Ducal Apartments in Urbino Reopened
June 3 2025
Video: Tele2000
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that the famous apartments of the Dukes of Urbino in the Ducal Palace have reopened after a 7-month research and restoration project. The campaign had included the redisplay of paintings in the Studiolo del Duca, of which 14 'high tech reproductions' were commissioned from the originals which are in the Louvre.
Brueghel & Van Balen at the Musée de Flandre
June 3 2025
Picture: Musée de Flandre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Musée de Flandre in Cassel, France, opened their latest exhibition dedicated to Brueghel & Van Balen earlier in May. As expected, the display will investigate the relationship and collaborations between both artists, drawing on loans from major museums across Europe.
The show will run until 28th September 2025.
Museo de Arte de Ponce Artworks in Dallas
June 3 2025
Video: Fox4
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that the Meadows Museum in Dallas Texas opened a new loan exhibition earlier this year entitled The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce. The show will continue until 22nd June 2025.
Wallace Collection Transformation Ahead
June 3 2025
Picture: The Wallace Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Wallace Collection in London have announced their appointment of Selldorf Architects 'to lead transformational masterplan' of Hertford House.
According to their press release:
This ambitious project will reimagine and revitalise the museum’s spaces for the 21st century, preserving the charm and unique character of the building while improving access, sustainability and visitor experience. The masterplan marks a significant investment in the long-term future of the museum and its ability to connect diverse audiences with one of the world’s most remarkable art collections. [...]
The masterplan will address a wide range of priorities: from improving visitor welcome and circulation to enhancing gallery spaces, creating a new Learning Centre, upgrading environmental conditions and improving accessibility throughout the historic site. There is also potential to reimagine the museum’s dedicated temporary exhibition space, restaurant and event facilities, and for critical improvements to be made to staff and back-of-house areas – all designed with sensitivity to the listed building and its distinctive character.
Update - Bendor adds, 'uh oh'.
Clara Peeters Self Portrait coming up at Sotheby's London
June 2 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
More news regarding the upcoming London Old Master Paintings highlights this evening, as Sotheby's have announced they will be offering what might be the only known Self Portrait by Clara Peeters. The picture was last sold in 1994, when it was presumably with London dealers Rafael Valls (according to the RKD), and will now be offered in July carrying an estimate of £1.2m - £1.8m.
Dobson Self Portrait acquired by Tate and NPG
June 1 2025
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times that William Dobson's earliest Self Portrait has been jointly acquired by Tate and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London for £2,367,405. The picture had realised £1,106,500 over its £200k - £300k estimate at Bonhams in 2016 where it was acquired for a private collection.
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Fans of the period will know that another Self Portrait by the artist is owned by the Earl of Jersey and is currently on permanent loan to Osterley Park, run by The National Trust. On balance, I'm sure many would agree that the Jersey picture is more interesting and desirable for historical and aesthetic reasons (not to mention its obvious connection to the ex-Jersey collection Van Dyck Self portrait acquired by the NPG in 2014). Might this new acquisition suggest that neither institution might be willing step in to help acquire the Jersey picture, if it indeed ever came up on the market in the future?
Jacob Jordaens Self Portrait and others coming up in July
May 31 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
This is the time of year Old Master addicts like me start to hang around auction house landing pages waiting for glimpes of what is to come in the upcoming London July sales. Amongst the interesting previewed lots at Christie's is this Self Portrait by Jacob Jordaens, which will carry an estimate of £300,000 - £500,000. The entry for the picture on the RKD suggests it was last on the market in the 1960s and has been on permanent loan to Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel in recent years.
The Sotheby's London landing page shows that they will be offering a signed and dated David and Goliath by Artemisia Gentileschi, presumably the one unveiled by conservator Simon Gillespie in 2020, alongside mentions of works by Clara Peeters (featuring a presumed self portrait), Dirck van Baburen, David de Haen, Vilhelm Hammershøi and Ivan Aivazovsky.
More news as and when it appears.
Getty acquires Giandomenico Tiepolo Head
May 30 2025
Picture: Getty Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to the news that earlier the month the Getty Museum in Los Angeles announced their acquisition of Giandomenico Tiepolo's A bearded man wearing a turban. The work had sold at Christie's New York in January 2024 for $945,000 (inc. commission).
Largest Ever Company Paintings Exhibition Opens in New Delhi
May 30 2025
Video: NDTV
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that the largest ever exhibition of East India Company Paintings, ever staged in India that is, has just opened at DAG (a commercial art gallery) in New Delhi.
According to their website:
If we look beyond outmoded prejudices and focus on the accomplishments of Company painting, we will note that this was the moment when Indian artists who had trained in courtly ateliers first moved outside the court to work for new patrons. The agendas of those patrons were not tied up with courtly or religious concerns. They were enthralled by India’s flora and fauna; by its architectural traditions; and by the costumes, customs and manners of its diverse peoples; and they looked to local artists to capture these details in images that would help them understand an environment that was new to them. Never mind that the patrons were foreigners, and their vision could be ill-informed. What should strike us now is how the artists responded to their demands with skill and passion, creating entirely new templates of Indian art. Company painting, while reflecting India’s past, also shows us a moment of modernity.
The show will run until 5th July 2025.
Holburne Museum seeking new Chair of the Board
May 30 2025
Picture: Holburne
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Holburne Museum in Bath is looking for a new Chair of the Board of the Trustee Company to succeed Edward Bayntun-Coward DL, whose term concludes in July 2026. Applicants must express their interest by 30th June 2025.
Flemish Festivities in Lille
May 30 2025
Video: MEDIACONNECT
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm a little slow to news that the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille opened a new exhibition dedicated to Flemish festivities Brueghel, Rubens, Jordaens last month. The show will run until 1st September 2025.
Louvre to hand back Rothchild Treasures
May 30 2025
Picture: artnews
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Curious news from France that the Louvre will be handing back 258 works from the bequest of collector Adèle de Rothschild (d.1922), after it was deemed that her wish for her 'cabinet of curiosities' to remain intact had been violated. Click on the link to read the full story.
Bilbao restores Pedro Berruguete
May 29 2025
Picture: Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Artnet that the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao have conserved Pedro Berruguete's Annunciation.
According to the article:
The restoration, which took place between September 2025 and March 2025, brought in two specialists, one to handle the paint layer and another to tackle the gilding. As X-ray, infrared, and ultraviolet analysis showed, cracks and depressions had appeared across the work, possibly from candle heat while it was a church altarpiece. Furthermore, a century of dirt and an oxidized varnish had dulled the painting (see above image). The restorer, Elisa Mora Sánchez, cleaned the work, removed the old varnish, and filled in the gaps with plaster, before reapplying a new varnish. For the gilding, Mayte Camino Martín toned down the previous restorations of the gold sections before carefully reintroducing them with gold watercolor.
“All these elements make this Annunciation a fine example of Berruguete’s art,” the museum said. “A painter who was able to create his own style with direct knowledge of the main schools of his time.”
New release: Beyond Adornment - Jewelry and Identity in Art
May 29 2025
Picture: yalebooks.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Yale Books and the J. Paul Getty Museum have this month released a new book on Beyond Adornment - Jewelry and Identity in Art. The volume was written by Yvonne J. Markowitz and Susanne Gänsicke.
Here's the blurb:
Artistic renderings of the human figure—in portraiture, sculpture, and other media—in a range of allegorical, historical, and religious images often showcase jewelry. The ornaments depicted in such designs offer an abundance of information that not only heightens our understanding of the subject but also provides insights into the imagination of the artist. Jewelry enhances our enjoyment of works of art because it is visually compelling, sensuous, and laden with an array of associations and symbolic meanings.
Bringing together spectacular and significant art objects depicting figures wearing sumptuous personal adornments that define who they are within the specific milieus in which they lived, this richly illustrated and accessible volume represents a novel, interdisciplinary approach to the ways in which jewelry can be studied and understood.
Florence and Europe. Arts of the Eighteenth Century at the Uffizi
May 29 2025
Video: Classicult
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Uffizi in Florence opened a new temporary exhibition yesterday under the title Florence and Europe. Arts of the Eighteenth Century at the Uffizi. As you'll see from the video above, amongst the exciting displays is a 'live' restoration of Pierre Subleyras's The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine de' Ricci, which was acquired from Filippo Benappi's stand at TEFAF in 2024.
The display will run until 28th November 2025. I wonder how far they'll get with the restoration of the picture by then...
Genius and Majesty at Versailles
May 29 2025
Picture: Palace of Versailles
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palace of Versailles will be opening their latest exhibition Genius and Majesty - Louix XIV by Bernini next week.
According to their website:
From 3 June to 28 September 2025, the Palace of Versailles is presenting an exhibition focusing on the famous bust of Louis XIV created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a key figure of the Italian baroque era in the 17th century, better known in France as ‘le Bernin’.
This exhibition is running in tandem with the restoration work which has been taking place in the Diana Room since October 2021 to restore the decorative painted and sculpted scheme on the ceiling, coving and overdoors to their former glory. This room offers a setting designed to reveal the full detail of the connection between the genius of the artist and the majesty of his bust of Louis XIV.
The exhibition, which is being presented in the Dauphine’s apartment, turns the spotlight in particular on one of the most iconic artefacts in the palace collections: the bust of Louis XIV, sculpted in marble by Bernini during his trip to Paris in 1665.
V&A East Storehouse
May 29 2025
Video: BBC via Mark 1333
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that the highly anticipated V&A East Storehouse opens to the public on Saturday (31st May 2025). As you'll see, the idea of open storage is a very exciting one - especially as the website promises that 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books and 1,000 archives will be featured within the displays. I wonder how many paintings will be on show? Regular readers might remember Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opened a similar style facility back in November 2021.
Master MS and His Age in Budapest
May 28 2025
Picture: Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, opened a new exhibition last month dedicated to Master MS and His Age.
According to their website:
The exhibition showcases one of the most significant yet enigmatic figures of medieval Hungarian art, known as Master MS. At the heart of the monographic exhibition is Master MS’s most famous work: the former high altarpiece of Saint Catherine’s Church in Selmecbánya (now Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia). The seven surviving panel paintings of this monumental masterpiece of late medieval art have never before been brought together in a single exhibition.
The exhibition, where visitors can see nearly one hundred works of art, maps, models, goldsmith’s pieces and period documents. They will not only discover the artist’s known and newly attributed works, but also a comprehensive overview of his artistic milieu, the artistic regions that influenced his style, and the historical context of Hungary at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The curators even suggest a possible solution to one of the most interesting mysteries in Hungarian art history: who might be behind the MS monogram.The monographic exhibition, organised in conjunction with the Christian Museum of Esztergom and with contributions from over twenty lending institutions, will hopefully open a new chapter in the decades-long research into Master MS’s identity and art.
The exhibition will close on 20th July 2025.
Upcoming Release: The Art Market and the Museum
May 28 2025
Picture: bloomsbury.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bloomsbury will be publishing the interestingly titled The Art Market and the Museum: Institutional Collecting, Display and Patronage since the Mid-Nineteenth Century next month. The volume was edited by Frances Fowle and MaryKate Cleary.
According to the publisher's website:
This book considers how art market stakeholders, including art dealers, collectors and agents, have shaped museum collections and affected exhibition practices since the mid-nineteenth century. Based on new archival research and data analysis, it explores the role of dealers not only in selling directly to museums, but in influencing museum collecting priorities, as well as potential donors. It also examines the important but hitherto overlooked contribution of the female curator-agent.
The book is divided into three sections, which address the relationship between art dealers and museums, women as art agents and influencers, and the strategies of entrepreneurial collectors. Featuring contributions from a wide range of international specialists in the market for decorative arts and antiquities, as well as European modernism, The Art Market and the Museum explores the origins and development of the modern Western art market and the global art networks that operated not only in Paris, London and New York, but in cities such as Glasgow, Vienna, Melbourne and Kansas City. It is perfect reading for scholars and researchers on the history of the art market, museum studies and art history more broadly.
Drawing by 11-year-old Joseph Wright of Derby Rediscovered
May 28 2025
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has shared news of this rather interesting rediscovered drawing by the 11-year-old Joseph Wright of Derby. The work on paper, which features within the Derby Museum's recently opened Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper show, was unearthed in a private collection and is currently in the care of dealers Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker.
According to the article:
The head of Silenus is proudly inscribed “Jos Wright 11 Years”, and may have been copied from a print in a book from his father’s library—or, curator Lucy Bamford thinks, possibly from an inn sign in the city.
The exhibition, which contains no fewer than 50 works on paper by the artist, will run until 7th September 2025.
