Dimanche 22 septembre 2019
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
A Small Portrait by François Gérard Stolen at Versailles 25/02/2014
A painting by François Gérard representing the portrait of Comte Regnault de Saint-Jean d’Angély standing has disappeared from the château’s storage rooms as announced in Le Parisien and confirmed by the museum. The theft was noticed on 14 February (...)
Two Small Portraits by Jan de Bray Acquired by the Fondation Custodia 04/04/2012
These two companion portraits, of a young man and a young woman, by Jan de Bray hung on the Bob Haboldt stand at the Maastricht Fair a few weeks ago. They have now entered the collection of the Fondation Custodia in Paris, and are being (...)
Two XVIIIth century French paintings for museums in Normandy 28/12/2007
The Musée d’Evreux has once again surprised us with a first : after organizing a major exhibition with The School of Philippe de Champaigne
Reims Wishes to Acquire Henry Vasnier’s Dining Room by Emile Gallé 09/01/2013
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims has just set out in a race against time in order to acquire the Art Nouveau style dining room by Emile Gallé, considered one of his masterpieces, before the auction being held on 16 February 2013. This furniture (...)
ADMICAL Launches a Petition for Patronage 14/06/2012
We had passed on the information revealed by Vince Noce in Libération here on our site, concerning the French Budget Ministry’s wish to cut fiscal deductions for patronage by half. The news was confirmed today in the same newspaper by Aurélie (...)
First acquisitions by the Louvre-Abu Dhabi 12/06/2009
The Louvre-Abu Dhabi acquisitions started at the Bergé auction as we had been the first to announce. Nineteen objects in all have been purchased since then and are now on exhibition in Abu (...)
Reopening, Acquisitions, Appointment : An Update on the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie in Senlis 09/10/2012
The director of the museums in Senlis, Bénédicte Pradié Ottinger, who passed away last 18 July, experienced the joy, a few days earlier, of attending the reopening of the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie in Senlis to which she had devoted all her energy. (...)
Closing of the Barockmuseum in Salzburg 27/09/2012
The times are indeed not conducive to art and culture in general, both in France and the rest of Europe. Thus, in Salzburg, the Barockmuseum, located in the south wing of the Orangerie at the Mirabell Palace, which held the Rossacher collection (...)
Ingres and Gericault for sale in Paris 24/03/2010
Although sales for drawings are down this week in Paris as compared to the same period in the last few years, several very important 19th century French drawings came up for auction on Wednesday, 24 (...)
A Biard Painting Donated to the Dallas Museum of Art 19/03/2013
Charles Baudelaire did not like François-Auguste Biard and signed his critical execution in a few lines when reviewing the Salon of 1846, once again proving that this great poet was a mediocre art critic. In fact, Biard was a multi-talented (...)
The BnF Is Launching a Fundraising Drive for Jeanne de France’s Book of Hours 03/09/2012
Museums are now increasing their direct appeals to help in acquiring works. Even if only to provide the final push completing a budget put together by more conventional methods - the museum’s own funds, heritage funds, regional acquisition funds (...)
Two Beautiful Auctions in Paris (Artcurial and Christie’s) 08/04/2013
Next 10th April two beautiful auctions will be taking place in Paris, one at Artcurial with an equal number of drawings and paintings as well as sculptures, the other one at Christie’s devoted solely to old master and 19th century drawings. The (...)
The Battle for the Theater in Poitiers 29/11/2013
A little over a year ago, we started a series on the historical heritage of the city of Poitiers. We published only two articles though there were many issues to be discussed there, as in other cities as well. Today, the problem concerns the (...)
Marie Antoinette’s Bathroom Restored at Versailles 13/11/2011
Let us begin in a positive way. Marie-Antoinette’s bathroom (La Pièce des Bains de Marie-Antoinette), located on the ground floor, at the left as you enter the vestibule from the marble courtyard, had been restored in 1984. Strangely enough, this (...)
Tours 1500. Art Capital 01/06/2012
The School of Tours, art in the Val-de-Loire, the art of leisure, Flemish influence, Italian presence... The theoretical discussions concerning French art during the early Renaissance carried out in the 20th century resulted in a rich vocabulary (...)
The Entombment of Christ by Giambattista Tiepolo joins the Lisbon Museum 01/01/2008
Last November 29, Giambattista Tiepolo’s Entombment of Christ, one of his last works, painted in 1769 or 1770 in Spain, was auctioned to the Portuguese government by the sales house Leiria & Nascimento for 1.5 million (...)
Charles VII’s canopy : a major acquisition for the Louvre 26/09/2010
The work which has just joined the Objets d’Art at the Louvre thanks to the Amis du Louvre, is not only the most important one to have been acquired in many years by this department but also a major attraction for visitors, a very significant (...)
The Two Ivories for the Descent from the Cross finally Acquired by the Louvre 04/02/2013
We had already known for several weeks that the fundraising drive launched by the Louvre for the acquisition of the ivory statues, the Synagogue and Saint John, completing a 13th century Descent from the Cross, had reached its goal. In order (...)
Death of Roseline Bacou and Adeline Cacan de Bissy 06/03/2013
Roseline Bacou passed away last 8 February at the age of 89. After graduating from the University of Montpellier, she joined the Cabinet des dessins at the Louvre in 1949 where she spent her whole career, finishing from 1984 to 1988 as head of (...)
Acceptance in Lieu for British museums 2005-2007 26/08/2007
Acceptance in Lieu is the English system which allows payment of inheritance taxes with works of art, an equivalent of the French system of “dation”.
No Abu Dhabi, no reserves ? 20/09/2008
The French Ministry of Culture has been very adamant in calling for a new storage facility for the reserves of those museums located along the Seine river. The risk of record flooding for the century seems to indeed be quite real according to (...)
French government to sell off Notre Dame in Paris ! 01/04/2009
Façade of future L… M… Water World (before restoration), Paris Photo : Wikipedia We know that the French government, desperately in need of money, is selling off whatever it can. After the Hôtel de la Marine, it was obvious that this (...)
Saint Michael’s Lamp, a Work by Félicie de Fauveau Acquired by the Louvre 04/03/2013
The Louvre has lent one of its latest acquisitions to the Historial de Vendée at Lucs-sur-Boulogne, currently presenting an exhibition on Félicie de Fauveau, which we will return to at length soon. The lamp, known as The Lamp of Saint Michael, (...)
A Portrait by Abraham de Vries Acquired by the Petit Palais in Paris 06/03/2013
It had been much too long since the Petit Palais had acquired an old master painting. This is now corrected with the announcement that the Parisian museum has purchased a portrait of a man by Abraham de Vries from the London gallery, Rafael (...)
Two paintings by Giovanni Battista Lama acquired by the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Agen 17/11/2008
The museum in Agen has just acquired two very beautiful Neapolitan paintings,
A Sculpture by Pedro de Mena Acquired by the San Diego Museum of Art 20/01/2013
Art lovers visiting Spain are always amazed by the exceptional quality of the 17th century sculptures residing in the churches, monasteries and museums in this country, especially since they are rarely found abroad and that artists such as Juan (...)
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau 05/04/2010
Architecture is the most difficult art form to exhibit since it cannot be moved and thus has to be evoked in various ways so as not to bore visitors with the same uninspiring plans and engravings.
Van Dyck’s Self-portrait Joins the National Portrait Gallery 01/05/2014
Late last year we had pointed out the launching of a fundraiser at the National Portrait Gallery for the purchase of a Self-Portrait by Van Dyck painted the year before he died when living in England, at the court of Charles I. The work had (...)
Recent acquisitions by the Metropolitan Museum : Annibale Carracci and Gaetano Gandolfi 13/06/2010
In 2009 the Metropolitan Museum received a small copper by Annibale Carracci representing Saint John the Baptist Showing Christ as a donation from Fabrizio Moretti and Adam Williams in tribute to Everett Fahy. The work had been sold at (...)
A Painting by Luca Penni Acquired by the Louvre 08/01/2013
Thanks to a chance offering on the art market, an extremely rare occurrence since there are very few painted works by Lucas Penni still preserved, the Musée du Louvre acquired a painting by this master (from the Jan Muller Antiques gallery in (...)
Fontainebleau is not Schönbrunn 08/11/2007
1. Château of Fontainebleau Quartier Henri IV, north wing, northern façade overlooking the city Current state. The entire façade is painted yellow Photo : D. Rykner (30 August 2007) A section of the château of Fontainebleau, known as the (...)
Five landscapes attributed to Mauperché acquired by the Musée de Sainte-Ménehould 26/02/2010
Closed since 2004 due to security problems, the Musée de Sainte-Ménehould, a small town which has gone down in history as the place where Louis XVI was recognized during his flight from France before being arrested in Varenne, is undergoing a (...)
Censored ! 15/03/2009
A few weeks ago the French public television channel, Arte, wanted to interview me on the show Metropolis for a program on culture in Abu Dhabi and particularly the Louvre satellite to open there. They were, in their own words, “having a hard (...)
A Don Quixote by Natoire Joins Compiègne 27/10/2012
Over two years ago, we had talked about a fundraiser launched by the château de Compiègne for the purchase of a national treasure : a tapestry cartoon by Charles Natoire representing The Duchess’ Maidservants Remove Don Quixote’s Arms which was to (...)
First signs of conflict of interest for the Louvre Abou Dhabi 08/04/2009
France-Muséums has just started acquiring works for the Abou Dhabi museum and there are already signs of a conflict of interest with French museums, ultimately settled to the detriment 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 (...)
Call for patrons for the Portrait of Count Molé by Ingres 03/02/2009
The Journal Officiel today published a call for patrons in the business world for the acquisition by the Louvre of the
A David Drawing Purchased by the Met for $840 11/03/2013
Paul Jeromack announced it in an article published in The Art Newspaper : the Metropolitan Museum last 29 January purchased a drawing by Jacques-Louis David at an auction held at Swann Galleries in New York for the very reasonable amount of (...)
The Bulletin of the Association des historiens de l’art italien now ArtItalies 27/09/2012
The Association des historiens de l’art italien (AHAI) comprises specialists in Italian art of all nationalities, not only Italian art historians. Created in 1993, it publishes an annual bulletin offering studies dealing with the many aspects of (...)
The Focillon Scholarship is threatened 28/01/2009
For the last few decades, the Focillon scholarship, bearing the name of the famous art historian Henri Focillon (1881-1943), has enabled French art historians
An update on inventory checks of art works on deposit in France 02/02/2009
The press conference held at the French Ministry of Culture last Thursday, 29 January 2009, confirmed once more statements already made on several occasions since the creation in 1996 of the mission to check inventories directed by Jean-Pierre (...)
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 (...)
A Portrait of Talleyrand by François Gérard Joins the Metropolitan Museum 09/10/2012
What a masterpiece ! The expression might sound a bit trite but is the first to come to mind when looking at the Portrait of Talleyrand by François Gérard just acquired by the Metropolitan Museum from the Wildenstein Gallery in New York. The (...)
Leonardo da Vinci. Painter at the Court of Milan 13/11/2011
Nicholas Penny had announced there would be no more blockbuster exhibitions. The one now highlighting Leonardo da Vinci at the National Gallery is thus a bit paradoxical as one would be hard put to imagine a restrospective drawing larger crowds (...)
The Louvre without Vermeer 13/09/2008
1. Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) The Astronomer Oil on canvas - 51 x 45 cm Paris, Musée du Louvre (but not in 2009) Photo : Wikipedia With all eyes riveted on Abou Dhabi and Verona, the hope was that the Louvre-Atlanta agreement had been put (...)
The Mayor of Paris willing to sacrifice the Serres d’Auteuil 29/10/2010
Those of you who have never visited the Serres d’Auteuil, should waste no time in discovering this magnificent landmark, significant for its historical heritage with its greenhouses built in 1897 by Camille Formigé as well as its extraordinary (...)
New galleries open at the Musée d’Orsay 02/02/2009
As announced at a press conference last 4th September (see article), the Musée d’Orsay recently inaugurated several rooms in what was previously the lobby of the building (north-west corner). These new spaces, adjacent to the reception (...)
The Tarantino Gallery exhibits Roman Baroque 03/12/2008
By coincidence, at the same time as we decided to publish a special coverage on the Roman Baroque the recently opened Tarantino Gallery in Paris has chosen to devote its second exhibition to the same (...)
Cahors Mobilizing Support for Henri Martin 15/03/2012
On 1st April, Rennes Enchères auction house will put 42 paintings by Henri Martin, brought together by the collector Paul Riff (1858-1929) who purchased the works during the artist’s lifetime, on the block. Little is known about the connections (...)
Rediscovery of An Annunciation by François Le Moyne, on Loan to the National Gallery in London 19/12/2011
The catalogue raisonné of François Le Moyne by Jean-Luc Bordeaux, Arthéna Ed. 1985, lists a lost Annunciation under number 66. In his biography on Le Moyne, Count de Caylus explained that he thought the work had left for England. He was right (...)
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