Sotheby's London December Sale
November 9 2024
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's London have just published their upcoming Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Evening Sale online. The auction will take place on 4th December 2024.
The top lots of this year's sale are 3 Italian Renaissance and baroque pictures. Amongst the highlights are Rosso Fiorentino's Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist (pictured), a painting that was in Catherine the Great's collection until the state sales of the fledgling Soviet Union, which carries an estimate of £2m - £3m. Alongside this is a Botticelli from the Lloyd Collection, depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned, which likewise carries an estimate of £2m - £3m (here's an article on the picture by The Times). The trio is topped off with a Magdalen in Meditation by Artemisia Gentileschi, also at £2m - £3m. Amongst the other top lots are works by George Stubbs, Osman Hamdy Bey and Eugène Delacroix.
Greuze at Galerie Eric Coatalem
November 8 2024
Picture: Galerie Eric Coatalem
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
For readers who might be travelling through Paris this month and next, the dealers Galerie Eric Coatalem have a special Greuze exhibition on display at present. Featuring 59 works, including drawings and paintings, the display will run until 20th December 2024.
Click here to view their catalogue for the exhibition, which has been published for free online!
Michael Sweerts. Realities and Mysteries in Seventeenth-Century Rome
November 8 2024
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition dedicated to Michael Sweerts has opened at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome today. The show features 13 works by the artist, mostly on loan from Italian collections, and contains new information about the painter and his contemporaries drawn from recent archival research.
The exhibition will run until 18th January 2025.
Ashmolean raise £4.48m to keep Fra Angelico Crucifixion in UK
November 8 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford have successfully raised £4.48m to keep Fra Angelico's Crucifixion in the UK. Readers will remember this painting from July 2023, when it was sold from the collections of the Marquess of Northampton at Christie's London.
According to the museum's press release:
The magnificent work, which has been in the UK for about two centuries, was sold to an overseas buyer and was at risk of leaving the country. Due to the work’s value and importance to the nation, the Reviewing Committee on the Exports of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, which is supported by the Arts Council, recommended that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport put a temporary export license stop - known as a deferral - on the work. In January 2024, the export deferral was announced, allowing the Ashmolean nine months to express interest in acquiring the work and raise the necessary funds to keep the painting in the UK. [...]
There are very few paintings by Fra Angelico in British public collections – a fact noted by the Reviewing Committee when considering their recommendation. Outside of London, it is only the Ashmolean that is fortunate enough to preserve a work by the master and his studio in its collection. This work, a hinged triptych that depicts the Virgin and Child with angels and a Dominican saint flanked by Saints Peter and Paul, is currently on display in the Museum’s gallery of Early Italian Art. The Crucifixion will soon hang alongside the later work, allowing visitors to appreciate both how the artist’s style developed over the course of his career and the extent to which his delicate, emotive approach was already established by the 1420s.
Recent Release: Campaspe Talks Back - Women Who Made a Difference in Early Modern Art
November 8 2024
Picture: Brepols
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The publishers Brepols have just released a new collection of essays on the themes of Women and Portraiture in honour of the scholar Katlijne Van der Stighelen who has recently retired from the University of Leuven.
According to the book's blurb:
Portraiture, supposedly a sijd-wegh der consten, was paved into a central avenue of inquiry in Van der Stighelen’s work. Her approach to the genre made it into a pathway for the introduction of women artists. What was a sijd-wegh became a zij-weg. From seminal publications on Anna-Maria van Schurman to revelatory exhibitions on Michaelina Wautier, Van der Stighelen’s particular brand of feminism has impacted scholarship as deeply as it has touched the museum-going public.
Women and portraiture are the core themes of the essays assembled in this book. The resulting group portrait is crowded and rambunctious and reflects the varied subject matter that has attracted Van der Stighelen’s professional attention. It also paints a partial portrait of the community of scholars that she has so generously fostered. In trying to summarize the motivations of authors to contribute to this volume or the gratitude of generations of art historians trained by her, it is best to quote the title of the first exhibition on women artists in Belgium and The Netherlands, which Van der Stighelen curated in 1999: Elck zijn waerom.
Bonhams December Sale
November 8 2024
Picture: Bonhams
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Bonhams London have uploaded their upcoming Old Master Paintings sale online. The auction will take place on 4th December 2024.
Although I don't usually comment on pictures within these sales, I thought it worth pointing out these two outstanding fancy pictures by Johann Zoffany, depicting a flower and watercress seller from eighteenth century London. They have descended directly from the family that acquired them over two centuries ago and are ripe for a clean as you can see. The pair carry an estimate of £300,000 - £500,000.
The Clark Institute Gifted 331 Works by Aso O. Tavitian
November 7 2024
Picture: NY Times
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has been gifted 331 works by the institute's late supporter Aso O. Tavitian. The gift also comes with a fund of $45m, part of which will go to fund the building of a new wing of the museum.
The highlights of the collection include:
Jan van Eyck (Netherlandish, c. 1390–1441) and workshop, Madonna of the Fountain, c. 1440, oil on panel. This rare panel is one of several period versions of one of Van Eyck’s last paintings, dated to 1439 and in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp.
Andrea della Robbia (Italian, 1435–1525/1528), Portrait of a Youth, c. 1470–1480, glazed terracotta. This exceptional work by Ieading Italian Renaissance sculptor della Robbia is modeled in deep relief, with the head and neck set off against a simple roundel glazed in blue, resulting in a sculpture that is remarkably lifelike and modern.
Jacopo da Pontormo (Italian, 1494–1557), Portrait of a Boy, c. 1535–40 or later, oil on fired tile. This sensitive, Mannerist depiction of an unknown boy, possibly a studio assistant, is rendered on the unusual support of a thick terracotta tile.
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640) Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1613–1615, oil on panel. While the identity of the sitter is no longer known, this portrait—made following the artist’s return from Rome in what is arguably his most fertile period—is a superb example of Rubens’s ability to capture the subtleties of character.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598–1680), Countess Matilda of Canossa, c. 1630–1639, bronze. This small-scale bronze figure is a reduction of the over life-size marble Bernini made for the tomb of Countess Matilda in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. The Tavitian gift also includes a rare painting by Bernini, thought to be a portrait of his brother Luigi.
Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808), Colonnade and Gardens at the Villa Medici, c. 1759, oil on canvas. The collection includes three landscapes by Hubert Robert, including this monumental plein air vista of gentlemen sketching on the grounds of the French Academy in Rome.
[...]
Elizabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (French, 1755–1842), Self-Portrait in Studio Costume (Pictured above), c. 1800, oil on panel. Several works by women artists are included in the collection, including eighteenth-century portrait painter Vigée-Lebrun, who is represented by this confident self-portrait.
Sotheby's New York will be auctioning off $14m worth of Old Masters from Tavitian's collection in January, the proceeds of which will go to the philanthropist’s foundation.
Lavinia Fontana acquired by NMWA Tokyo
November 7 2024
Picture: AHN 2024
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo have announced their recent acquisition (earlier in the autumn) of Lavinia Fontana's Portrait Antonietta Gonzales, a picture which was on Rob Smeet's stand at TEFAF in Maastricht earlier this year.
To quote their Instagram post dedicated to the picture:
The NMWA collects superb examples of Western art as part of our stated goal to form a collection that presents an overview of Western art history from the medieval period through mid 20th century. The newly acquired Lavinia Fontana painting is an important addition to the NMWA's growing collection of works by women artists.
Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 74
November 7 2024
Picture: Brepols
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The latest Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek will be published in a few days' time. The 74th volume of the yearbook is entitled Women: Female Roles in Art and Society of the Netherlands, 1500–1950.
Here's the blurb found on the publisher's website:
Long overdue in the history of the Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art, this volume foregrounds women as creators, patrons, buyers, and agents of change in the arts of the Low Countries. Venturing beyond the participation of ‘exceptional’ individuals, chapters investigate how women produced paintings, sculptures, scientific illustrations, and tapestries as well as their role in architectural patronage and personalized art collections. Teasing out a variety of socio-economic, legal, institutional, and art-theoretical dimensions of female agency, the volume highlights the role of visual culture in women’s lived experience and self-representation, asking to what extent women challenged, subverted, or confirmed societal norms in the Netherlands.
November Burlington Magazine
November 7 2024
Picture: Burlington Magazine
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
November's edition of The Burlington Magazine is focusing on the theme of Sculpture.
Here's a list of the prominent articles featured within:
‘Une pièce fort singulière’: the rediscovery of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s ‘Andromeda and the sea monster’ - By Maichol Clemente
Michelangelo’s Bruges Madonna: its patron, material and meaning - By Paula Nuttall
Fragments of a Ferrarese sketch by Donatello - By Marco Scansani
The foundation of the Society of Female Artists - By Amy Lim
Collecting modern Italian sculpture in Britain: Charles Meek and Medardo Rosso - By Sharon Hecker
The latest edition also contains no fewer than 19 book reviews, a sure sign of the continued flourishing of publications in our corner of the art world, it seems!
2024 Berger Prize Shortlist
November 7 2024
Picture: Walpole Society
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Walpole Society, the new home of the Berger Prize for publications on British Art History, have shared news of the short list for the 2024 award.
Here's a list of the publications included in this year's shortlist:
Steven Brindle, Architecture in Britain and Ireland 1530-1830 (Paul Mellon Centre)
Alicia Foster, Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris (Thames & Hudson)
Laura Freeman, Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle’s Yard Artists (Penguin, Jonathan Cape)
Alun Graves, Studio Ceramics (Thames & Hudson / V&A)
Tom Young, Unmaking the East India Company: British Art and Political Reform in Colonial India, c.1813-58 (Paul Mellon Centre)
Christie's London December Sale
November 7 2024
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Christie's London have just uploaded their upcoming Old Masters Part I sale online. The live sale will take place on 3rd December 2024 at 6.30pm.
The top lot of the sale is this rather fine Andalusian Horse by Van Dyck (pictured), estimated at £2m - £3m, a study which was executed for the artist's equestrian portrait of Charles V now in the Uffizi, Florence. Here's the full press release explaining its significance, including the fact the reverse contains the 'only surviving landscape in oil by Van Dyck'. The picture last made £773,750 when sold in the same rooms back in 2000, albeit in an apparently very yellowed state!
Amongst the other highlights of the sale are a commedia dell'arte scene by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo at £1m - £1.5m, a Semon of St John the Baptist by Pieter Brueghel II at £800k - £1.2m, and a pair of Venetian views by Michele Marieschi at £600k - £800k. The sale also contains several high-value nineteenth century works, including pictures by Francesco Hayez, Gustave Courbet and Michael Peter Ancher.
The Invention of British Art - trailer!
October 1 2024
Video: BG
Hi everyone, here's a trailer for The Invention of British Art, which is out next week (October 10th). It's available for pre-order now, through all the usual places (and ideally, your local bookshop!).
Advanced copies will be sold by Waterstones at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where I'll be speaking on October 7th.
James Cumberlidge Reidentified
October 1 2024
Picture: @edward.town
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Yale Center for British Art's curator Edward Town has shared a fascinating piece of research on his Instagram account. The project relates to the reidentification of a household servant which features in Chatsworth's 'Portrait of Lord Burlington with family' by Baptist van Loo. James Cumberlidge, whose descendants worked for the family into the nineteenth century, was rediscovered after research into payments was conducted (see the link for more details). The painting features in Chatsworth's Picturing Childhood exhibition which closes on 6th October 2024.
Update - Here's the full article which you can read on Chatsworth's website regarding Town's research on the painting.
Impulse Rembrandt. Teacher, Strategist, Bestseller in Leipzig
October 1 2024
Picture: mdbk.de
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig will be opening their latest Old Masters exhibition in two day's time. Impulse Rembrandt. Teacher, Strategist, Bestseller promises to chart Rembrandt's 'brand'.
According to the blurb on their website:
With around 140 paintings, drawings and etchings by Rembrandt and his pupils, the exhibition Impulse Rembrandt offers insight into the artist’s creative work and one of the largest workshop operations of 17th century Dutch painting. It explores Rembrandt’s fascinating ability to pass on idiosyncrasies of his painting style and at the same time promote the artistic individuality of his pupils. Between 1625 and 1665, Rembrandt attracted more young artistic talent from Holland and Europe than did any other painter in Amsterdam.
The exhibition is based on the museum’s own collection, which includes works by Rembrandt’s pupils and contemporaries such as Jan Lievens, Ferdinand Bol, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Aert de Gelder and others, but no paintings by Rembrandt himself [the picture above is attributed to Rembrandt's workshop, by the way]. Only one confirmed drawing along with etchings by the artist are in the MdbK’s Collection of Prints and Drawings. It is thus all the more delightful that, thanks to generous loans from museums in Amsterdam, London, Stockholm, Vienna and Paris as well as German collections, around 60 paintings, drawings and etchings by Rembrandt can be presented.
The exhibition will run from 3rd October 2024 until 26th January 2025.
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It seems like a journey to this exhibition must be co-organised with a trip to Vienna to see the KHM's upcoming Rembrandt - Hoogstraten show which opens on 8th October 2024!
Woof in King's Lynn
October 1 2024
Picture: Lynn Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Hot on the paws of the Wallace Collection's wildly successful 2023 dog exhibition is the Lynn Museum in Norfolk's new show entitled Woof: A Celebration of Dogs which opens today.
According the museum's website:
Drawing on Norfolk Museums Service's extensive collections, alongside significant loans, the exhibition includes natural history, archaeology, and art works of both local and national importance - including works by renowned artists Sir Edwin Landseer, Andy Warhol and David Hockney.
Probably the first animal to be domesticated, dogs have been our constant companions for many millennia building an extraordinary bond with humans. Discover how ancient artefacts depicted dogs or wolves from myth and legend including a Roman coin, an Egyptian cartonnage (part of the coffin for a mummy), and an Anglo-Saxon urn.
Explore how artists have celebrated dogs in their role as pets and companions or portrayed their noble and symbolic qualities - from a tender painting of a spaniel curled up in the lap of a young girl, to Andy Warhol's colourful pop-art portrait of a friend's pooch, to a Newfoundland famous for his life-saving exploits.
The show will run until 29th June 2025 - providing readers with ample opportunity to discover the surrounding areas of King's Lynn too!
Early Rediscovered Poussin coming up at Ader
October 1 2024
Picture: Artnet
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnet have shared news of an early rediscovered Poussin which is coming up for sale at the French auction house Ader later in November. Vénus Épiée par Deux Satyres, which was researched with the assistance of Eric Turquin and featured in an exhibition last year in Lyons, will carry an estimate of 'up to €1m'.
Dorotheum Sale
October 1 2024
Picture: Dorotheum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Dorotheum in Vienna have recently published their upcoming Old Masters sale online. As usual, there are many interesting and fascinating lots to browse through. The sale will take place on 22nd October 2024.
Torcuato Ruiz del Peral Exhibition in Granada
October 1 2024
Picture: museosdeandalucia.es
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A new exhibition has recently opened at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada celebrating the career of the sculptor Torcuato Ruiz del Peral (1708-1773). Considered one of the last great sculptors in the grand Baroque manner, the show draws on works from private and public institutions in order to mark the 250th anniversary of his death.
The display will run until 5th January 2025.
'The Invention of British Art' (ctd.)
September 26 2024
Picture: National Trust
Bendor again with news of another talk for my book tour. This time we're at Hardwick Hall, and - how about this! - in the amazing High Great Chamber, one of Bess of Hardwick's grandest rooms and most innovative creative achievements. I'll be speaking about the role of Tudor art in the broader history of British art. It's on Tuesday 22nd October, 16.30. Tickets are available here.
