Previous Posts: February 2022
Divine Seduction, Bosch, El Greco and Matisse shows in Budapest for 2022
February 11 2022
Picture: Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It looks as if 2022 is the year to visit Budapest, Hungary. The Museum of Fine Arts Budapest has revealed their rather impressive programme of exhibitions for 2022.
These include:
Divine Seduction Erotica and Passion in Five Centuries of Mythological Depictions: 17 February – 17 April 2022
Between Heaven and Hell The Enigmatic World of Hieronymus Bosch: 8 April – 17 June 2022
Henri Matisse Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou in Paris: 1 July – 30 October 2022
El Greco: 27 October 2022 – 19 February 2023
Saved Art Treasures in Minsk
February 11 2022
Picture: artmuseum.by
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for being rather late to this. A rather interesting exhibition at the Belarusian National Arts Museum in Minsk will be closing this weekend. Saved Art Treasures is a show highlighting several dozens of works (mostly icons) that have been restored by the museum since 2010. The artworks, largely dating from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, were discovered in the abandoned attics of churches, bell towers, church cellars and other such places.
For any readers who might be in Minsk at the weekend, the exhibition closes on 13th February 2022.
Restoring Guido Reni's 'Aurora' Fresco
February 10 2022
Picture: Il Giornale dell'Arte
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Italy's Il Giornale dell'Arte have published an interesting interview with the conservators of Guido Reni's frescos in the Casino di Scipione Borghese, Rome. The delicate conservation of Reni's Aurora, located in a building which remains in private hands, was undertaken by Laura Cibrario and Fabiola Jatta. It seems that the wall paintings have a long and complicated history of conservation, having been treated every half century since 1850. The piece is well worth a read.
The Courtauld Institute are Hiring!
February 10 2022
Picture: courtauldamerica.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Courtauld Institute in London is hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Curating.
According to the job description:
The Courtauld is seeking to appoint a Lecturer or Senior Lecturer with a specialism in the history and/or theory and/or practice of curating art. The Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Curating will contribute to our BA Art History programme, in particular by convening a new team-taught second-year core course in critical museology as well as developing elective modules and contributing to other team-taught modules. The new lecturer will play a leading role in developing new masters-level opportunities, including with King’s College London, with whom we have recently announced a strategic relationship. S/he may also make a contribution to our long-established MA programme ‘Curating the Art Museum’.
The job comes with an annual salary of between £38,995 and £45,818 (senior lecturers can up to £53,964) and applications must be in by 18th March 2022.
Good luck if you're applying!
_______________________
I should also probably mention that the institute is also currently hiring a Vice-Dean for Research.
Het Noordbrabants Museum seeks New Director
February 10 2022
Picture: Het Noordbrabants Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (Network for Curators of Dutch and Flemish Art) has shared news that the Het Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands are looking for a new Director. The position has recently been made available due to the retirement of Charles de Mooij who has been in the job for thirty-six years.
The museum will be looking to make a new appointment by April 2022.
Good luck if you're applying!
Rediscovered Romney up for Sale
February 9 2022
Picture: Toovey's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Some interesting news that a rediscovered portrait of Lady Laetitia Beauchamp-Proctor by George Romney is coming up for sale at Toovey's later this month. The picture was spotted in a private collection by consultant Tim Williams where it had been considered to be 'attributed to' Angelika Kauffman for some time. Romney's hand in the picture was finally confirmed by Alexander Kidson, who had included the work within his 2015 catalogue raisonné as 'whereabouts unknown'.*
According to the press release:
George Romney recorded Lady Beauchamp-Proctor’s seven sittings between 20th July and 16th August 1780, and the 18 guinea fee was paid to the artist on 5th May 1781. It was sent to Thomas Allwood for framing and is recorded in his framing book as ‘an oval 3/4 at a price of £2 12s 6d for Lady Beauchamp Proctor’.
* - Editors of future 'discovery' pieces take note, it's very good when recognised authorities are consulted as part of any story that deal with such things!
Is it a Reynolds?
February 9 2022
Video: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm sure that many loyal readers of AHN have already watched the last ever episode of Britain's Lost Masterpieces. However, if you have a UK TV License, and are curious to know whether Bendor and his team have uncovered a forgotten work by Sir Joshua Reynolds, then you'll be able to catch up here via. the BBC IPlayer.
Inspiring Walt Disney at the Wallace Collection
February 9 2022
Picture: The Wallace Collection / Disney
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Following on from their incredibly successful collaboration with shoe-designer Manolo Blahník, The Wallace Collection in London will be launching their latest decorative arts exhibition in April. Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts will run from 6th April 2022 until 16th October 2022. The show has been organised in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
According to the museum's website:
Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts displays American 20th-century hand-drawn animation alongside French 18th-century art to reveal the surprising and enchanting connections between these two artistic movements.
Drawing on the outstanding artworks of the Wallace Collection and spectacular international loans, the exhibition will highlight the exceptional talent and innovation of both Walt Disney Animation Studios artists and the creative pioneers of the French 18th century. Although separated by two centuries, the artists, craftspeople and animators all had the same ambition – to breathe life, character, and charm into the inanimate.
It will be very interesting to see how successful this collaboration will be in bringing new audiences to this treasure box, which is after all only a few minutes walk from Oxford Street.
Caravaggio stuck in bankrupt Italian Bank
February 9 2022
Picture: The Times
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Times have reported the curious news that a version of Caravaggio's The Crowing with Thorns is stuck in a dispute regarding the recently bankrupt Banca Popolare di Vicenza. The picture, along with 100 other works, is part of the bank's collection of art. A judge has ruled that the works should be sold to repay customers. However, the ruling has also required that the paintings should not leave the bank's office and be kept in tact.
To quote from the article:
A court has ordered an asset sale to help settle their claims that includes the bank’s art collection, featuring works by Tiepolo, Bellini and Tintoretto, as well as by the 17th-century chiaroscuro master Caravaggio.
“The Crowning of Thorns could alone be worth more than €500 million and the value of the entire collection, which contains some of Italy’s most renowned artists, is huge,” said Gloria Gatti, an art lawyer and contributor to the Italian art publication Giornale dell’Arte.
“It is unlikely anyone will want to pay the market price if they cannot enjoy it,” Gatti said.
New Release: Fragonard's Progress of Love
February 9 2022
Picture: The Frick Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Frick Collection in New York have recently published a new book focusing on Fragonard's Progress of Love series. This publication was written by Alan Hollinghurst and Xavier F. Salomon.
According to the book's short blurb:
This latest volume in the Frick Diptych series focuses on Fragonard’s Progress of Love ensemble, a jewel in the crown of the Frick’s collection. An illuminating essay by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, is paired with a lyrical piece by the Man Booker Prize–winning author Alan Hollinghurst.
Designed to foster critical engagement and interest specialist and non-specialist alike, each book in this series illuminates a single work in the Frick’s rich collection with an essay by a Frick curator paired with a contribution from a contemporary artist or writer.
The Burrell Collection to Reopen on 29th March
February 9 2022
Picture: @burrellcollect
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that the Burrell Collection in Glasgow will be reopening to the public on 29th March 2022. It has been closed for five years due to a vast renovation project which has cost no less than £68.5m in total.
According to the museum's press release:
New displays will give visitors a better understanding of the international significance of The Burrell Collection’s artworks and the people who made them and some of the people who have owned them. In total 225 displays will spread across 24 galleries. The displays include innovative digital elements such as video walls, interactives and hybrid systems created to help people engage with the stories behind the Collection.
A new central stairway will allow visitors access to the lower floor of The Burrell Collection for the first time, where they can watch items not on display being cared for. A new temporary exhibition space has also been created. Similarly, new galleries have been created on upper floors which will take visitors to spaces in the building they have never seen before.
The museum’s environmental performance has been enhanced by greatly improving the building’s exterior through a new roof, glazing and cladding, and by replacing power, heating and lighting systems with more efficient and sustainable technologies.
Toledo Museum of Art acquire Still Life by Louise Moillon
February 9 2022
Picture: artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
La Tribune de l'Art have shared news that the Toledo Museum of Art have acquired a still life by the famous French female artist Louise Moillon (1610-1696). The work was purchased from the Parisian Galerie Eric Coatalem.
Free Talk: Portraits of Lucy Harington Countess of Bedford
February 4 2022
Picture: Woburn Abbey
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
For those readers who might be in Greenwich, London, on Wednesday 23rd February 2022 then here is a fascinating free talk to attend. Dr Karen Hearn will be delivering a free talk at the Queen's House, Greenwich, on the subject of ‘Bright Star’: Portraits of Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford.
According to the blurb:
More portraits survive of Lucy Harington Russell, 3rd Countess of Bedford (1580-1627) than of any other non-royal Jacobean woman. A Lady of the Bedchamber to James I’s queen, Anna of Denmark, the charismatic Lucy performed in elite Court entertainments and was a patron of writers, including poet John Donne. Currently on loan to the Queen’s House from Woburn Abbey are important full-lengths of Lucy wearing fantastical masque costume, of 1605-6, and a slightly later one of Queen Anna herself. Art historian Karen Hearn will discuss both portraits and consider some further remarkable images of Lady Bedford.
The talk will take place in-person at the Queen's House between 1pm and 1.30pm.
The Blue Boy is Back!
February 4 2022
Video: The National Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Just in case you haven't heard, Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy has returned to London 100 years after it was sold and shipped off to America. The National Gallery have made this short video with curator Christine Riding giving her own view on the significance of the painting. I've also listened to Tudor and constitutional historian Dr David Starkey's own take on the portrait, which makes a lot more of the connotations of the Van Dyke dress and English identity.
Dodrechts Museum acquires Samuel van Hoogstraten
February 4 2022
Picture: dodrechtsmuseum.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Dodrechts Museum in the Netherlands has acquired and displayed Samuel van Hoogstraten's portrait of Sir Norton Knatchbull. It was acquired by the museum after it came up for sale at Sotheby's from the Mountbatten collection in 2021 where it sold for £176,400 (inc. commission). As the oil on canvas makes clear the portrait painted in 1667 in London takes inspiration from both Van Dyck and Rembrandt (van Hoogstraten's teacher).
Click on the link above to see some lovely details of the picture while it was being cleaned. The transformation is very impressive!
Free Symposium: Key women in the creation of the Prado’s collections
February 4 2022
Picture: Prado
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Prado Museum in Madrid will be hosting an interesting free symposium on 7th & 8th March 2022. Key women in the creation of the Prado’s collections. From Isabella I of Castile to Isabel Clara Eugenia will feature papers from some of the leading academics on the subject of women and collections of Spanish art. Fortunately, for those of us who don't speak Spanish, there are a few papers being delivered in English including one on the subject of "Who said the commissioner of Bosch’s so-called Garden of Delights was a man?"
Recent Release: Miniature Painting in the National Museum
February 4 2022
Picture: bokus.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, has released a new book focusing on its impressive collection of miniatures. The publication (of which there is a version in English too, by the way) by Magnus Olausson presents the highlights of its 5,700 strong collection alongside a history of the collection itself.
According to the book's blurb:
The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm is home to the world's largest collection of miniature paintings, 5,700 in all. The majority of them are are portrait miniatures, by Swedish and other European artists from the 16th century down to the middle of the 20th. The collection is remarkable not only for its size, but just as much for its breadth and depth. No other holding is as representative of miniature paitning across Europe. Despite this, the collection has remained unknown to many outside specialst circles. This volume provides, for the first time, a comprehensive introduction to the Museum's large holding of miniatures, a combined guide and history written by Magnus Olausson, Director of Collections. At the same time, it offers a survey of the history of miniature painting, with examples drawn exclusively from the Nationalmuseum. A good deal of space is devoted both to the nations of major significance for this art form and to individual miniaturists, as well as to aspects of the subject such as the roles of artist and patron, the uses and functions of miniatures, and materials and techniques. the last of these sections is written by miniatures conservator Cecilia rönnerstam.
Erasmus Darwin's Mother Repaired and Back on the Wall
February 4 2022
Picture: lichfieldlife.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I was pleased to see this piece of local news from Lichfield, Staffordshire, that a portrait of Dr Erasmus Darwin's mother Elizabeth Darwin, née Hill (1702–1797), has been restored and redisplayed. The painting, belonging to the Erasmus Darwin Museum in the city, had fallen off the wall last February and been badly damaged (pictured). The ArtUK website shows that the portrait had been gifted to the museum as recently as 2010. Thankfully, the painting has been repaired and conserved by Tadley Services Ltd and has been redisplayed for visitors.
Examining Watts's Lady Dalrymple
February 4 2022
Picture: @WattsGallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, have published an interesting blog regarding the recent technical examination of GF Watts's Lady Sophia Dalrymple. The work has been scanned and analysed before it heads off to the RA's Whistler exhibition set to open later this month.
Recent Release: Scottish Portraiture 1644-1714
February 4 2022
Picture: brepols.net
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Brepols have recently published an enormous two-volume scholarly work entitled Scottish Portraiture 1644-1714: David and John Scougall and Their Contemporaries by Carla van de Puttelaar. The publication seems like a must-have for serious art libraries.
According to the book's blurb:
This book is the first comprehensive publication on Scottish portraiture from the period 1644 to 1714, with an emphasis on the painters David Scougall (1625-1685), and his son John Scougall (1657-1737). It is based on in-depth art historical and archival research. As such, it is an important academic contribution to this thus far little-researched field. Virtually nothing was known about the Scougall portraitists, who also include the somewhat obscure George Scougall (active c. 1690-1737). Thorough archival research has provided substantial biographical information. It has yielded life dates and data on family relations and, also, it has become clear that David Scougall had two parallel careers, as a portrait painter and as a writer (solicitor). The legal community in which the Scougalls were embedded has been defined, as well as an extended group of sitters and their social, economic, and family networks. The book includes a catalogue raisonné of the oeuvre of David Scougall.
The most important contemporaries of the Scougalls were the portraitist L. Schüneman (active c. 1655/60-1667 or slightly later), his successor James Carrudus (active c. 1668-1683 or later), whose work is identified for the first time in this book, David Paton (c. 1650-in or after 1708), Jacob Jacobsz. de Wet (1641/42-1697) and Sir John Baptist Medina (1659-1710). Their lives and work are discussed. An extensive survey of Scottish portraits, with an emphasis on the work of the Scougall painters, is presented for the period 1644 to 1714. Numerous attributions to various artists and sitter identifications have been established or revised. An overview of the next generation is provided, in which the oeuvres and biographical details are highlighted of the principal portrait painters, such as William Aikman (1682-1731), Richard Waitt (1684-1733) and John Alexander (1686-1767). Countless paintings have been photographed anew or for the first time, and have been compared in detail, which had hardly been done before, while information is also included on technical aspects and (original) frames. The resulting data have been complemented by analysing the social and (art-) historical context in which the portraits were made. The works of the portrait painters in Scotland from this period, as this book shows, now form a solid bridge between the portraits painted prior to George Jamesone’s death in 1644, and those by the renowned Scottish painters of the eighteenth century.
As is the ancient custom, due to the fact this publication contains a catalogue raisonné of the oeuvre of David Scougall, Carla van de Puttelaar has earned a place in the much coveted Heroes of Art History section of this blog.
