National Portrait Gallery in London opens ‘Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends’

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'Lily Millet', 'Paul Helleu sketching with his wife (An Out-of-Doors Study)', 'Ramón Subercaseaux', 'The Fountain, 1880, 1885-6, 1886, 1889, 1890, Édouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron, Carolus-Duran, Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood, Dame Ethel Smyth, Frascati, Italy, John Singer Sargent, La Carmencita, Robert Louis Stevenson, Self Portrait, Villa Torlonia

Self-portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1886. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Collections.

LONDON.- A major exhibition of works by one of the world’s most celebrated portrait painters, John Singer Sargent, opens at the National Portrait Gallery today (Thursday 12 February 2015). Organised in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the exhibition brings together, for the first time, a collection of the artist’s intimate and informal portraits of his impressive circle of friends, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin.

Dame Ethel Smyth by John Singer Sargent, 1901 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Curated by Richard Ormond CBE, co-author of the John Singer Sargent catalogue raisonné, the exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends (12 February – 25 May 2015) explores the artist as a painter at the forefront of contemporary movements in the arts, music, literature and theatre, revealing the depth of his appreciation of culture and his close friendships with many of the leading artists, actors and writers of the time.

John Singer Sargent, ‘Group with parasols’, 1904-1905 © Private collection

Bringing together remarkable loans, some rarely exhibited, from galleries and private collections in Europe and America, the exhibition will follow Sargent’s time in Paris, London, Boston and New York as well as his travels in the Italian and English countryside. Musée Rodin, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Musée d’Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts are amongst the institutions that are lending works.

John Singer Sargent, ‘Ramón Subercaseaux‘, 1880.  The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee.

Sargent’s portraits of his friends and contemporaries were rarely commissioned and allowed him to create more experimental works than was possible in his formal portraiture. His sitters are depicted in informal poses, sometimes in the act of painting or singing, resulting in a collection of highly-charged, original portraits. These paintings form a distinctive strand in Sargent’s work which is noticeably more intimate, witty and radical than his commissioned portraits, and, when seen together in the exhibition, will challenge the conventional view of the artist.

John Singer Sargent, ‘Lily Millet’, 1885-6. © Private collection

Key exhibits include the only two surviving portraits Sargent painted of his friend and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, which will be displayed together for the first time since they were painted in the 1880s. Also reunited in the exhibition will be Sargent’s portraits of the Pailleron family, drawn from collections in Paris, Washington DC and Iowa. The bohemian writer Édouard Pailleron and his wife were among Sargent’s earliest French patrons, to whom the young artist owed much of his early success. Their individual portraits are displayed alongside Sargent’s portrait of their children, Édouard and Marie-Louise, for the first time in over a century.

Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent, 1887 © Courtesy of the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio

Édouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron by John Singer Sargent, 1881. ©Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa.

Other exhibition highlights include Sargent’s important portrait of his master Carolus-Duran (1879), which played a pivotal role in the development of his career after it was praised in the 1879 Paris Salon; his charcoal drawing of the celebrated poet William Butler Yeats (1908); and three of his greatest theatrical portraits painted between 1889 and 1890: Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, Edwin Booth and La Carmencita, the wild Spanish dancer.

Carolus-Duran by John Singer Sargent, 1879. ©Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. Photo: Michael Agee.

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent, 1889 © Tate, London

John Singer Sargent, La Carmencita, 1890. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photograph: National Portrait Gallery/PA

Two sections in the exhibition focus on the portraits and plein-air figure scenes he painted during time spent in the artistic community in the village of Broadway in rural Worcestershire, and those he painted after 1900 on his travels to the Alps and southern Europe. Sitters include Sargent’s familiars such as the artists Jane and Wilfrid de Glehn who accompanied him on his sketching expeditions to the continent and often feature as a pair in his work. In these paintings Sargent explored the making of art (his own included) and the relationship of the artist to the natural world.

The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, by John Singer Sargent, 1907. Friends of American Art Collection, 1914.57. The Art Institute of Chicago.

John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925) was the son of an American doctor and was born in Florence. He studied painting in Italy and France, and in 1884 caused a sensation at the Paris Salon with his painting Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau). The scandal caused Sargent to move to England, where he subsequently established himself as the country’s leading portrait painter. He made several visits to the USA where, as well as portraits, he worked on a series of decorative paintings for public buildings such as the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts.

John Singer Sargent, ‘Paul Helleu sketching with his wife (An Out-of-Doors Study)‘, 1889. Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum Collection Fund.

Curator Richard Ormond CBE says: ‘Sargent’s enthusiasms were all for things new and exciting. He was a fearless advocate of the work of younger artists, and in music his influence on behalf of modern composers and musicians ranged far and wide. The aim of this exhibition is to challenge the conventional view of Sargent. As a painter he is well known; but Sargent the intellectual, the connoisseur of music, the literary polymath, is something new.’

John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood, 1885. Presented by Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs Ormond through the Art Fund 1925. © Tate, London

Dr Pozzi at Home by John Singer Sargent, 1881. The Armand Hammer Collection. Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Dr Pozzi at Home by John Singer Sargent (detail), 1881. The Armand Hammer Collection. Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

« La Toilette, Naissance de l’Intime » au musée Marmottan Monet

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"Après le bain", "Devant la psyché", "Etude pour une photographie publicitaire", "Femme au miroir", "Femme dans son bain s’épongeant la jambe", "Femme peignant ses cheveux", "Gaby d'Entrées", "Jeune femme à sa toilette", "Jeune femme nue, "Karen Mulder portant un très petit soutien-gorge Chanel, "La Femme à la puce", "La toilette : Madame Favre (femme se faisant les mains)", "L’enfant gâté", "Le Bain, "Le rouge à lèvres", "Les femmes à la toilette", "Nu au tub", "Nu dans la baignoire", "Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d’Estrées et la Duchesse de Villars au bain", "Une dame à sa toilette", "Vanité" ou "Jeune femme à la toilette", 1638, 1738, 1742, 1885-1890, 1890, 1891, 1897, 1898, 1902, 1903, 1908, 1920, 1927, 1948, 1965, 1996, 30 avril 1936, Alain Jacquet, École de Fontainebleau, à mi-corps, Berthe Morisot, Bettina Rheimsve, Circa 1626, dit Cagnaccio di San Pietro, Edgar Degas, en train de se peigner", Erwin Blumenfeld, Eugène Lomont, Femme a la Montre, femme nue couchée", Fernand Léger, Fin du XVIème siècle, François Boucher, François Eisen, František Kupka, Georges de La Tour, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, janvier 1996, musée Marmottan Monet, Natalino Bentivoglio Scarpa, Nicolas Régnier, Pablo Picasso, Paris, Pays-Bas du Sud, Pierre Bonnard, Salomon de Bray, tenture de la vie seigneuriale", Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, Vers 1500, Vers 1635, Vers 1883, Wladyslaw Slewinski

Nicolas Régnier, « Vanité » ou « Jeune femme à la toilette« , Circa 1626. Huile sur toile, 130 x 105,5 cm, Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts © 2014 DeAgostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence

PARIS – Après avoir célébré les quatre-vingts ans de l’ouverture du musée au public à travers les deux expositions temporaires « Les Impressionnistes en privé » et « Impression, soleil levant », le musée Marmottan Monet présente du 12 février au 5 juillet 2015 la première exposition jamais dédiée au thème de La Toilette et à La Naissance de l’Intime.

Edgar Degas, « Femme dans son bain s’épongeant la jambe« , Vers 1883. Pastel sur monotype, 19,7 x 41 cm, Paris, musée d’Orsay, legs du comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911 © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

L’exposition réunit des œuvres d’artistes majeurs du XVe siècle à aujourd’hui, concernant les rites de la propreté, leurs espaces et leurs gestuelles.

Edgar Degas, « Après le bain« , 1903. Fusain et rehauts sur papier, 71 x 71 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL

C’est la première fois qu’un tel sujet, unique et incontournable, est présenté sous forme d’exposition. Dans ces œuvres qui reflètent des pratiques quotidiennes qu’on pourrait croire banales, le public découvrira des plaisirs et des surprises d’une profondeur peu attendue.

Pays-Bas du Sud, « Le Bain, tenture de la vie seigneuriale« , Vers 1500. Laine et soie, 285 x 285 cm, Paris, musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Age © RMN Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen-Âge) / Franck Raux

Des musées prestigieux et des collections internationales se sont associés avec enthousiasme à cette entreprise et ont consenti des prêts majeurs, parmi lesquels des suites de peintures qui n’avaient jamais été montrées depuis leur création.

Pierre Bonnard, « Nu dans la baignoire » – Sans date (vers 1940?). Aquarelle et gouache sur papier, 23,5 x 31,5 cm, Collection particulière, courtesy Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris © Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris / Christian Baraja ADAGP, Paris 2015

Une centaine de tableaux, des sculptures, des estampes, des photographies et des images animées (« chronophotographies ») permettent de proposer un parcours d’exception.

Pierre Bonnard, « Nu au tub », 1903. Huile sur toile, 44 x 50 cm, Toulouse, Fondation Bemberg © RMN-Grand Palais / Mathieu Rabeau, ADAGP, Paris 2015

L’exposition s’ouvre sur un ensemble exceptionnel de gravures de Dürer, de Primatice, de peintures de l’Ecole de Fontainebleau, parmi lesquels un Clouet, l’exceptionnelle Femme à la puce de Georges de La Tour, un ensemble unique et étonnant de François Boucher, montrant l’invention de gestes et de lieux spécifiques de toilette dans l’Europe d’Ancien Régime.

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, « La toilette : Madame Favre (femme se faisant les mains)« , 1891. Peinture à l’essence sur carton, 72 x 76 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL

Dans la deuxième partie de l’exposition, le visiteur découvrira qu’avec le XIXe siècle s’affirme un renouvellement en profondeur des outils et des modes de la propreté. L’apparition du cabinet de toilette, celle d’un usage plus diversifié et abondant de l’eau inspirent à Manet, à Berthe Morisot, à Degas, à Toulouse Lautrec et encore à d’autres artistes, et non des moindres, des scènes inédites de femmes se débarbouillant dans un tub ou une cuve de fortune. Les gestuelles sont bouleversées, l’espace est définitivement clos et livré à une totale intimité, une forme d’entretien entre soi et soi se lit dans ces œuvres, d’où se dégage une profonde impression d’intimité et de modernité.

František Kupka, « Le rouge à lèvres« , 1908. Huile sur toile, 63,5 x 63,5 cm, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, don d’Eugénia Kupka, 1963 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Claude Planchet ADAGP, Paris 2015

La dernière partie de l’exposition livre au visiteur l’image à la fois familière et déconcertante de salles de bains modernes et « fonctionnelles » qui sont aussi, avec Pierre Bonnard, des espaces où il est permis, à l’écart du regard des autres et du bruit de la ville, de s’abandonner et de rêver.

La Toilette, Naissance de l’intime. Du 12 février au 5 juillet 2015. Musée Marmottan, 2, rue Luis-Boilly – 75016 Paris. Ouvert du mardi au dimanche de 10h à 18h (20h jeudi)

François Boucher, « L’enfant gâté« , 1742 ? Ou années 1760 ?. Huile sur toile, 52,5 x 41,5 cm, Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe © akg-images

François Boucher, « L’Œil indiscret » ou « La Femme qui pisse« , 1742 ? Ou années 1760 ?. Huile sur toile, 52,5 x 42 cm, Collection particulière © Christian Baraja

Abraham Bosse (d’après), « La Vue (femme à sa toilette)« , Après 1635. Huile sur toile, 104 x 137 cm © Tours, musée des Beaux-Arts

François Eisen, « Jeune femme à sa toilette« , 1742. Huile sur bois, 36,5 x 27,3 cm, Abbeville, Musée d’Abeille © RMN-Grand Palais /Thierry Ollivier

François Boucher, « Une dame à sa toilette« , 1738. Huile sur toile, 86,3 x 76,2 cm, Collection particulière © Image courtesy of P & D Colnaghi & Co, Ltd, London

Edgar Degas, « Après le bain, femme nue couchée« , 1885-1890. Pastel sur papier, 48,3 x 82,3 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël Barithel

Eugène Lomont, « Jeune femme à sa toilette« , 1898. Huile sur toile, 54 x 65 cm, Beauvais, Musée départemental de l’Oise © RMN Grand Palais / Thierry Ollivier

Georges de La Tour, « La Femme à la puce« , 1638. Huile sur toile, 121 x 89 cm, Nancy, Musée Lorrain © RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Bernard

Salomon de Bray, « Jeune femme nue, à mi-corps, en train de se peigner« , Vers 1635. Huile sur bois, 54 x 46 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre, département des peintures, don de la Société des Amis du Louvre, 1995 © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot

Anonyme (École de Fontainebleau), « Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d’Estrées et la Duchesse de Villars au bain« , Fin du XVIème siècle. Huile sur toile, 63,5 x 84 cm, Montpellier, Musée Languedocien, Collections de la société Archéologique de Montpellier © Musée de la Société Archéologique, Montpellier, France / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images

Alain Jacquet, « Gaby d’Entrées« , 1965. Sérigraphie quatre couleurs sur toile, 119 x 172 cm, Courtesy Comité Alain Jacquet et Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris © Comité Alain Jacquet ADAGP, Paris 2015

Bettina Rheimsve, « Karen Mulder portant un très petit soutien-gorge Chanel, janvier 1996, Paris« , 1996. C-print, 120 x 120 cm, Signé au dos sur le cartel, Paris, collection de l’artiste © Bettina Reims copyright Studio Bettina Rheims

Pablo Picasso, « Femme à la montre« , 30 avril 1936. Huile sur toile, 65 x 54,2 cm, Paris, musée Picasso -Dation Pablo Picasso, 1979 © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda, © Administration Picasso 2015

Natalino Bentivoglio Scarpa, dit Cagnaccio di San Pietro, « Femme au miroir« , 1927. Huile sur toile, 80 x 59,5 cm, Vérone, collezione della Fondazione Cariverona © collezione della Fondazione Cariverona, Italy

Fernand Léger, « Les femmes à la toilette« , 1920. Huile sur toile, 92,3 x 73,3 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL ADAGP, Paris 2015

Erwin Blumenfeld, « Etude pour une photographie publicitaire« , 1948. Dye transfer, 51 x 41,5 cm, Signé en bas à droite, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, achat en 1986 © Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Christian Bahier / Philippe Migeat, © Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld

Berthe Morisot, « Devant la psyché« , 1890. Huile sur toile, 55 x 46 cm © Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny

Wladyslaw Slewinski, « Femme peignant ses cheveux« , 1897. Huile sur toile, 64 x 91 cm, Cracovie, musée national © Photographic Studio of the National Museum in Krakow / Jacek Świderski

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, « Le bain« , 1902. Pastel , 49, 5 x 64, 6 cm, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne / J.-C. Ducret Acquisition 1936 © Musée cantonal des Beaux-arts de Lausanne

‘Dahl and Friedrich: Romantic Landscapes’ opens at the Albertinum in Dresden

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Caspar David Friedrich, Johan Christian Dahl

Caspar David Friedrich, Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes, 1819/20, Copyright Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Foto: Jürgen Karpinski

DRESDEN – Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) and Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857) are both well-known as protagonists of Nordic landscape painting during the Romantic era. Dresden offered both artists a stimulating environment in which the two great modernisers developed their art and helped it blossom. It was this city that they chose to make their home for almost 20 years, where they worked in the same house, An der Elbe 33. This was where they received their students and became role models for a whole generation of young landscape artists.

Johan Christian Dahl, Nordische Flusslandschaft, 1819, Copyright Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design Oslo, Foto:Børre Høstland, Dag A. Ivarsøy, Frode Larsen, Therese Husby, Jacques Lathion

For the first time, the exhibition “Dahl and Friedrich. Romantic Landscapes” is directly juxtaposing an extensive selection of around 120 paintings and drawings by both artists and others from the same period and region. The exhibition has been made possible thanks to close cooperation with the National Museum in Oslo, and can be expected to remain the only one of its kind for some time to come. Oslo is home to the most extensive collection of works by Norwegian artist Dahl, while one of the largest collections of Friedrich paintings worldwide can be found in Dresden. The exhibition brings together a first-class selection of works from both collections in addition to numerous loans from renowned museums and private collections in Germany and abroad. Among the loaning institutions are the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum Oskar Reinhart in Winterthur, and the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna.

Caspar David Friedrich, Kreidefelsen auf Rügen, um 1818, Copyright: Museum Oskar Reinhart, Winterthur

Both the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue are divided into six chapters. A prologue provides an introduction to Dahl’s and Friedrich’s “Concept and Appropriation of Nature”. The “Landscape and History” selection of paintings concentrates on the historical content of the artists’ compositions. Two subsequent chapters focus on the motifs of “Stones, Cliffs and Mountains” and “Seas and Shores”; presenting the artistic styles of both painters. The chapter “Two Teachers in Dresden – Polarity and Synthesis” deals with their positions as artistic role models. To conclude, the chapter “Dresden – Images of a Cityscape” demonstrates how differently the appearance of the city in which both artists spent so many years, found its way into their work.

Johan Christian Dahl (1788 – 1857), Landschaft mit Regenbogen (Plauenscher Grund), 1819, Copyright: Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Oslo, Foto: Børre Høstland, Dag A. Ivarsøy, Frode Larsen, Therese Husby, Jacques Lathion

The purpose of the exhibition is to allow art lovers to gain a deeper understanding of Romantic era art in its home city of Dresden, while also opening up European dimensions by putting the spotlight on two internationally renowned artists from the epoch.

Caspar David Friedrich, Frau in der Morgensonne, um 1818. Oil on canvas. 22 x 30 cm. © Museum Folkwang, Essen.

Johan Christian Dahl (1788 – 1857), Blick auf Dresden bei Vollmondschein, 1839, Copyright: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Galerie Neue Meister, Foto: Jürgen Karpinski

Caspar David Friedrich, Frau am Fenster, 1822. Oil on canvas, 44 x 37 cm. © bpk/ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: Jorg P. Anders.

Installation views. Dahl and Friedrich. Romantic Landscapes, National Gallery, Oslo, 2014, 2015

Rediscovered preparatory work for one of Constable’s most celebrated masterpieces soars to $5.2 million

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John Constable, Salisbury cathedral from the meadows

John Constable, R.A., Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows. Oil on canvas, 45.7 by 61 cm.; 18 by 24 in. Est. $2/3 million. Sold for $5,205,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s 2015 Masters Week Sales are currently underway in New York and the opening session of Master Paintings just concluded bringing a strong total of $57,070,500, above the low estimate.

Thus far, twelve lots have sold for more than $1 million, including Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, a rediscovered preparatory work for one of John Constable’s most celebrated masterpieces, now in the Tate, which soared to $5.2 million after an extended battle, well in excess of expectations (est. $2/3 million). The top selling lot was Willem van de Velde the Elder’s Dutch Harbor in a Calm with Small Vessels, one of the greatest examples of a penschilderij (pen and ink painting) remaining private hands, which brought $5.4 million, above the high estimate and a new record for the artist at auction.

At least three additional auction records have been set this morning for artists including Giovanni Paolo Panini, Vittore Carpaccio and Antoine Coypel. This morning’s session was 72% sold by lot, with 97% of lots bringing prices at or above their estimates.

Sotheby’s auctions continue at 2 pm with Selected Renaissance and Mannerist Works Assembled by Fabrizio Moretti and a second session of Master Paintings at 3 pm.

Controversy Swirls Over Amount of BP’s Tate Sponsorship

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I851-1852, Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais, Tate Britain

Sir John Everett Millais, Ophelia, I851-1852. Tate Britain.

LONDON – After the Tate Britain waged an unsuccessful three-year legal battle to keep the numbers hidden, reports revealed Monday show just how much money the oil company BP has given the museum. Over a 17-year period the total was £3.8m, given in annual amounts varying between £150,000 and £330,000. The Tate calls it a “considerable sum” while protestors of the oil giant say it is an “embarrassingly small” figure.

On one side of the argument, writer and cultural sociologist Tiffany Jenkins noted: “The figures are smaller than they should be. BP has a lot of money and Tate is an important gallery and it would be nice if BP gave more. Tate should be asking for more.

“I have no problem with oil companies, we need them. I’m suspicious of this notion that the arts needs to be ethically funded. These are difficult times for the arts and they need the money.”

Among the protestors is Raoul Martinez, an artist, who said the sponsorship should end because of “BP’s horrendous environmental record, and their role in obfuscating climate science and slowing down a meaningful response to climate change – the greatest threat to humanity’s continued survival.

“Tate’s reaction to this criticism has been stubborn foot-dragging. And for what? A tiny percentage of their annual budget? It’s highly embarrassing for Tate, and should result in a decisive change of course.” (source: ARTFIX Daily)

Read more at Guardian

Samuel Morse’s monumental painting of Louvre masterpieces comes to The Huntington

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1831–33, Gallery of the Louvre, Samuel F. B. Morse

Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872), Gallery of the Louvre (1831–33), oil on canvas, 73 1/2 x 108 in. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago.

SAN MARINO, CA.– Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872), of Morse code fame, may be better known as an inventor, but he began his career as a painter, and his extraordinary six-by-nine-foot masterwork, Gallery of the Louvre, is on view at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Jan. 24 through May 4, 2015. The presentation of the focused exhibition “Samuel F. B. Morse’s Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention” at The Huntington marks the launch of a nine-venue tour of the United States organized by the Terra Foundation for American Art, from whose collection the painting is drawn.

Created between 1831 and 1833 in Paris and New York, Gallery of the Louvre reproduces famous works by van Dyck, Leonardo, Murillo, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Titian, among others, arranged in an imagined installation in the Salon Carré at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Morse depicted 38 paintings, two sculptures, and numerous figures in a single composition. The monumental canvas has been seen as a painted treatise on artistic practice, positioning Morse (the centrally placed instructor in the work) as a symbolic link between European art of the past and America’s cultural future.

Morse was born in Charlestown, Mass., in 1791. The son of a Congregational minister and geographer, he attended Yale University (then Yale College), studying science, art, and other subjects. Supporting himself with portrait painting, he caught the attention of American painter Washington Allston, with whom he traveled to London in 1811, and joined a circle of American artists that include John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, and John Trumbull. Morse was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts, London, at that time led by Sir Joshua Reynolds. As he wrote to his parents, Morse aspired “to be among those who shall revive the splendor of the 15th century, to rival the genius of a Raphael, a Michel Angelo, or a Titian.”

After enjoying some success in London, Morse returned to the U.S. in 1815 and soon married and began a family. In 1822, he painted a precursor to Gallery of the Louvre, the seven-by-ten foot House of Representatives (now in the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), for which he had to compile nearly 100 portraits of congressmen, delegates and other figures.

It was during a trip to Paris in September 1831 that Morse had the idea to craft another large-scale painting, this one of the Salon Carré in the Louvre, with carefully selected and arranged works from the Louvre’s collection. At the time, Morse was the founding president and professor of painting at the National Academy of Design in New York, and his interest in painting Gallery of the Louvre was clearly pedagogical. He hoped to bring back to Americans a teaching canvas depicting what he considered the major works of Europe.

The project required numerous calculations to scale and arrange the works, as well as the use of a camera obscura or similar pre-photographic optical device. Working furiously, Morse raced to finish the painting before the Louvre’s annual closure in August. He then rolled the canvas for travel and did not unroll it again until early 1833, back home on American soil, where he added finishing touches to the painting.

Gallery of the Louvre debuted publicly in Manhattan in the fall of 1833, along with a publication that included a description of the Louvre’s collections, a summary of the project, and an annotated key to the painting. Though it was displayed at a time when single-painting exhibitions were in vogue, and though the painting drew praise from critics and connoisseurs, it failed to attract a popular audience.

Morse’s development of the single-wire telegraph and Morse code began around the time of his disappointing Gallery of the Louvre exhibit, and he never again returned to painting.

Gallery of the Louvre in the 21st Century
In 2010, the Terra Foundation oversaw a six-month conservation treatment of Gallery of the Louvre that repaired damages that had occurred over time and yielded insight into Morse’s working methods. The painting’s conservation was documented in a 30-minute video produced by Sandpail Productions for the Terra Foundation. A shorter, six-minute version of the video is being shown in the exhibition at The Huntington.

From 2011 to 2013, Gallery of the Louvre was exhibited at the Yale University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where it was the subject of scholarly investigation and dialogue. The new research generated from this analysis culminated in the exhibition “Samuel F. B. Morse’s Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention,” as well as a book of the same title. Published by the Terra Foundation and distributed by Yale University Press, the book assembles a dozen essays by academics, curators, and conservators who focus on the painting’s visual components and its social and historical contexts.

“Gallery of the Louvre uniquely captures the work of a great painter who also held wide-ranging scientific and political interests and possessed the talents of a great inventor — a true American Renaissance man,” said Jessica Todd Smith, Virginia Steele Scott chief curator of American Art at The Huntington. “We are thrilled to be able to share this remarkable work in the Huntington context, where collections strengths include art of the United States as well as the history of science and technology.”

The exhibition’s presentation at The Huntington has been augmented by rare Morse-related historical materials from The Huntington’s library collections, including rare printed materials and unique manuscripts. In addition to the video, the installation includes an interactive opportunity for visitors to curate their own virtual gallery with miniature versions of highlights from The Huntington’s art collections.

Thos. Agnew & Sons at TEFAF 2015 Paintings (13-22 March 2015)

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A Shepherd Boy, Alphonse Osbert, Bamboccianti School, before 1650, circa 1580, Haarlem or Amsterdam School, Portrait of a gentleman, TEFAF 2015 Paintings, The Solitude of Christ, Thos. Agnew & Sons

Bamboccianti School, before 1650, A Shepherd Boy. Oil on canvas 70 x 60 cm. Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. (stand 369). TEFAF 2015 Paintings (13-22 March 2015)

Provenance: Baron Vetter v. d. Lilie, Hauzenbichl Palace;A. Knittelfled, purchased here in 1950; Henceforth in family ownership

Portrait of a Gentleman. Oil on panel. Diameter 46 cm. Haarlem or Amsterdam School, circa 1580. Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. (stand 369). TEFAF 2015 Paintings (13-22 March 2015)

Provenance: With Brian Koetser, London, Spring Exhibition, 1975; Anon. Sale, Phillips, London, 24 June, 1980, lot 105 (as Cornelis Ketel); Anon. sale, Sotheby’s, London, 20 April, 1988, lot 48 (as Haarlem or Amsterdam School, circa 1600)

Alphonse Osbert (1857-Paris-1939), The Solitude of Christ. Oil on panel, 37.5 x 56 cm. Signed lower right ‘A.Osbert’. Titled, dated and countersigned verso ‘Solitude of Christ / A. Osbert / 1897’ Numbered ‘133’ near a stamp emblazoned with green wax back. Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. (stand 369). TEFAF 2015 Paintings (13-22 March 2015)

Provenance: Recorded in the register of the artist under no. 133; Given by the artist to the art critic and poet Jules Mazé

Literature: Lucien Le Foyer, ‘L’oeuvre du peintre A. Osbert’, in Simple Revue, November, 1899 1, no. 158, p. 459; Véronique Dumas, Alphonse Osbert (1857-1939) : vie, oeuvre, art. Essai et catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre complet, PhD thesis, Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-Ferrand II, 1999, p. 684-685, no. 2076; Véronique Dumas, ‘Le peintre symboliste Alphonse Osbert et les Salons de la Rose+Croix’, in Revue de l’Art in Journal of Art, 140, 2003, p. 58, footnote 109

Thomas Agnew & Sons was established by Thomas Agnew in Manchester in 1817, and opened its London gallery in 1860, where the firm soon established itself as one of Mayfair’s leading dealerships. Since then Agnew’s has held a pre-eminent position in the world of Old Master paintings, and was instrumental in promoting contemporary British art in the late 19th century.
Over generations, Agnew’s has acted as principal agents and advisors to some of the most important collectors of their time, including Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, Alfred Beit, Alfred and Ferdinand de Rothschild and more recently Paul Mellon, Norton Simon and the Samuel Kress Foundation. Agnew’s also often served as agent for the National Gallery, London in the auction rooms and has been involved in placing masterpieces in major museums around the world. The gallery has handled works by, amongst others, Caravaggio, Van Dyck, El Greco, Frans Hals, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Titian, Turner and Velázquez, including the latter’s Rokeby Venus in the National Gallery, London.
In 2013, after nearly two centuries of family ownership, Agnew’s was purchased privately and is now run by Lord Anthony Crichton-Stuart, a former head of Christie’s Old Master paintings department, New York.

Thomas Agnew & Sons. Director: Anthony Crichton-Stuart

2015 Winter Antiques Show in New York showcases 3,000 years of timeless art and design

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'Maximilian' lounge chair, 1880, “bouquetière”, Candelabrum, circa 1630, circa 1690, circa 1740, circa 1942, Desk and Chair, Egyptian bronze, England, George II Mahogany Windsor Chair, George III Satinwood and Marquetry inlaid secretary bookcase, Harlem Street Scene, Heart-and-Hand Love Token, Herter Bros., Hiram Powers, Jacob Lawrence, John Singer Sargent, John Vesey, King Willem III, marble bust, Mayhew & Ince, Proserpine, Queen Mary II, seated cat, Turner’s-Thrown Fruitwood Armchair

Herter Bros., NY. Desk and Chair, 1880. Maple, at Associated Artists. 

NEW YORK, NY.– Ancient Egyptian bronze sculpture, gilded Herter Brothers side chairs owned by John Pierpont Morgan, and paintings by celebrated American artists William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, and Childe Hassam, will gather for the 61st year of the Winter Antiques Show from January 23-February 1, 2015 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The Show is America’s most prestigious antiques show, providing museums, collectors, dealers, design professionals, and first-time buyers with opportunities to see and purchase exceptional pieces showcased by 73 renowned experts in American, English, European, and Asian fine and decorative arts, from antiquity through the 1960s. Every object exhibited at the Show is vetted for quality and authenticity.

“The Winter Antiques Show offers unparalleled access to the world’s most exquisite and astounding historical objects—and this year is no different,” said Peter Pennoyer, the renowned classical architect who together with his wife Katie Ridder, the celebrated interior designer, are the Show’s 2015 Honorary Co-Chairs. Ms. Ridder continued, “We both feel that timeless pieces with history add a distinctive character to today’s interiors, whether the spaces are designed to evoke a period of yesterday or even something a bit more contemporary. We’re thrilled to be part of the Show, and look forward to seeing all of its remarkable design opportunities.”

Exhibitor Highlights:

• Fine English furniture will reign supreme as the Winter Antiques Show welcomes four new UK-based leaders in the field: a pair of commodes (c. 1775-80) by Mayhew & Ince at Apter-Fredericks Ltd.; an early Turner’s armchair (c. 1630) and a George II Mahogany Windsor Chair (c. 1740) at Thomas Coulborn & Sons Ltd.; and a George III Satinwood and Marquetry inlaid secretary bookcase (c. 1790) at Hyde Park Antiques.

Pair of commodes, circa 1775-80 by Mayhew & Ince at Apter-Fredericks Ltd.

Early Turner’s-Thrown Fruitwood Armchair, England, circa 1630 at Thomas Coulborn & Sons Ltd.

Rare George II Mahogany Windsor Chair, England, circa 1740 at Thomas Coulborn & Sons Ltd.

George III Satinwood and Marquetry inlaid secretary bookcase, circa 1790 at Hyde Park Antiques.

• Museum quality paintings by famed American masters will be prevalent at the 2015 Show: Boy in Red: Portrait of Josiah Lasell (c. 1895) by William Merritt Chase and Royal Palms, Melena, Cuba (c. 1895) by Childe Hassam at Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.; The Candelabrum (1885), an impressionist portrait study by John Singer Sargent at Adelson Galleries; Sunrise at Mid-Ocean (1907), a significant seascape by Thomas Moran, at Schwarz Gallery; and Harlem Street Scene (c. 1942) by Jacob Lawrence at Jonathan Boos, LLC.

John Singer Sargent, Candelabrum. Oil on canvas, 1885. Signed lower left by John S. Sargent at Adelson Galleries.

Thomas Moran, Sunrise at Mid-Ocean. Oil on canvas, 1907 at Schwarz Gallery.

Jacob Lawrence, Harlem Street Scene, circa 1942 by  at Jonathan Boos, LLC.

• Showcasing the breadth and diversity of the show are a dozen exhibitors in early to mid-20th century design. This year’s highlights include a pair of iconic leather, aluminum, and steel Maximilian lounge chairs (c. 1958) designed by John Vesey at Liz O’Brien; colorful Italian glass at Glass Past; and a French desk and armchair (c. 1925), made of fine mahogany and leather, by Louis Süe and André Mare at Maison Gerard.

John Vesey (1925-1992), pair of iconic leather, aluminum, and steel ‘Maximilian’ lounge chairs, circa 1958 at Liz O’Brien.

• Maintaining the Show’s strong American core are more than 15 Americana dealers, and important folk art pieces will be exhibited by many: a paper and watercolor Heart-and-Hand Love Token (c. 1820) at Olde Hope Antiques, Inc.; a vibrantly decorated Pennsylvania cornercupboard (1863) at new exhibitor Kelly Kinzle; a handsome pair of portraits of a young couple seated in red chairs, attributed to George G. Hartwell of the esteemed Prior Hamblen School, at Frank & Barbara Pollack American Antiques & Art; and an early ambrotype if a calls of students and their teacher (c. 1855) at David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles American Antiques.

A group of nine colorful and charming love tokens. One with associated note dated ‘1848’, and two noted as Philadelphia origin, at Olde Hope Antiques, Inc.

• Sculpture from all ages will be especially prevalent in 2015, due to the addition of two new exhibitors specializing in the medium: an Egyptian bronze seated cat (c. 715332 BC), perhaps used as a vessel for a mummified cat, at Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited; a marble bust of Proserpine by famed American sculptor Hiram Powers at new exhibitor Conner • Rosenkranz, LLC; Tete de Femme (1929), a bronze art deco bust by Gustave Miklos at The Fine Art Society; and Saul Bazerman’s mid-century Self-Portrait (c. 1952) at Gerald Peters Gallery.

An Egyptian bronze seated cat (c. 715332 BC), perhaps used as a vessel for a mummified cat, at Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited.

A marble bust of Proserpine by famed American sculptor Hiram Powers at Conner.

A bronze art deco bust by Gustave Miklos at The Fine Art Society.

• Exhibitors in Chinese and Japanese material add to the Show’s eclectic mix: a rare Chinese export porcelain tureen and cover modeled as a goose (c. 1750) at Cohen & Cohen; a Yayoi Neolithic earthenware vessel (c. 2nd -3rd century AD) at Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd.; a pair of paintings depicting Chinese women accompanied by pipes and pets (c. 18th century) at Martyn Gregory; and a pair of green and yellow Fu Lions (c. 1662-1722 AD) at Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc.

A pair of paintings depicting Chinese women accompanied by pipes and pets, circa 18th century, at Martyn Gregory.

Pair of Chinese Green Glazed Biscuit Porcelain Fu Dogs, Kangxi period, AD 1662-1722, at Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc.

• After an intense search, Aronson of Amsterdam (a 134 year old family firm specializing in Dutch Delftware) has recently reunited a pair of unusual bouquetieres depicting Their Majesties King Willem III and Queen Mary II (c. 1690). The figures are attributed to The Greek A Factory, where Queen Mary ordered many magnificent pieces of Delft for Hampton Palace. The pair will be exhibited together for the first time at the 2015 Winter Antiques Show.

Pair of unusual bouquetieres depicting Their Majesties King Willem III and Queen Mary II, circa 1690, at Aronson of Amsterdam.

• Objects with noteworthy provenance include a Herter Brothers “Pompeian” side chair (c. 1880) that was probably commissioned for John Pierpont Morgan’s lavish Madison Avenue mansion at Associated Artists, LLC; an English Palace Wall Regulator (c. 1770) by John Arnold that was commissioned by a member of the Russian royal family for Catherine the Great at Thomas Coulborn & Sons Ltd.; a Chinese Famille Verte quandrangular vase (1662-1722 AD) from the collection of Henry Clay Frick at Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc.; and a grand scale Chippendale looking glass (c. 1760) that was part of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary project and was discussed in correspondence between Franklin and his wife at Bernard & S. Dean Levy.

An English Palace Wall Regulator (c. 1770) by John Arnold that was commissioned by a member of the Russian royal family for Catherine the Great at Thomas Coulborn & Sons Ltd.

Edgar Degas’ ground-breaking ‘Scène de ballet’ for sale at Bonhams on 3 February

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Edgar Degas, Scène de ballet

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Scène de ballet, stamped with the artist’s signature ‘Degas’ (lower right; Lugt 658), oil on canvas, 81 x 56.3cm (31 7/8 x 22 3/16in). Painted circa 1885. Estimate £2.5 million – 3.5 million (€3.3 million – 4.6 million). Photo Bonhams

LONDON.- Edgar Degas’ 1885 oil on canvas, Scène de ballet, is to be offered at the Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 3 February 2015 at Bonhams New Bond Street. The work, a wonderful example of Degas’ ground-breaking work in the mid-1880s, is estimated at £2,500,000-3,500,000.

Degas’ fascination with the dancers of the Paris Opéra was the source of more than 1,000 paintings, pastels, charcoal drawings and prints, which together earned the artist the reputation as the greatest painter of the Paris ballet. He obsessively readdressed the subject, using it to explore a number of revolutionary styles and innovative techniques.

In Scène de ballet, Degas depicts not only the row of on-stage dancers in the background, but also the girls off-stage, stretching and chatting in the foreground. The artist sought to cover all aspects of the ballet, from the initial rehearsals and preparations through to the bright lights and thrilling spectacle of the final performance.

The ballet became for Degas a lens through which he could experiment with light, colour and movement, all the while observing and documenting the contemporary social milieu. Performances brought together the social classes, providing a cross section of society, and Degas depicted the drawn, tired faces of the dancers, who usually came from the most impoverished area of the city, alongside the affluent and predatory abonnés (season-ticket holders) who hung around backstage to proposition the girls.

As such, a behind-the-curtain image such as Scène de ballet shares something of the social commentary of Degas’ earlier paintings of café culture and brothels which established his fame. But this similarity of subject belies the significant difference between this 1885 painting and those which went before.

The mid-1880s was a crucial few years in Degas’ development. Previously, the artist had been working in a tight, precise style founded on exquisite draughtsmanship. From around 1885, however, he developed a new style of which Scène de ballet is a prime example – looser, brighter, and more abstracted in form.

Works such as Scène de ballet represent a turning point for Degas. The skirts, faces and bodies of the dancers are conjured from clouds of pigment, while the stage-set background is created using layer upon layer of paint applied directly with the artist’s thumbs. We see, too, the beginnings of the bursting vibrancy – ultramarines, turquoises, russets, cardamom reds, roses pinks and flashes of brightest yellows – for which his late bathers and dancers were so celebrated.

Only a year after Degas painted Scène de ballet, he took part in his final Impressionist group show, and began his withdrawal from the public art world. But his experimentation with the possibilities of colour and form continued until his death in 1917, culminating in the staggeringly modern late works which 20th-century masters such as Picasso and Matisse found so inspiring.

India Phillips, Director and Head of the Impressionist & Modern Art Department at Bonhams, said: ‘Degas is the painter of the ballet. No other artist has captured the movements, costumes and spectacle of the dance in the same way. Scène de ballet is as iconic an image as you could hope for, and we are honoured to be offering it for sale.’

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco acquire collection’s first painting by Eugène Delacroix

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Eugène Delacroix, Portrait of Charles de Verninac

Eugène Delacroix, Portrait of Charles de Verninac, ca. 1826. Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 19 7/8 in. (61.6 x 50.5 cm). FAMSF, museum purchase, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund, 2014.80.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced the acquisition of the Portrait of Charles de Verninac, by Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). This is the first painting by the artist to enter the Museums’ collection, which strengthens the institution’s holdings of French Romantic paintings of the early nineteenth century.

“The Legion of Honor is one of the great repositories of French art in the United States,” said Colin B. Bailey, director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Delacroix’s arresting portrait is an important addition to our collections; it is a work that had great personal significance for the artist and it is an outstanding example of French Romanticism.”

Delacroix was one of the foremost practitioners of Romanticism, and was best known for his imposing and dramatic compositions. He also was an accomplished portraitist and this painting offers intimate insight into the artist’s works. The sitter, Charles Étienne Raymond Victor de Verninac (1803–1834), was Delacroix’s nephew, with whom he shared a close relationship and a prolific correspondence.

Delacroix and de Verninac were born only five years apart and were raised alongside one another on the family’s property in southwestern France. As Delacroix became a critically acclaimed painter, his nephew pursued a career in the foreign ministry. When serving as viceconsul to Chile in 1834, de Verninac contracted yellow fever in Vera Cruz and died a few months later while under quarantine in New York. This painting held life-long significance for Delacroix—in his will, the artist referred to this portrait as the one hanging over his bed.

“This deeply personal portrait is one of the finest executed by Delacroix, clearly due in part to the affection he held for the sitter,” said Esther Bell, curator in charge of European paintings. “The artist’s bravura brushwork can be seen in the curling sweeps of de Verninac’s hair and the thick and confident strokes of red that compose his cravat.”

This portrait can be dated to around 1826, soon after Delacroix’s return to Paris from London in 1825. The paintings that he had encountered in that city, notably those by Sir Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830), influenced the artist’s use of contrasting pure colors—bright red against white—and the elegance and looseness of posture and dress.

The Museums’ Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts holds a number of drawings, lithographs, and engravings by Delacroix. Though this painting is a new acquisition, this is not the first time that it has been on view at the Legion of Honor: it was on long-term loan from 1947 until 1950, exhibited as a part of the Arthur Sachs collection.

Delacroix was one of the greatest and most influential French artists of the nineteenth century. In his electrically charged scenes from contemporary history, literature, poetry, or religion, as well as in his quiet and contemplative portrayals of intimate life, his painting style championed the use of unbridled color over line. His dramatic compositions were frequently placed in critical contrast to the more classicizing forms of his arch-rival Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (17801867).