Mercredi 22 février 2012
Last update on 22/02/2012
Last update on 22/02/2012
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the 1930's
The museum in Leiden, Rembrandt’s hometown, has just acquired a panel by this artist, The Eyeglass Vendor, painted when he was 17, that is, one of the very first paintings which can be attributed to the master. This is an allegory of (...)
A self-taught Afro-American artist, Robert Seldon Duncanson was famous for his landscapes of the Hudson River School, influenced by the works of Thomas Cole and which expressed notably the stages of human existence in The Voyage of Life (1842), (...)
The King Drinks is one of the most famous subjects in Jacob Jordaens' work, and among the ones he most often painted. The oldest version is the one at the Staatliche Museum in Cassel, dating from the 1630's, then there are notably , that at the (...)
Despite having studied and lived several times in France, made friends there, decorated the Finnish pavilion for the Exposition universelle of 1900 and participated in the Finnish exhibition for the Salon d'Automne in 1908, Gallen-Kallela has (...)
The Musée has recently acquired, from F. Baulme Fine Arts in Paris, a study of the reception piece for the Academy by Jacques (or Jacob) van Schuppen painted in 1704, Meleager Killing the Calydonian Boar. The son of the Antwerp engraver, Pierre (...)
We recently mentioned several art history journals available only on internet. This series of news items will feature Spanish publications or those of Spanish-speaking countries, appearing in paper but also visible on the web. There are many (...)
Ignorance and foolishness can sometimes be more devastating than greed. How many art works have disappeared from churches because of this, destroyed or sold illegally amid general indifference without leaving any trace of their existence ? This (...)
The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, currently closed due to work on an addition and general refurbishment, has not however stopped all activity, rather the contrary. The adjacent chapel of the Oratoriens (which will be accessible directly through (...)
Between March and June 1942, the painting collection owned by Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, who had passed away in 1940, was dispersed at auction in Paris against de wishes of his family which had fled the Nazi persecutions. The documents from (...)
The Getty has just announced the acquisition of two very different works. One is a 16th century German panel, the other an 18th century French drawing. However, both are of the finest quality. The painting, representing the Trinity surrounded by (...)
Is Versailles starting a retreat, aware of its contradictions and that the debate concerning the PLU has now reached national proportions ? In any case, the press release issued last 27 January leads us to think (...)
As announced in our last article on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, we are going to try and make up for the delay in covering recent acquisitions, at least for the period since 2008, at this museum which adds to its collections each year (...)
A painting by Giovanni Lanfranco recently joined the collections of the Museum at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome ; sold by the Italian gallery, Alberto Di Castro, it represents Saint Luke Healing the Dropsical Child. The iconography seems to (...)
Torn between the violin, the drawing pencil and the paintbrush, between the United States where he was born, raised and died and Germany where he spent most of his career and achieved celebrity, Lyonel Feininger was a tormented artist who never (...)
One of the best exhibitions this winter has fortunately been extended until 27 February, providing us with the possibility of making up for lost time and discussing it here at last. There is almost a month left for visitors to go see it in (...)
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs can finally exhibit a piano sculpted by Rupert Carabin in 1900, for the first time today although it had been originally donated in 1938. A superb example of Art Nouveau furniture, this instrument was produced for (...)
True, the budget allotted to historical monuments and museums in France has managed to resist a bit better than that of our neighbors. In Europe, museums and historical monuments in countries such as Italy, the Netherlands or Spain, have seen (...)
A little over a year ago we had asked the following question in a series of articles : "what use are the laws on historical monuments ?". One of them discussed the château d'Ancenis, threatened by the Conseil Général de Loire-Atlantique, with the (...)
Last 24 January, the new PLU for Versailles could have been officially applied thus preventing any further opposition. Fortunately, the Société pour la Protection des Paysages et de l'Esthétique de la France, presided by Alexandre Gady whom we (...)
At the same time as the press conference held yesterday by Catherine Pégard, on 26 January, in Versailles, we also visited the restoration site for the Salon de Mercure which should end in June 2012, after ten months of work supervised by both (...)
Catherine Pégard held her first press conference as president of the Etablissement public du château et du domaine national de Versailles. She is definitely keeping a low profile stating that she relies on specialists (which has been confirmed so (...)
We spoke with Jean-Jacques Aillagon about the PLU Project for the city of Versailles and as we found his position on the subject particularly interesting, we asked him two questions which he graciously accepted to (...)
The Getty Museum has just announced the acquisition of a drawing attributed to Piero del Pollaiuolo which is a portrait of a young man dating from around 1470. Purchased at auction at Sotheby's New York on 25 January, it was estimated at (...)
We have already explained here why the argument presented by the Mayor of Versailles claiming the Schéma directeur de la région d'Ile-de-France (SDRIF) as a truly restrictive document cannot be taken seriously. We can now definitely prove that it (...)
The miniature painting representing Houdon sculpting Voltaire's bust by Marie-Gabrielle Capet, and which the Service des musées de France had demanded be withdrawn from the auction, was finally removed for conservation (...)
Churches, but also city halls and other public places, hold some welcome surprises for us. In this case, thanks to the sharp eye of a young municipal councilman, an important painting by Léon Bénouville, which had disappeared practically since it (...)
Theoretically, the French President's speech to the cultural world in Paris expressing his new year's wishes is usually posted on the Elysée website shortly after. But at publication time, this was still not the case and, not having been able to (...)
The massacre had been in the planning for some time : Paris City Hall has gutted the Dauphins fountains, Place de la République, with the passive complicity of the French Ministry of Culture which did not move a finger to protect them, totally (...)
The Chapel of the Ames du Purgatoire [Souls in Purgatory], which is located on the left side of the church of Sainte Marguerite in Paris, was built in 1761/1762 and designed by Victor Louis, the famous architect known for the theater in (...)
The Museum of Fine Arts in Seville has made some beautiful additions to its already rich collections. The first, acquired by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, illustrates the Rest during the Flight into Egypt ; produced at the end of the 17th or (...)
The exhibition which just closed at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and which we unfortunately could not see reflects the very dynamic policy of this institution, esteemed for its rich collections as well as its organization of (...)
This afternoon, 24 January, a miniature with no minimum price representing the sculptor Houdon, signed and dated bottom left "M.G. CAPET AN 9" was to go on the auction block at the Hôtel Drouot, room 16, at the auctioneers Pescheteau-Badin. (...)
The BRAFA which opened on 20 January in Brussels continues to improve in quality every year. True, old master paintings and drawings are, regrettably, fewer in number but this is compensated by the abundance of sculptures and, of course, art (...)
The Portrait of the Countess Thekla Ludolf by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein, also known as Young Woman with Drawing Board, had become one of his most popular works since its acquisition in 1940 by the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden. However, (...)
The response from Versailles City Hall to our articles, published here, is interesting. First of all because it does not bring into question any of our conclusions concerning the PLU, that is notably its consequences in terms of density and (...)
The painting attributed to Simon Vouet, a portrait of a woman representing perhaps his wife Virginia Vezzi, which the Musée Georges de La Tour wished to add to its collections thanks to a fundraising campaign , has finally been purchased and now (...)
Upon reading the two articles in La Tribune de l'Art, it would seem that a certain number of legal points have not been taken into consideration. We find it useful to provide a few more enlightening remarks which will help readers to better (...)
Our article on the exhibition to be sent by the Louvre to Fukushima was echoed in the media. We can now add more information : The exhibition is in fact a bit richer than we had originally announced and it also contains drawings ; a list dated (...)
A painting by Louis Cretey (from the Michel Descours collection) has joined the French public collections through acceptance in lieu. The Ministry of Culture has assigned the canvas to the Louvre which did not previously own any works by the (...)
We know that Jacques Thuillier, who recently passed away, was an exceptional collector and a generous donor to French museums. Two groups of works were donated respectively to Nancy and Vic-sur-Seille. The (very theoretical) anonymity (...)
About a month ago we had announced that the Louvre was set to purchase a national treasure, a painting attributed to Jean Malouel, Pietà with Saint John and Two Angels. This is now official, with the price tag amounting to 7.8 million euros, made (...)
The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille has acquired a beautiful portrait of a woman by Carolus Duran, which had come up for auction on 21 February 2010 at Mercier & Cie., estimated at between 8,000 and 12,000 €. A native of this city, the artist (...)
The Louvre will be sending about twenty works from all its departments (except Arts Graphiques) to three Japanese cities from 20 April to 17 September 2012 staying a little over a month at each stop[[The dates were provided by the Louvre. The (...)
Founded after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099, the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem experienced a tumultuous history. Having settled in Cyprus in 1291, after the occupation of Palestine by Islamic forces, then (...)
The relative simplicity and the lower costs of publishing on the internet have resulted in the appearance of several new art history journals. These can only be found online and publish in-depth articles with the help of a selection panel. Some (...)
The Versailles Municipal Council, on 24 November 2011, approved a revision of the Plan Local d'Urbanisme [Local Zoning Plan]. The city is therefore determined to implement its project consisting in replacing its current reversible zoning policy (...)
10/01/12 - Acquisitions - Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum - The Rijksmuseum has been holding two 17th century silver cups on deposit since 1970, which it has now purchased finally with help from several patrons [1]. These two objects (ill. 1 and 2), (...)
The engravings room in Berlin and the Augsborg Museum have jointly acquired, thanks to funding from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stiftung Preubischer Kulturbesitz), with the services of the Arnoldi-Livie Gallery in Munich, an (...)
The recent unveiling of the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s newly-restored Saint Cecilia has aroused much interest because of its uncertain attribution. ‘Dulwich Picture Gallery saves St Cecilia from ruin – but who painted her ?:as the rescued baroque (...)
In 1844, the Cabinet des médailles received David d'Angers' donation of the entire set of original plaster casts for his medallions, which then joined the collections permanently after his death in 1856. These works, invaluable steps in the (...)
