Previous Posts: May 2024
Upcoming Release: Glorious Lessons John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution
May 31 2024
Picture: Yale University Press
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Yale University Press will be releasing a new book in July focusing on the paintings of John Trumbull, the artist who created many famous pictures during the American Wars of Independence. The publication has been written by Richard Brookhiser.
According to the publisher's website:
John Trumbull (1756–1843) experienced the American Revolution firsthand—he served as aid to George Washington and Horatio Gates, was shot at, and was jailed as a spy. He made it his mission to record the war, giving visual form to what most citizens of the new United States thought: that they had brought into the world a great and unprecedented political experiment. His purpose, he wrote, was “to preserve and diffuse the memory of the noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man.” Although Trumbull’s contemporaries viewed him as a painter, Trumbull thought of himself as a historian.
The book will be released on 23rd July 2024.
Fra Angelico at the Palazzo Strozzi
May 31 2024
Picture: palazzostrozzi.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palazzo Strozzi in Florence have released details regarding a major exhibition they are planning in 2025. The show, dedicated to Fra Angelico, promises to be an unmissable event.
According to their website:
The occasion of the exhibition will see the restoration of extraordinary masterpieces and the re-assembly for the first time ever of several of Angelico’s great altarpieces that have been dispersed in museums throughout Europe and North America. This will allow an unparalleled journey, with loans from the most important museums and institutions in the world such as the Louvre in Paris, the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Windsor Castle, the Vatican Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Angelico allows an exploration of the production, development, and influence of Fra Angelico’s art in dialogue with painters like Lorenzo Monaco, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Jan van Eyck, and Lorenzo Monaco, as well as sculptors such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Michelozzo, and Luca della Robbia.
The exhibition will be opening in September 2025!
Conserving Kauffman at Petworth
May 31 2024
Picture: nationaltrust.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new display will be opening at Petworth House on 10th June dedicated to the recent conservation of Angelica Kauffman's Diomed and Cressida (1788).
According to The National Trust's website:
Conserving Kauffman will include a short film that documents the conservation of the painting and its frame, interwoven with fascinating historical details about Kauffman, the Shakespeare Gallery where the painting was originally exhibited, and the history of Petworth House itself.
“It’s so exciting to see this spectacular painting returning to Petworth. Previously hidden details have been painstakingly restored and vibrant colours have been revealed. We can’t wait to unveil it to visitors and shine a light on the fantastic work of our conservators in bringing it back to life”. - Dr Emily Knight, Property Curator.
The display will run until 24th November 2024 and access is included within the Petworth House entry ticket.
Musée Jacquemart- André Reopening on 6th September 2024
May 31 2024
Picture: Musée Jacquemart- André
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée Jacquemart- André in Paris will be reopening on 6th September 2024 after a one year long renovation project. In celebration of its reopening, the museum will be hosting a special exhibition of Masterpieces from the Borghese Gallery in Rome.
According to the museum's website:
Thanks to the partnership between the Musée Jacquemart-André and the Borghese Gallery—in the context of a campaign of renovation work on the museum in Rome in the autumn of 2024—, this exhibition will present a selection of exceptional works from this art collection, which is unique in the world. The public will, in particular, be able to (re)discover works by the masters of Italian art from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Raphael, Antonello da Messina, Parmesan, Lorenzo Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Bernini, etc.) and Nordic painters who stayed in Italy (Rubens, Gerrit van Honthorst, etc.). The exhibition will also pay tribute to painters with whom the general public are less familiar, such as Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni, Cavaliere D’Arpino, and Jacopo Bassano. The presentation of the works in the exhibition will shed light both on the history of the collection and the meaning of the major themes explored by the artists. The exhibition will be complemented by a catalogue, a reference work in French about the collection of ‘modern’ paintings in the Borghese Gallery.
The exhibition will run until 5th January 2025.
The National Galleries of Scotland are Hiring!
May 31 2024
Picture: nationalgalleries.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Galleries of Scotland are hiring a Director of Collection and Research.
According to the job description:
This is an exciting leadership opportunity. The post-holder will inspire talented colleagues to do their best work and will ensure effective collaboration within the Directorate but also across the organisation, leading by example. The role will play a key part in driving the profile of the organisation’s curatorial and research activity with a particular focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, and work with colleagues to ensure an inspiring learning & education offering.
The post-holder is responsible for leading our dynamic public offer across our sites and beyond, and oversees the development of publications as part of the National Galleries of Scotland imprint. The role owns the delivery of the strategic leadership for the development, research and use of the NGS collection across all venues, national and international partnerships and online, and will champion our collection and the knowledge and creativity around it, internally and externally.
With responsibility at Leadership Team level for all aspects of curatorial activity and our artistic programme, the post-holder will ensure that activity is directly contributing to the aims, strategy, and brand of NGS and by working closely with stakeholders, ensuring that activity is aligned with our approach to audiences and audience development.
The job comes with a salary between £90,000 - £100,000 and applications must be in by 14th June 2024.
Good luck if you're applying!
Upcoming Release: Jean Nocret (1615-1672) Le peintre de Monsieur, frère du roi
May 31 2024
Picture: infine-editions.fr
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new monography dedicated to Jean Nocret (1615-1672) will be released on the 3rd June 2024. The book, written by the Versailles curator Élodie Vaysse, is the first to be dedicated to the artist since 1886. Nocret's most celebrated work is the painting depicting Louis XIV and his Family, a picture which has only recently been cleaned.
As the publication includes a summary catalogue of the works of Jean Nocret, this has earned Élodie Vaysse a place in the much coveted 'Heroes of Art History' section of this blog.
Connoisseurship course at the Royal Academy
May 30 2024
Picture: RA
Posted by Bendor Grosvenor
Each year I teach a short course on connoisseurship at the Royal Academy in London, coinciding with the London Old Master sales. This year the RA have extended the course to a week, from 25-29 June inclusive, and we'll be visiting museums, auction houses, and archives, and hearing from a range a world leading experts. It would be great to see some AHN readers there! More details here#mce_temp_url#.
Looking for Leonardo: The Quest for a Renaissance Masterpiece
May 30 2024
Picture: dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Dulwich Picture Gallery will be opening a new display in July entitled Looking for Leonardo: The Quest for a Renaissance Masterpiece.
According to the gallery's website:
When the founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery began assembling the collection at the beginning of the 19th century, they were determined to find a masterpiece by the artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci. However, discovering a work by Leonardo proved difficult. Join the quest to find this Renaissance master and follow his trail through the Dulwich Picture Gallery collection — navigating fakes, mistakes and surprises along the way.
This free display will open on 23rd July 2024 and will run until 26th January 2025.
Musée Bossuet acquires a Nicolas Loir
May 30 2024
Picture: La Tribune de l'art
Generating AI Images of Old Masters
May 30 2024
Picture: ChatGPT4 via AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
As there is not one day that passes where some news story isn't claiming the brilliance of AI (artificial intelligence), I decided to make an experiment and download ChaptGPT. It transpires that the app is not yet capable of transcribing eighteenth century handwriting as some on 'X' had led me to believe, so I started playing around with the endlessly amusing 'AI Image Generator'.
Here is the image produced using the prompt 'Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens hugging in a Garden'. At least it got the century right!
Are there any moments from Art History that readers of AHN would like us to recreate? Velázquez's lost portrait of Charles I? An interior featuring Vermeer's close stool? What an age we live in.
Luca Giordano at Robert Simon
May 29 2024
Video: Robert Simon Fine Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The New York dealer Robert Simon will be opening an exhibition on the Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano in a few days' time. This selling exhibition, the first ever dedicated to the artist in New York, will draw from the gallery's stock alongside works lent from private collections.
According to the gallery's press release:
Robert Simon commented, “Giordano is beloved by me, and by many others, for his visceral appeal, for his varied style, and the vitality of his compositions. The idiosyncratic personality of the man is evident in every painting.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by an online catalogue with an introduction by Giordano scholar Giuseppe Scavizzi, viewable on the gallery’s website. Additionally, copies of Scavizzi’s English language monograph on the artist will be available for purchase during the exhibition. In addition to the more than a dozen works by Giordano, several works by his contemporaries will be on view.
The exhibition will be on display from 5th June until 28th June 2024.
La Bella Principessa in Kazakhstan
May 29 2024
Picture: astanatimes.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The artwork known as the Bella Principessa will be the focus of a special exhibition at the National Museum of Kazakhstan in June. This intriguing portrait, which has an interesting backstory which can be read here, has at times been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The show will run from 7th June until 4th August 2024 and has been supported by the Embassy of Italy in Astana, Forte Bank, Mastercard, Scripta Maneant and the Italian Cultural Institute, as well as the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Brancacci Chapel Restoration Completed
May 29 2024
Video: @MichelangeloBuonarrotietornato
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The restoration of the Brancacci Chapel in Florence has been completed after a 3 1/2 year project. Begun in November 2020, the project had included an in-depth analysis of the pigments and processes used in its creation by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi. Findings will be presented in a special conference next Spring. Watch the video above to see some of the conservators at work, although, the accompanying music is awful, so I recommend muting your speakers beforehand.
Baltimore Lent Fragonards
May 29 2024
Picture: artbma.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I missed news from the end of last year that the Baltimore Museum of Art have been lent two exquisite Fantasy Figures by Fragonard. The paintings have come from a private collection and are currently on display in the museum's European galleries.
According to the article linked above:
The two paintings were paired together in a private collection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. First acquired by the celebrated Rothschild banking family in the 1880s, and now belonging to their descendants, the paintings were among the many works seized in 1938 following the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, and returned after the end of World War II. The last time they were publicly exhibited together was at the National Gallery of Art in 2017. Now, this pair of fantasy figures faces each other across the doorway in the BMA’s Jacob Epstein gallery, reunited and in conversation with each other once again.
The University of Hong Kong are Hiring!
May 29 2024
Picture: timeshighereducation.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The University of Hong Kong are hiring a Lecturer in European Art History.
According to the job description:
Applicants should have a Ph.D. degree in Art History or a related field. We are particularly interested in candidates who can teach European art in periods between the middle ages and the 18th century. However, we also welcome applicants with expertise in art histories that can complement our existing programme. Candidates with experience in digital humanities or substantial involvement in museums and other art institutions are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will be expected to teach a workload of five courses for undergraduate and taught postgraduate students, provide academic guidance and supervision to students, and participate in departmental service.
The advert promises a 'highly competitive salary' and applications must be in by 30th June 2024.
Good luck if you're applying!
National Galleries of Scotland Image Rights
May 29 2024
Picture: National Galleries of Scotland via @arthistorynews on 'X'
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bendor has shared news on 'X' (formerly Twitter) that the National Galleries of Scotland no longer claim copyright in digital images of historic artworks. This came after the museum responded to a freedom of information request (FOI) following the recent Appeal Court clarification (in THJ vs Sherdian). Click on the link above the read the full thread.
I'm sure we'll hear more news on this in due course.
Christie's Client Data Held Ransom
May 29 2024
Picture: artnews.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
More disturbing news has broken regarding the recent hacking of Christie's website. According to reports, the cyber extortion group 'Ransom Hub' says that it has the data of 50,000 clients from the auction house.
According to the article above:
“It is clear that if this information is posted they will incur heavy fines from the violation of GDPR as well as ruining their reputation with their clients and don’t care about their privacy,” the group apparently wrote in the message. [...]
In a statement, Christie’s spokesperson Edward Lewine said “our investigations determined there was unauthorized access by a third party to parts of Christie’s network,” adding that the hacker group gained “some limited amount of personal data” on certain clients, but that it had no evidence of “financial or transactional records” being compromised.
New Website for the Museum Prinsenhof Delft
May 29 2024
Picture: Museum Prinsenhof Delft
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (the international network of curators of Dutch and Flemish art) have pointed out that the Museum Prinsenhof Delft have launched a new website and online collection database. Their collection contains 16,000 works and many fine paintings too. The images uploaded online are rather good quality, many happy hours spent browsing to be had I'm sure!
Sleeper Alert!
May 29 2024
Picture: Campo & Campo
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Social media has been awash with news that this painting, catalogued as 'Portrait of a Sultan' realised a staggering €3m over its €2,000 - €4,000 estimate yesterday at Campo & Campo in Belgium. The painting, which appears to be Dutch and quite possibly 17th century, is actually thought to depict an Indian ruler rather than a Turkish one.
Blog on!
May 29 2024
Picture: AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Apologies for the slow service this week, I was away giving some tours of the pictures of Waddesdon Manor for the Sotheby's Institute yesterday. A breathtaking collection, days could be spent examining each of the rooms it seems.
Lots has happened since last week, so I better get going!
