Previous Posts: July 2021
NAL Survey
July 30 2021
Picture: V&A
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Art Library (NAL) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has published a survey giving readers a chance to have their say regarding future services. As highlighted previously on this blog, the NAL is of enormous importance to art researchers in both academia and the art market. Let's hope their voices are heard!
JVDPPP Journal Online!
July 30 2021
Picture: JVDPPP
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Jordaens Van Dyck Panels Painting Project (JVDPPP) has finally uploaded their new Journal online! This online journal is open access with print-on-demand copies available too.
There's a wealth of information and new research to comb through. Congratulations to the JVDPPP team for this very fine publication!
Christie's to sell $200m Cox Collection
July 29 2021
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's has announced that it will be selling twenty-five masterpieces from the collection of businessman, collector, and philanthropist Edwin Lochridge Cox. This will include several pieces by significant Impressionist artists including works by Van Gogh and Cézanne. Understandably, one of the standout pieces of the sale will be Gustave Caillebotte's Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (pictured) which is rumoured to carry an estimate of $50m. The whole sale is believed to carry a pre-sale estimate of around $200m.
The sales will be held in November and December 2021.
The McManus Acquires a Katherine Read Portrait
July 29 2021
Video: @McManusDundee
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The McManus Art Gallery & Museum in Dundee have announced that they have acquired Katherine Read's portrait of Willielma Campbell, Lady Glenorchy. The painting was acquired from a private collection with National Fund for Acquisitions and Art Fund support.
Here's a video the gallery made in 2019 when the painting was on loan to the museum.
Frans Hals: The Male Portrait
July 29 2021
Picture: Bloomsbury
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Although the Wallace Collection's upcoming exhibition Frans Hals The Male Portrait opens on 22nd September 2021, Bloomsbury have already made their accompanying book available for pre-order. The publication is the work of Lelia Packer and Ashok Roy.
According to the book's blurb:
Frans Hals is one of the greatest portrait painters of all time and, together with Rembrandt, is one of the most eminent seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Published to coincide with the Wallace Collection's exhibition of the same name, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait explores the artist's highly innovative approach to male portraiture, from the beginning of his career in the 1610s until the end of his life in 1666.
Through pose, expression and virtuosic painterly technique, Hals revolutionised the male portrait into something entirely new and fresh, capturing and revealing his sitters' characters like no one else before him. This book includes the first in-depth study of Hals's great masterpiece, The Laughing Cavalier, from 1624. The extravagantly dressed young man, confidently posed with his left arm akimbo in the extreme foreground of the picture and seemingly penetrating into the viewer's space, has been charming audiences for over a century.
Richly illustrated, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait situates The Laughing Cavalier within the artist's larger oeuvre and demonstrates how, at a relatively early point in his career, Hals was able to achieve this great masterpiece.
Recent Release: The Renaissance Restored
July 29 2021
Picture: Getty Publications
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a recent release that looks like a must-read for those interested in the history of paintings conservation. Getty Publication's new book by Matthew Hayes is entitled The Renaissance Restored - Paintings Conservation and the Birth of Modern Art History in Nineteenth-Century Europe.
According to the blurb:
This handsomely illustrated volume traces the intersections of art history and paintings restoration in nineteenth-century Europe. Repairing works of art and writing about them-the practices that became art conservation and art history-share a common ancestry. By the nineteenth century the two fields had become inseparably linked. While the art historical scholarship of this period has been widely studied, its restoration practices have received less scrutiny-until now. This book charts the intersections between art history and conservation in the treatment of Italian Renaissance paintings in nineteenth-century Europe. Initial chapters discuss the restoration of works by Giotto and Titian, framed by the contemporary scholarship of art historians such as Jacob Burckhardt, G. B. Cavalcaselle, and Joseph Crowe that was redefining the earlier age. Subsequent chapters recount how paintings conservation was integrated into museum settings. The narrative uses period texts, unpublished archival materials, and historical photographs in probing how paintings looked at a time when scholars were writing the foundational texts of art history, and how, simultaneously, contemporary restorers were negotiating the appearances of these works. The book proposes a model for a new conservation history, object focused yet enriched by consideration of a wider cultural horizon.
Update on the Potential Caravaggio (?)
July 28 2021
Picture: elpais.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Spanish newspaper El País have published an article providing an update on the potential Caravaggio that resurfaced earlier this year. The article explains that experts from different parts of the globe have descended on Madrid to examine the picture. It is reported that visits by said specialists have been limited to a maximum of thirty minutes. Furthermore, the article delves into the provenance research undertaken by the art historian Maria Cristina Terzaghi, which has uncovered several interesting lines of enquiry although does not account for the painting during the Napoleonic Wars. A preliminary report is expected in September.
Owner Sought for Stolen Eugene Boudin
July 28 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Swindon Advertiser have published an article about the strange fate of a stolen painting by Eugene Boudin that has ended up with an antique dealer in Royal Wootton Basset. The dealer had bought the picture in good faith from a Lady whose father had acquired the picture at a London flea market. It turned out that the work was stolen from a Mayfair gallery in 1990. An appeal has been made for further information.
Barok in Teylers
July 28 2021
Picture: Teylers Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Teylers Museum in Haarlem opened their latest exhibition last month dedicated to Italian Baroque Drawings from their collection. Barok in Teylers will feature important works on paper by the likes of Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni, Guercino, Salvator Rosa and Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, many of which were acquired from renowned collections in the late eighteenth century.
The show will run until 7th November 2021.
National Galleries of Scotland to lead Slavery and Colonialism Review
July 28 2021
Picture: The National Gallery of Scotland
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Times Scotland have reported on news that the National Galleries of Scotland will be leading a review on artworks with links to slavery and colonialism. This review includes public acknowledgements of 'works associated with slavery, racism and colonial exploitation.'
One of the paintings that has already been subject to changes is the description of Allan Ramsay's portrait of the philosopher David Hume (pictured). The signage that accompanies Hume's portrait now features references to his discriminatory attitudes towards certain nations and races, alongside his role in the Enlightenment.
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It seems that the National Galleries of Scotland no longer want people to look with their eyes but with their ears instead. It is becoming rather popular these days to encourage individuals to view absolutely everything through a political lens. When it comes to art, are there no other forms of reasoning that are valid apart from the political and moral?
Hermitage to Sell NFTs of Artworks
July 27 2021
Picture: State Hermitage Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is the latest museum to jump on the bandwagon of selling NFTs of its collection. Works up for sale including digital reproductions of works by the likes of Van Gogh, Leonardo, Kandinsky and Monet (pictured).
The article linked above contains quotes from the museum's director:
Mikhail Piotrovsky, the general director of the Hermitage, said in a statement that the sale was “an important stage in the development of the relationship between person and money, person and thing,” adding that NFTs “create democracy, make luxury more accessible, but are at the same time exceptional and exclusive.”
It is intended to “ensure a new level of accessibility to the Hermitage collections and emphasize the democracy of the museum, and emphasize the importance of digitalization as a new stage in the art collection world.”
Tate Unveil 2022 Programme
July 27 2021
Picture: Tate
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Tate in London have unveiled their 2022 programme of exhibitions. Tate Britain will host two retrospectives dedicated to Walter Sickert (pictured) and Cornelia Parker. In addition, Tate modern will have large shows dedicated to Surrealism and Cézanne respectively.
The Art Loss Register are Hiring!
July 27 2021
Picture: @artlossreg
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Loss Register in London are looking for a Researcher.
According to the job description posted online:
The role includes work in due diligence and on research projects related to the dispossession of art and cultural objects due to Nazi persecution and WWII, as well as management duties related to our clients such as international auction houses and dealers worldwide.
Fluency in German is required, and some experience in or knowledge of provenance research is helpful. A clear interest in building and strengthening relationships with clients is vital. Knowledge of a third language and office experience in a commercial art environment would be an advantage but are not essential.
No salary is indicated, and applications must be in by 6th August 2021.
Good luck if you're applying!
Wallace Collection to Loan Poussin for First Time in 121 Years
July 27 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As I suspected back in April, the Wallace Collection in London has announced that Poussin's Dance to the Music of Time will be loaned to the National Gallery's October exhibition Poussin and the Dance. This will be the first time the work has been loaned in 121 years as the trustees of museum overturned the rules of Lady Wallace's 1897 bequest a few years ago.
According to the press release:
Over twenty paintings and drawings from public and private collections in Europe and the USA, including the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (The Empire of Flora, 1630-31); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (The Triumph of Bacchus, 1635-36); Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (Bacchus and Ariadne, 1625-1626); the National Galleries of Scotland (Study for A Dance to the Music of Time, ca.1634) and a series of drawings generously lent by Her Majesty the Queen, will be shown for the first time alongside some of the celebrated Classical antiquities that inspired them: The Borghese Vase, first century CE and The Borghese Dancers, second century CE, both from the Musée du Louvre, Paris. These works are being seen together for the first time in a generation and will allow visitors to trace Poussin’s influences and the sophisticated translations he made between marble, paint and paper.
Anonymous Buyer Purchases Restituted Courbet for Budapest Museum
July 27 2021
Video: artnews.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's some curious news from Hungary that an anonymous buyer has purchased a restituted painting by Gustave Courbet for the Budapest Museum. The painting has a long back story since it was confiscated twice from its original Jewish-Hungarian owner Baron Ferenc Hatvany during the twentieth-century. The painting resurfaced recently was restituted to Hatvany's heirs. It was eventually sold at Sotheby's earlier in May for $320,000 to an anonymous buyer who has lent the work to the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts.
A Michel Sittow Rediscovered in Spain (?)
July 27 2021
Picture: Twitter via. @Inde
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Interesting news from Spain that a rare work by the enigmatic fifteenth century artist Michel Sittow has been reportedly rediscovered in the Museo de Arte Sacro de Teruel. The Intercession of the Virgin Mary before God the Father and Jesus Christ (pictured) has been reattributed by the scholar María del Carmen Lacarra. Sittow, who was probably born in Estonia but is often considered Flemish, worked for the Habsburg monarchs in Spain and the Netherlands. In a 2011 catalogue raisonné the art historian Matthias Weniger included 111 works with only 13 attributed with absolute certainty.
We'll wait and see if other scholars rally around this new attribution.
Rembrandt Exhibition in Warsaw
July 27 2021
Video: Zamek Królewski w Warszawie - Muzeum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Castle in Warsaw has recently opened their latest exhibition entitled Rembrandt's World. Artists. Burghers. Explorers.
According to the exhibition blurb:
Girl in the Picture Frame and Scholar at His Writing Table by Rembrandt are the jewels of the art collection in The Royal Castle in Warsaw. They are also among top most precious paintings in Poland. This summer both masterpieces are exhibited among over 200 artworks that were created in the Age of Rembrandt. The exhibits come from Polish state museums and libraries as well as from private collections. All the artworks had been carefully chosen to illustrate the background of Rembrandt’s life and thus enable better understanding of his art. Exhibition focuses on several topics: Power, War, Dutch Landscape, Colonies, Science, Religion and Philosophy, Burgher’s Home, Art and Culture, Entertainment. Each room presents a single engraving by Rembrandt which is a point of reference for other exhibits. Rembrandt himself – through his engravings – acts as a discreet guide leading us through the exhibition. Due to the fact, that the engravings should not be exposed for a long time to the light, they will be replaced by another set of Rembrandt’s graphics at the beginning of the August.
In the video above the Polish photographer Andrzej Dragan attempts to recreate a Rembrandt in film.
The show will run until 19th September 2021.
The MET are Hiring!
July 26 2021
Picture: MET
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are looking for an Assistant Curator of Northern European Drawings, Prints, and Illustrated Books in the Department of Drawings and Prints.
According to the job description:
As part of the curatorial team in the Department of Drawings and Prints, the Assistant Curator will be responsible for contributing to all curatorial duties, including: researching, studying, interpreting, and publishing works in the collection under his/her curatorial responsibility; planning and executing exhibitions and programs; and building the collection. The candidate will be in charge of the department’s collection of Northern European (German, Dutch, and Flemish) drawings, prints, and illustrated books from the 15th through the 19th centuries. The Assistant Curator will participate in gallery installations, writing labels and online features, and database management; respond to public inquiries and assist scholars; help in the organization of loans; contribute to the Museum’s public education programs; research the permanent collections and identify and recommend acquisitions for purchase; and actively engage with supporters and colleagues both nationally and internationally, in addition to other related duties.
Neither a salary of closing date for applications seems to have been supplied.
Good luck if you're applying!
Online Conference: The cultural dimension of Dutch overseas expansion
July 26 2021
Picture: globalnetherlandishart.sites.uu.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The University of Utrecht's program Histories of Global Netherlandish Art, 1550-1750 are running a free online conference at the end of August entitled The cultural dimension of Dutch overseas expansion.
The conference asks the question of:
But what, if any, was its impact [Dutch expansion] on culture and the humanities? This conference brings together historians of culture, art, books, and literature to arrive at a fuller picture of the cultural dimensions of Dutch overseas expansion.
The conference will be run on 27th August 2021. Attendance is free although registration is required.
Family & Friends: Reynolds at Port Eliot
July 26 2021
Picture: The Box Plymouth
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Box Plymouth have just opened a fascinating sounding exhibition entitled Family & Friends: Reynolds at Port Eliot.
According to the exhibition blurb:
15 miles west of Plymouth in the Cornish countryside stands Port Eliot. Home to the Eliot family since 1565, the house contains the largest surviving group of early portraits by Joshua Reynolds in the South West. In 2007, many of them joined The Box’s permanent collections through the Government’s Acceptance in Lieu Scheme.
In this exhibition we use 14 of the 23 works that were acquired in 2007 to explore the relationship between Reynolds and the Eliot family - a relationship that began at the dawn of Reynolds’ artistic career, and ended with Edward, 1st Lord Eliot carrying his coffin into St Paul’s Cathedral almost 50 years later. After Reynolds’ death, the family continued to seek out his work for their home.
Here's a longer piece on the exhibition that has appeared in the Cornish & Devon Post.
The show will run until 5th September 2021.
