Leonard A. Lauder Publication Grants
February 7 2025
Picture: metmuseum.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art are inviting applications for publication grants 'in the field of modern art and theory, and modern visual culture'. Six grants are available per year, with a value of typically between $4,000 and $7,000, with no single grant more than $12,000 to be awarded.
Applications must be in by 31st March 2025.
Upcoming: The Brilliance of the Spanish World in Milwaukee
February 7 2025
Picture: Milwaukee Art Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Visitors to Milwaukee in May 2025 will be able to visit their latest exhibition entitled The Brilliance of the Spanish World: El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán.
According to their website:
Featuring works from the most significant collection of Hispanic art outside of Spain, The Brilliance of the Spanish World: El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán presents more than 50 paintings by renowned and influential Hispanic artists of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain established the first worldwide empire through exploration and colonial conquest, generating wealth that led to the flourishing of art and literature. This exhibition offers a glimpse into this era of artistic ambition and cultural complexity. The resulting artworks range from powerfully emotive paintings of saints and biblical scenes created in service of the Roman Catholic faith in Spain and its many colonies to starkly secular formal court portraits of influential, wealthy, and, in some cases, infamous figures.
The show will run from 5th May until 27th July 2025.
Funded PhD to Study Female Miniaturists
February 7 2025
Picture: wrocah.ac.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities at the University of Leeds and the National Portrait Gallery in London are inviting applications for a funded studentship / doctoral award on the subject of The Female Miniaturist 1680-1840: Recovering lives, practices and representations.
According to the post online:
This project is a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the National Portrait Gallery. It investigates an overlooked aspect of female artistic practice: the portrait miniature. During the period 1680 to 1840, miniature production was increasingly dominated by women, yet there is no definitive study of the female miniaturist: her importance obscured by a focus on male counterparts, and her achievements sidelined by an increasingly institutionalised art world. In reconstructing the lives and practices of female miniaturists in the period, the project will draw on the National Portrait Gallery’s rich collection of miniatures and archival material as well as a range of literary and non-literary sources. The result will be an important contribution to the history of art and culture in the period.
The studentship comes with an annual maintenance grant of £20,780 and applications must be in by 5th March 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
Louvre Conserves Van Dyck's Charles I
February 7 2025
Picture: Louvre
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
C2RMF (Center And Search Restoration Musées De France) have published an article on the recent restoration of Van Dyck's Charles I à la chasse. The article features a brief history of the various campaigns of restoration in the past, followed by some nice zoomable images.
As it happens, I was lecturing in Paris this week and was blown away by the freshness of the colours. What a striking difference compared to its appearance in the RA's Charles I exhib back in 2017.
Sotheby's New York Results
February 7 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Yesterday's Sotheby's New York Master Paintings Part I sale realised $27,528,000 with a sell-through rate of 59.2% / 50.9% including withdrawn lots.
Several pictures soared past their estimates, including Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Nest Robber which achieved $3m over its $1.2m - $1.8m estimate, Cornelis de Vos' Portrait of a Young Girl which made $2,040,000 over its $600k -$800k estimate, a Tintoretto portrait which achieved $2,160,000 over its $800k - $1.2m estimate, a Workshop of Botticelli tondo which made $660,000 over its $100k - $150k estimate and a Bay Cob by Stubbs which made $540,000 over its $150k - $200k estimate.
The Aso O. Tavitian single-owner sales will begin today (featuring many fine Old Masters), so this total is likely to be higher once those are done.
Christie's New York Results
February 6 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Yesterday's Old Masters auction at Christie's New York realised $24,487,900 (all figures include premiums) with 75% of lots sold / 70% including withdrawn lots.
Several lots managed to soar past their estimates, including Wtewael's Adam and Eve which realised $2,046,500 over its $1m - $1.5m estimate, Van Dyck's Saint Jerome which realised $403,200 over its $100k - $150k estimate, Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Seven Acts of Mercy which realised $1,865,000 over its $700k - $1m estimate, and a portrait of Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, which made $239,400 over its $40k - $60k estimate. Other works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Van Goyen, Ruisdael and Pieter de Hooch also achieved impressive results.
Here's the latest news from Artnet regarding the withdrawal of the El Greco, which (subject to the outcome of this review) seems like it may be offered by the auction house again in due course.
Omai heading to Bradford, Cambridge and Plymouth
February 5 2025
Picture: NPG
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Art Newspaper has reported on news that the National Portrait Gallery in London will be sending their jointly acquired £50m Portrait of Omai on tour this year. He'll be heading to the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford from 22nd May to 17th August 2025, and then onto to the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge from 17th October to 1st February 2026, and then finally The Box in Plymouth from 14th February until 14th June 2026. Once his UK tour is complete he'll be heading to the Getty in Los Angeles in time for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Harvard Gifted Munch Treasure Trove
February 5 2025
Picture: Harvard Art Museums
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Harvard Art Museums have announced that they have received a gift of 62 prints and 2 paintings by Edvard Munch from the collection of Philip A. ’37 and Lynn G. Straus. The works will feature in an upcoming exhibition which opens on 7th March 2025.
According to their website:
“It is hard to overestimate the significance of Munch’s painting ‘Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones).’ Capturing the tension between proximity and distance — spatial as well as emotional — the work addresses the universal theme of the human condition,” said Lynette Roth, the Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum at the Harvard Art Museums. “The Strauses had generously loaned their painting for the inaugural installation of the renovated Harvard Art Museums building that opened in November 2014, and we are thrilled to be able to teach with and display it alongside the other significant paintings from their collection going forward.”
On the Same Wavelength: Art, Science and Conservation at the Nasher Museum of Art
February 5 2025
Picture: today.duke.edu
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, North Carolina, have just opened an interesting sounding exhibition entitled On the Same Wavelength: Art, Science and Conservation.
According to the website linked above:
Technical art history brings together art historians, conservators and scientists to gain deeper insights into works of art and the methods and intentions of their makers. A new exhibit opening Jan. 30 at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke, “On the Same Wavelength: Art, Science and Conservation,” explores the challenges and many accomplishments of these efforts.
Using microscopes, specialized cameras, scanners, and different wavelengths of light, the team examined objects from the Nasher Museum’s permanent collection, ranging from ancient American ceramics to a contemporary artwork made from found plastic.
Through the ever-evolving lens of technical art history, On the Same Wavelength presents the discoveries about these objects’ materials, original uses, and the techniques used to create them. This exhibition also highlights the role of the museum in navigating challenges related to an object’s condition, display and evolution over time because of aging and conservation.
The show will run until 22nd June 2025.
US Embassy in Paris sends George Washington to be Conserved
February 4 2025
Picture: US Embassy, Paris
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The US Embassy in Paris is sending their portrait of George Washington to France’s Center for Research and Restoration of Museum of France (C2RMF) to be conserved. According to the article linked above, when the painting was bequeathed to the US State Department in 1989 it was believed to be a straightforward copy. Only when technical analysis was undertaken in 2022 was it declared a work by Charles Willson Peale in full.
Colour & Light in Bedford
February 4 2025
Picture: The Higgins Bedford
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Higgins in Bedford, Bedfordshire, will be opening their latest temporary exhibition in a few days' time dedicated to Colour & Light.
According to their website:
Colour and Light is a captivating new exhibition exploring the fascinating relationship between colour and light in art from the 18th century to the present day.
The exhibition will showcase a dazzling array of works from The Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection, including iconic pieces by JMW Turner, John Singer Sargent, Sonia Delaunay, Peter Blake, and Chila Kumari Singh Burman.
The show will run from 15th February until 2nd November 2025.
Upcoming Release: Holbein
February 4 2025
Picture: Yale University Press
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that Yale University Press will be publishing a new in-depth biography on Hans Holbein the Younger in November 2025. The volume has been produced by Elizabeth Goldring, who has published widely on Tudor subjects including Nicholas Hilliard and Robert Earl of Leicester.
According to the book's blurb:
This landmark scholarly biography of Hans Holbein the Younger (c.1497–1543), court painter to Henry VIII, is the first in more than a century. This definitive account breathes new life into Holbein’s story. From his early days in Augsburg and Basel to his lasting impact on British art and culture, Holbein sheds light on the artist whose paintings would shape perceptions of the Tudor court for five hundred years. [...]
Beautifully illustrated, and including rarely seen paintings from private collections, this volume weaves the latest research – including new archival discoveries and scientific analysis – into a fresh examination of Holbein’s life and work.
Christie's New York El Greco Withdrawn?
February 4 2025
Picture: newsweek.ro / Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It's very sad news to see that the upcoming Saint Sebastian by El Greco has disappeared from the Christie's website, suggesting that the picture may have been withdrawn from their upcoming New York sale. There had been growing numbers of articles from the Romanian press regarding its provenance and how exactly the picture came to leave the Romanian royal collection. Although many of the press articles had claimed that the Romanian government had succeeded with placing some sort of block on the sale, the painting had continued to be on the auction house's website for some days. More news as and when it breaks.
Have you seen this Mengs?
February 3 2025
Picture: rtve.es
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Spain that the Prado in Madrid are looking for the following painting of Saint Cecilia by Anton Raphael Mengs. The picture was last seen during an exhibition in 2001 where the work was described as being in a Private Collection, Rome. The museum hoping to exhibit the canvas in an upcoming show which opens in November.
Frick Curatorial Fellowship
February 3 2025
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Frick Collection in New York are seeking applications for the Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Fellowship, 2025–26.
Here's the job description:
The Frick Collection is pleased to announce the availability of a six-month fellowship for an outstanding candidate who wishes to pursue research in the field of medals with a chronology spanning from around the year 1400 to 1900. The fellowship offers invaluable curatorial training and provides the scholarly and financial resources required for completing the assigned research project. Internationally renowned for its exceptional collection of western European art from the early Renaissance through the end of the nineteenth century, The Frick Collection—complemented by the equally significant resources of the Frick Art Reference Library—offers a unique opportunity for object-based research. The fellowship is best suited to a scholar pursuing research that contributes to expanding knowledge in the field of medals, and ideally around one or more objects included the vast collection of medals donated to the Frick by Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher.
The 6-month role comes with renumeration of $28,500 and applications must be in by 6th February 2025.
There's also an advert up for the Ayesha Bulchandani Curatorial Internship for Graduate Students, with separate details accessible via the link.
Good luck if you're applying!
Recent Release: Slavery and the Invention of Dutch Art
February 3 2025
Earl of Harewood sells Lady Worsley by Reynolds for about £25m
February 2 2025
Picture: Harewood House via Facebook
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has very kindly drawn my attention to big news published by the FT that the Earl of Harewood has sold Sir Joshua Reynolds' iconic portrait of Lady Worsley to the US private equity executive Steve Schwarzman for 'about £25m'. Schwarzman, co-founder of private equity group Blackstone, has purportedly been amassing a serious art collection for his Conholt Park in Wiltshire, a property which he is in the process of restoring. Alongside the Harewood Reynolds, which the paper describes as having been acquired through a private sale brokered by Christie's, Schwarzman has also acquired Thomas Gainsborough's full-length portrait of Lady Bate-Dudley (through the London dealers Simon C Dickinson), which until recently was on loan from a private collection to Tate Britain.
According to the article linked above:
The billionaire declined to comment this week but people close to the transactions confirmed that he was the buyer of both works. The Lascelles family decided to sell the Reynolds’ portrait to help cover the upkeep of Harewood House after receiving an anonymous offer through Christie’s private sales department. [...]
Representatives of Schwarzman have made approaches to other owners of rare 18th century paintings, according to people with knowledge of the London market. Sales have been made easier by the fact that he is not applying for export licences for the works, so there is no risk of any deal being blocked by the UK government.
Picture Specialists Wanted
February 1 2025
Picture: drawrecruitment.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It has been drawn to my attention that Draw Recruitment (specialists in art jobs) are currently looking for several picture specialists for various auction houses across the UK.
These include:
(1) Head of Pictures (North of England) - Established auction house with an already thriving department - Salary Negotiable - Depending on Experience.
(2) Old Masters Specialist ( Home Counties - North) - Established auction house - Salary Negotiable - ideally full time, but part time would be considered.
(3) Head of Pictures (South West of England) - Established auction house - Salary Negotiable - Full-Time
Head over to their website to find out more.
Picasso and Paper in Cleveland
February 1 2025
Picture: Cleveland Museum of Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm late to news that the Cleveland Museum of Art opened a fascinating sounding exhibition in December dedicated to Picasso and Paper.
According to their website:
Pablo Picasso’s prolonged engagement with paper is the subject of the groundbreaking exhibition Picasso and Paper, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris.
Showcasing nearly 300 works spanning the artist’s career, the exhibition highlights Picasso’s relentless exploration of paper. His appreciation of and experimentation with the material is revealed in the works ranging from collages of cut-and-pasted papers to sculptures from pieces of torn and burnt paper, manipulated photographs, drawings in virtually all available media, and prints in an array of techniques. The exhibition’s highlights include Femmes à leur toilette (1937–38), an extraordinarily large collage (9 13/16 x 14 1/2 feet) of cut-and-pasted papers, which will be exhibited for the first time in the United States; outstanding Cubist papiers collés; artist’s sketchbooks, including studies for his best known paintings, including Les Demoiselles d’Avignon; constructed paper guitars from the Cubist and Surrealist periods; and an array of works related to major paintings and sculptural projects.
The show will run until 23rd March 2025.
Beefsteak Club acquire Mercier Gambling Den
February 1 2025
Picture: Dickinson
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The London dealers Simon C Dickinson Ltd have announced their sale of Philippe Mercier's The Hazard Table to the historic Beefsteak Club.
According to the text from their Instagram post:
Influenced by Hogarth’s The Rake Progress, Mercier shows a moment of high drama, with a man jestering in despair having just squandered a fortune. Surmounting the chimney piece is a bust of Mercury, the god of financial gain and fraud and trickery, aptly surveying the gambling club below.
As part of our research we discovered that the picture was owned by three members of the original Beefsteak Club, and hung at the Bedford Arms in Covent Garden, where the original patriotic dining club, including Hogarth himself, met to dine on beef steaks every Saturday.
I had the chance to see the painting in person at the end of last year. It's an impressive work and filled with many curious pentimenti which shows Mercier must have laboured over many of the small details found within the picture.
