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Last update on 2/11/2016
Last update on 2/11/2016
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Age to the 1930's
Subscribe to The Art Tribune 14/04/2006
Newsletter 14/04/2009
The Newsletter in english is not yet available. You can subscribe to the Newsletter of La Tribune de l’Art, in French. Send us an e-mail to be informed when the English Newsletter will be (...)
Threat of demolition for the church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville 30/05/2010
The church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville is located in a neighborhood spared by the bombings which destroyed 80% of the city in 1940. It was built in a neo-Gothic style by the architect Victor Deleforterie, a follower of Viollet-le-Duc, on the (...)
The Duke of Luynes’ {Surtout} by Froment-Meurice Acquired by the Louvre 14/06/2013
During the remarkable exhibition at the Musée de la Vie Romantique, in 2003, highlighting the Froment-Meurice family, the Surtout commissioned by the Duke of Luynes from François-Désiré Froment-Meurice was included in the catalogue but not (...)
The restoration of the Hôtel Lambert goes to court before the Tribunal Administratif 06/09/2009
Louis Le Vau Hôtel Lambert, courtyard Photo : SCI Hôtel Lambert / M. Lombard This summer the Hôtel Lambert case took a surprising legal turn. The authorization permit issued by the Ministry of Culture (see news item of 23/6/09) was appealed (...)
The church of Saint Jacques d’Abbeville in more danger than ever 12/10/2010
Except for the local press, we were the first to talk about the church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville and the very serious threats to its existence. At the time, early last summer, the hope was that the situation would (...)
Two Louis Janmot works for the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Lyon 26/12/2010
1. Louis Janmot (1814-1892) Self-portrait, 1832 Oil on canvas - 81 x 65.5 cm Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts Photo : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon 26/12/10 – Acquisitions – Lyon, Musee des Beaux-Arts – In 2007, the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Lyon (...)
The Church of St Jacques in Abbeville near Destruction 05/02/2013
Nicolas Dumont, the mayor of Abbeville, must be feeling proud of himself. His strategy of letting the matter fester indefinitely will soon be the undoing of the church of Saint Jacques. We had provided a lengthy description here of the (...)
A Listing Application for Saint Gemmes d’Andigné 11/06/2013
We are often critical of the French Ministry of Culture when we find there is reason to do so but we also wish to commend its initiatives when warranted. Hence, we have just learned that a listing application was pronounced last 1st March for (...)
The Samaritaine and the Serres d’Auteuil : An Update from the Courtrooms 24/02/2014
Judges and demolishers do not share the time frame. Readers might remember the title of our article concerning the surprising (to use a euphemism) decision delivered by the "juge des référés" at the Tribunal administratif of Paris who concluded, (...)
Church Destructions : A Few Victories and New Threats 21/02/2012
The danger to several churches which some mayors wish to see destroyed and which we have often mentioned here is still very real but circumstances have improved for some of them. We feel it is time to take stock by pointing out these victories (...)
The destruction of France’s churches 24/05/2007
In November 2006, we spoke out against the demolition of the church in Saint-Georges-des Gardes, in Maine-et-Loire. An article in Le Figaro May 18, 2007 informs us that two other religious buildings are to be destroyed just a few kilometres away (...)
Christ Dead by Frère Luc re-discovered in Sézanne 23/11/2010
The former Récollets convent in Sézanne, owned by the town hospital, is well-known to specialists of 17th century French painting since the chapel houses a remarkable ensemble of works by the artist Claude François, better known as Frère (...)
Gustave Doré, Born a Painter 14/08/2012
No man is a prophet in his own country. Despite his success as an illustrator, Gustave Doré must have often reflected on this age-old maxim. The artist thought of himself above all as a painter but he was never acknowledged as such in France (...)
Janmot’s The Torture of Mezentius Acquired by the Musée d’Orsay 25/04/2014
The Etruscan king Mezentius : "went so far even as to mix dead bodies with humans, hand to hand, face to face, as a kind of torture, thus inflicting a slow death to these beings who liquefied themselves into pus and rot, in a miserable (...)
Symposia 14/04/2006
A San Giovannino Attributed to Michaelangelo Reconstructed 10/09/2013
Rarely a year, even a month, goes by without the discovery of a so called Michelangelo, be it Buonarroti or Merisi ! The readers of The Art Tribune are well aware as we regularly denounce these media scoops, often concerning works where an (...)
A canvas by Jean-Baptiste Oudry acquired by Compiègne 27/08/2008
Compiègne was a favorite among the royal residences for its excellent hunting grounds. Louis XV, who had Jacques-Ange Gabriel rebuild the château particularly enjoyed it and started riding through the domain (...)
Paintings recently acquired by the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts 24/04/2008
Here are some of the most recent paintings to have entered the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, either through purchases or donations.
One of the Crown jewels acquired by the Louvre 24/04/2008
We had published (in French, on La Tribune de l’Art) an article by Daniel Alcouffe concerning the disastrous sale in 1887 of the crown jewels
Antonio Paolucci, the new Director of the Vatican Museums 07/12/2007
Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Antonio Paolucci Director of the Vatican Museums, replacing the archeologist Francesco Buranelli who has completed his five-year term in the position and has now taken over as head of the secretariat for the (...)
Laurent Pécheux Works Recently Acquired by Museums 21/08/2012
A look at the catalogue of the Laurent Pécheux retrospective enables us to discover several acquisitions made since 2008 of works by this artist which we had not learned of earlier and thus had not mentioned here. The exhibition now provides us (...)
Links to art history websites 14/04/2005
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS (see also in assorted sites by art historians containing articles) Apollo : The current issue of the journal is free online (must sign up) The National Gallery of Canada’s Bulletin and Annual Bulletin (1963-1985) : All the (...)
Michelangelo : The Real Artist behind the Mona Lisa 01/04/2012
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) Oil on panel - 76.8 x 53 cm Paris, Musée du Louvre Photo : C2RMF Gianfranco Salvatori is well aware that he is about to set loose a veritable bomb which will go far beyond the confines of the museum world. (...)
Acquisitions by the Musée de la Révolution Française in Vizille : the 19th century 03/09/2010
The acquisitions policy at the Musée de la Révolution Française in Vizille pursues a dual objective : works executed during the revolutionary period and successive ones presenting notably the 19th century vision of the French Revolution. In the (...)
Napoléon III et la reine Victoria. Une visite à l’Exposition Universelle de 1855. 15/11/2008
Among the many exhibitions vying for the public’s attention in this particularly busy fall season, the one in Compiègne is without a doubt one of the best, spectacular as well as erudite, skillfully blending history and art history. It is (...)
Three Louvre miniatures recently attributed to Isaac Oliver 20/09/2008
The current events room of the Departément des Arts Graphiques at the Louvre is offering an exhibition devoted to 16th century and early 17th century miniature portraits.
Posting of the Repertory of Italian paintings held in France 29/06/2008
The INHA (Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art) has just posted the first part of one its most highly awaited databases, the Répertoire des tableaux italiens dans les collections publiques françaises XIIIe-XIXe (...)
Alexandre Cabanel 1823-1889. La tradition du beau 30/09/2010
The Musée Fabre continues to make essential contributions to art history through its exhibitions. Thanks to this establishment several important artists now boast a reference work, published in accompaniment to a thorough retrospective of their (...)
Get a hold of this beauty ! 02/04/2008
The Louvre is still offering great deals. If you are a millionaire and would like to organize an exhibition, this is definitely the place to come : ask for a couple of masterpieces and it will see you get them on condition you pay the right (...)
Publication of the Proceedings from the Colloquium on Frère Luc 19/07/2012
urely by accident or sometimes by choice, some artists (even second tier) frequently reappear in The Art Tribune headlines. This is the case for Claude François, known as Frère Luc, a 17th century French painter who has been featured in several (...)
Death of Philip Conisbee 19/01/2008
Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings at the National Gallery in Washington passed away last Thursday from lung cancer.
Péristyles, the Journal of the Amis du Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy 13/05/2013
An art history journal, especially one which has been around for some time, is so rare that we would like to point out a very discreet bulletin founded in 1992 which has appeared since then at regular intervals, twice a year. The title of the (...)
Depressing but Necessary 03/12/2012
Anyone who finds reading the bad news often presented in The Art Tribune a depressing experience should perhaps refrain from consulting the new website of the SPPEF, Société pour la Protection des Paysages et de l’Esthétique de la France. Its (...)
Bibliography for Modern Era Sculpture Posted Online 18/07/2012
The INHA has recently posted a new database offering a bibliography for sculpture from the modern era, drawn solely from periodical listings. The exact name is "bibliographie critique" but the "critical" aspect is not clear to us as, unless we (...)
A chronicle of planned acquisitions : Poussin for Montpellier and Ingres for the Louvre 10/11/2009
We have already mentioned several times the Musée Fabre’s project to buy a fragment of a Nicolas Poussin painting for which it already owns the right side, Venus and Adonis. The two pieces had been brought together for the exhibition Poussin and (...)
The Getty Museum Purchases a 16th century German Sculpture 09/12/2011
A few days after announcing it had purchased a portrait by Manet, the Getty Museum has acquired a remarkable German sculpture from the early 16th century, in limewood, representing Saint John the Baptist at a Sotheby’s auction in London, for (...)
What is The Art Tribune ? 14/04/2006
Legal Announcement 14/05/2006
Cancellation of the Louvre exhibition in Verona ! 24/05/2008
he news was released by Studio Esseci, the press agency in charge of communications for Linea d’Ombra : the exhibition of Louvre masterpieces in Verona
Frans Hals. Eye to Eye with Rembrandt, Rubens and Titian 19/04/2013
Comparing is not enough. The Haarlem exhibition on Frans Hals, an "adoptive" native son, which attempts to associate the artist with 16th century Venetian painting and also with some of his contemporaries, is a perfect illustration of these (...)
New database posted for Jewish looted art. 23/10/2010
The ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), directed by Alfred Rosenberg, was a major participant between 1940 and 1944 in the looting of Jewish art organized by the Nazis.
Site Map 14/06/2006
A Drawing by William Bouguereau Acquired by Bordeaux 12/04/2013
During the Christie’s auction this afternoon, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux pre-empted a large sheet by William Bouguereau for 9,000€ (before charges). This is a preparatory work for the figure of Hercules for the ceiling of the foyer at the (...)
Various Exhibitions in Paris around the Salon du Dessin 16/04/2013
There are many exhibitions this year during the Salon du Dessin in private galleries around Paris. Besides the ones we mentioned earlier, here are a few more presenting some very beautiful offerings. Certainly the most outstanding is at Boquet (...)
A Portrait by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein Restituted, Returns to Dresden 23/01/2012
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, (...)
BRAFA 2012 in Brussels 23/01/2012
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 Jabach Family by Charles Le Brun Joins the Met 16/05/2014
This fundamental painting, still lacking seriously at the Louvre, has just joined the Metropolitan Museum. However, the Parisian establishment is not to blame in this case since it was never given the opportunity to purchase this work which (...)
A Relief by Louis Le Conte Acquired by the Louvre 18/05/2014
The Département des sculptures at the Louvre made this beautiful acquisition at Sotheby’s Paris, purchasing this marble relief last 14 May which had remained unsold after the auction. The work represents Hope, identified by the anchor, and is by (...)
Mexico at the Louvre. Masterpieces from New Spain, 17th and 18th centuries. 09/05/2013
Among the positive actions exerted by Henri Loyrette as head of the Louvre there is the undeniable effort to extend the scope of the painting and sculpture collections to previously unexplored territories. This was notably the case first for (...)
