exclusive tour of the collections, followed in one case by dinner at the Michelin-star restaurant Le Meurice and an overnight stay in the luxury hotel. The Ritz is also offering an overnight stay, this time preceded by a pastry-making course at the Ritz Escoffier school.
