BBC Turner Documentary
November 20 2025
Picture: The Guardian
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm late to news that a new BBC Documentary, which aired in the UK yesterday evening, has explored the 'Secret Sketchbooks' of JMW Turner. The Guardian's article on the programme draws attention to claims from officials at the National Autistic Society that Turner may have been neurodivergent. Read more via the link above.
Sotheby's London Day Sale
November 19 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Sotheby's London Old Master Paintings Day Auction has been uploaded online. The sale will take place on 4th December 2025.
As usual with such sales, I won't point out what may or may not be of interest.
Miniatures from the Bearsted Collection at Philip Mould & Co.
November 19 2025
Picture: Philip Mould & Company
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The London dealers Philip Mould & Company are opening a new selling exhibition today of Miniatures from the Bearsted Collection.
According to their website:
This winter, the gallery will present Miniatures from the Bearsted Collection, an intimate exhibition of eight exceptional Elizabethan and Jacobean portrait miniatures. This collection comprises some of the finest and most precious examples by the master miniaturists Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver that our gallery has handled. Acquired from the descendants of Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, one of the most distinguished collectors of the early twentieth century in Britain, the collection offers a glimpse into the intricacies of the art of limning and the evolution of miniature painting in England.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue produced in collaboration with Dr Elizabeth Goldring, featuring new scholarship and detailed entries on each miniature.
The exhibition will run until 19th December 2025.
2025 Berger Prize Winner
November 19 2025
Picture: brepols
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from the Walpole Society that the Berger Prize Winner for 2025 is Eleonora Pistis, for her book Architecture of Knowledge: Hawksmoor and Oxford. The winner was announced last week at an event held at the Warburg Institute in London.
Here's a summary of the book from the publisher Brepols:
Nicholas Hawksmoor’s dream of a new Oxford, though only partially realized between 1708 and 1736, remains one of the most striking examples of the architecture of knowledge from the early modern period. This was a time of erudite experimentation on paper and in stone. Academics and Hawksmoor as their chosen architect, alongside a range of other figures, envisaged a network of streets, paths, gates, and squares connecting newly designed colleges and libraries, as well as the university press. Complementing the feverish activity on the multiple construction sites, the study, collection, and dissemination of architecture was profoundly reshaped by a variety of types of knowledge and practical expertise. Building, thinking, and learning were more tightly intertwined in early eighteenth-century Oxford than ever before at a renowned university as it pivoted from medieval to modern. The graphic legacy of this intense activity remains with us in an abundance of drawings, prints, and treatises, many of which are published here for the first time.
Klimt breaks Record in Lauder Sale
November 19 2025
Video: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's New York set a new record last night for the most expensive work of 'modern art' sold at auction. Gustav Klimt's Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) realised $236.4m (inc. commission) over its $150m+ estimate. The Leonard A. Lauder, Collector Evening Auction realised a total of $527.5m with all lots being sold.
Equally impressive prices were achieved down the road, with the Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale realising a total of $471,728,400. The separate The Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis sale realised an additional $218,066,600 with the highlight being Rothko's No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) which realised $62,160,000 over its 'estimate on request' price tag.
Michelangelo and Bologna
November 18 2025
Video: Siena News
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palazzo Fava in Bologna have just opened a new exhibition examining the relationships between Michelangelo and the city of Bologna. In particular, the show draws a great deal of attention of his early years and training, and features works such as Madonna della Scala (on loan from Florence) and several drawings by the master.
The exhibition will run until 15th February 2026.
Caravaggio in Florida
November 18 2025
Video: Tampa Bay's Morning Blend
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that the Museum of Fine Art in St. Petersburg, Florida, opened a new exhibition at the end of last month In Caravaggio’s Light | Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.
The show will run until 22nd March 2026.
Expedition Drawing: Masters from the Low Countries in Close-Up
November 18 2025
Video: KunstfreundeSalon
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a video produced by KunstfreundeSalon on the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne's recently opened exhibition entitled Expedition Drawing: Masters from the Low Countries in Close-Up.
According to the museum's website:
What secrets lie hidden in centuries-old drawings? How can we make these silent masterpieces speak? And how can we distinguish between originals and copies? These and other exciting questions will be answered in Cologne from 14 November 2025 in the exhibition ‘Expedition Drawing – Dutch Masters under the Magnifying Glass’. With this exhibition, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum is presenting the astonishing results of a research project lasting several years for the first time. Experts examined almost 850 drawings from the 15th to 18th centuries under the magnifying glass and microscope.
With a total of 90 works by masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Goltzius, visitors can journey through the fascinating world of Dutch drawing until 15 March 2026.
France to Tax the Possession of Art?
November 18 2025
Picture: artnews.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnews.com have reported on proposals the French government are drawing up to tax the possession of works of art in their 2026 budget. The French art world has rightly drawn attention to the absurdity of the idea, questioning how owners would 'declare' their collections alongside the inconsistency with other EU nations which would put those doing business in the country at a disadvantage. Click on the link to read more.
Scharf Collection on Display in Berlin
November 17 2025
Picture: Alte Nationalgalerie
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin opened a new exhibition at the end of last month dedicated to works on loan from the Scharf Collection.
According to their website:
The Scharf Collection, one of the most significant private art collections in Germany, is being showcased in a large-scale exhibition for the very first time. The collection primarily consists of French art from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as international contemporary artworks.
The exhibition in the Alte Nationalgalerie presents a selection of some 150 items, including prominent artworks by the likes of Auguste Renoir, Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, and takes visitors on a journey through the collection: from Goya and French Realism to the French Impressionists and Cubists to contemporary art. One special highlight is a selection of prints by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, which have been fully preserved in the collection.
The show will run until 15th February 2026.
Recent Release: Portrait Miniatures - Artists, Functions, Manufacturing Aspects, and Collections
November 17 2025
Picture: Tansey Miniatures Foundation
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The following interesting sounding volume entitled Portrait Miniatures - Artists, Functions, Manufacturing Aspects, and Collections has just been released (spotted via @karins42). The book is a collection of papers presented at a conference for the Tansey Miniatures Foundation in 2024.
According to the publisher's blurb:
A total of 22 internationally renowned experts from nine countries present the miniature portrait from different perspectives, discussing the private use of miniatures, special depictions, and messages conveyed by miniatures. Significant but little-known museum collections are introduced alongside insightful information about the living conditions of the artists active at the time. Lastly, aspects regarding the production techniques for miniatures are examined.
This fourth volume publishes the presentations given at the 2024 conference held by the Tansey Miniatures Foundation. Interested individuals from all over the world come together in Celle every two to three years at these conventions on the portrait miniature to discuss this special genre of portrait painting.
Latest Edition of The British Art Journal
November 17 2025
Picture: britishartjournal.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The latest edition of The British Art Journal has been published online.
Here's an impressive list of the articles contained within this free online publication:
Not Lady Jane Grey but Mary Nevill Fiennes, Lady Dacre
An attribution for the portrait of Sir Arthur Hopton and his secretary
Hogarth’s house at the Golden Head, Leicester Fields: Robert LS Cowley
The Welshman in A Rake’s Progress by William Hogarth (1697–1764)
Canaletto, the Sandby brothers and ‘Mr Crowle’: Philip Steadman
The life of Charles Philips (1703–1747) with a checklist of his works
Lorenz Natter (1705–1763)
Sketches Taken at Print Sales by Paul Sandby (1731–1809)
Identifying a mystery portrait by Arthur Devis (1712–1787)
The Flight Out of Egypt by Richard Dadd (1817–1886)
An undocumented portrait of Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst
Did Ben Nicholson and Jim Ede take advantage of Alfred Wallis?
Carel Weight during the Allied occupation after the Second World War
Framing Sheila Fell (1931–1979) as a social realist
‘Impressions in Watercolour: JMW Turner and his Contemporaries’
Neo-Impressionists at the National Gallery, London
Sir Francis Carruthers Gould, pioneering cartoonist
Viennese Prosecutors Order TEFAF Klimt to be Seized
November 17 2025
Picture: artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It emerged last week that public prosecutors in Vienna have ordered the seizure of Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona. The painting, which had appeared that this year's edition of TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation), is alleged to have been improperly released from Hungary (a claim which the Wienerroither and Kohlbacher Gallery deny). Click on the link for the full story.
Constable 250 in Ipswich
November 16 2025
Picture: Ipswich Museums
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Ipswich Museums in Suffolk will be celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the birth of John Constable with a series of special exhibitions at Christchurch Mansion in 2026.
According to their website:
To commemorate his life and work Colchester and Ipswich Museums present Constable 250, a programme of exhibitions and activities at the heart of which will be three landmark exhibitions at Ipswich’s Christchurch Mansion, featuring works from CIMS own collections alongside major loans from across the UK.
Here are the three main exhibitions that will be on display alongside their respective dates:
Constable: A Cast of Characters
28 March – 14 June 2026
Constable: Walking the Landscape
11 July – 4 October 2026
Constable to Contemporary
24 October 2026 – 28 February 2027
Bonhams December Sale
November 15 2025
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Bonhams London Old Master Paintings sale has been uploaded online. The auction will take place on 3rd December 2025. The top lot of the sale is this rather glorious Venetian picture by Guardi which carries an estimate of £200,000 - £300,000.
Clean the King's Pictures
November 14 2025
Picture: Royal Collection Trust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Collection Trust are hiring a Senior Paintings Conservator.
According to the job description:
The Royal Collection contains an unparalleled collection of nearly 8,000 paintings and 3,000 miniatures. Our team of talented Paintings Conservators are responsible for all conservation activities relating to the paintings displayed within the Royal residences, as well for loans from the Paintings collection.
As a Senior Conservator you will deputise for the Head of Paintings Conservation and support the overall management of the conservation studio as well as assessing and conserving paintings using the most appropriate methods and materials.
The job comes with a salary of £42,000 - £45,000 per annum and applications must be in by 22nd December 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
The Carracci drawings: The making of the Galleria Farnese
November 14 2025
Video: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Louvre have released the following video (in French) providing an overview of their recently opened exhibition entitled The Carracci drawings: The making of the Galleria Farnese.
According to their website:
The Musée du Louvre is moving the Galleria Farnese to Paris, where the most extraordinary collection of preparatory drawings ever assembled will recreate the gallery in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle. The immersive exhibition design reproducing the Galleria’s vault will also include a second ceiling: that of the Camerino, a small room Annibale Carracci was given to test his designs.
The exhibition aims to give visitors a closer look at the engaging character of the work’s key architect, Annibale Carracci. The Galleria Farnese drawings and other sheets Annibale completed before leaving for Rome will highlight the 34-year-old artist’s determination to bring about a stylistic and intellectual revival. Never before had so many drawings for a painted interior been preserved, from the rapid sketch outlining the artist's initial ideas to the large cartoon measuring several metres per side, which contains a full-scale drawing of the fresco.
The show will run until 2nd February 2026.
Chrisite's London Day Sale
November 14 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have uploaded their Old Masters to Modern Day Sale: Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture online. The auction will take place on 3rd December 2025.
As usual with such sales, I won't point out what may or may not be of interest.
Christie's London Evening Sale
November 13 2025
Picture: Chrisite's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have uploaded their upcoming Old Masters Evening Sale online. The auction will take place on 2nd December 2025.
Amongst the highlight are the following Flute Player by Gerit Dou at £2m - £3m, a Holy Family and Saints by Domenico Beccafumi at £1m - £2m, a Grand Canal scene by Bellotto at £1m - £1.5m, a set of The Four Seasons by the Workshop of Arcimboldo at £800k - £1.2m, a modello by Rubens of the Martyrdom of St Peter at £800k - £1.2m, and a Woman presenting her Child to Saint Blaise by Artemisia Gentileschi at £400k - £600k.
Sotheby's London December Sale
November 13 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's London have uploaded their upcoming Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction online. The sale will take place on 3rd December 2025.
Amongst the highlights are a late Rembrandt of Saint John on Patmos carrying an estimate of £5m - £7m (pictured), Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Census at Bethlehem at £3m - £5m, a triptych by the The Master of the Sherborne Almshouse Triptych at £2.5m - £3.5m, Hans Eworth's Portrait of the Duke of Norfolk from Waddesdon Manor at £2m - £3m, and a recently restored & upgraded Frans Hals at £800k - £1.2m.
