Christopher Gibbs and a Remarkable Georgian Sofa
With its trompe-l’oeil needlework, this sofa is extraordinary (items depicted include a gameboard and cards, a box, a basket of yarn, a bird on a branch, and a bag). The one-page essay in The World of Interiors by the antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs, accompanied by stunning photographs, underscores just how compelling an object can be as a subject. -CH
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Christopher Gibbs, “Travels Since His Aunt,” The World of Interiors (June 2013): 144-49.
Discovered who knows where by Modernist muse Eugenia Errázuriz, this 18th-century sofa caught Christopher Gibbs’ eye over 50 years ago on a visit to her London home. With its extraordinary shape and trompe-l’oeil needlework, it subsequently attracted various owners before finding Christopher once more [via the antique dealer Edward Hurst]. Gibbs explains how it transports him back to a formative time, in the June issue of The World of Interiors. Photography: Tim Beddow.
Fellowship | Culture, Art, and Society in the Times of Juvarra
From the call for applications:
Fondazione 1563 Fellowship | Culture, Art, and Society in the Times of Juvarra
Applications due by 31 July 2013
Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura, an Operating Body of Compagnia di San Paolo, pursues among its statutory objectives “the implementation of research and advanced education activities in humanities.” The Foundation is entrusted with the management and the promotion of the Historical Archives of Compagnia di San Paolo and the development of studies on the Age and the Culture of Baroque, in order to encourage research in humanities and to facilitate the access of young scholars to
academic and cultural institutions.
The fellowships intend to promote studies on Baroque literary, philosophical, musical, theater, artistic and architectural culture and on the political, social, and technical-scientific history of the Age of Baroque, also from a comparative international perspective. Research proposals for the 2013-14 call will need to pertain to the following theme: “Culture, art and society in the times of Juvarra.”
The career of Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736) is marked by two cultural experiences that he contributed to in terms of shapes, images, suggestions and models. On the one hand was Rome in the early 18th century and the inner circle of Cardinal Ottoboni, who was open to the reforms put forward by the Academy of Arcadia and who promoted the renewed primacy of the artist championed by the “Accademia di San Luca” in line with a reflection on the complexity of Baroque tradition. On the other hand there was Vittorio Amedeo II and his request to Juvarra to be part of a plan to create and consolidate a modern State, a project that would reflect in contemporary politics and society, as well as literature, philosophy, music, theater, architecture and the visual arts.
The call is open to researchers born on or after 1st January 1975 holding a University or master’s degree from an Italian University or equivalent from foreign Universities. Priority will be given to applicants holding a Ph.D. or equivalent from Italian or foreign universities. The fellowship will refer to the following fields of study: social history, political history, economic history, history of science and technology, history of literature, history of philosophy, history of music, history of theater, art history, history of architecture. . .
More information is available here»
New Book | Funerary Sculpture in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh
From the author’s website:
James Stevens Curl, Funerary Monuments and Memorials in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh (Whitstable: Historical Publications, 2013), 164 pages, ISBN: 978-1905286492, £40 (hardcover) / ISBN: 978-1905286485, £20 (softcover) — ordering information is available here»
The funerary monuments and memorials in the Church of Ireland (Anglican) Cathedral Church of St Patrick, Armagh, include fine works by celebrated sculptors including Bacon, Chantrey, Farrell, Marochetti, Nollekens, Roubiliac, Rysbrack, and others, yet are not widely known.
Professor Stevens Curl’s comprehensively illustrated book describes and shows all of them, as well as giving details of the artists and their subjects, thereby filling an unaccountable gap in the literature. It is published in two versions; a hardback, limited edition of only 250 numbered signed copies with dust-jacket at £40, and a softback edition at £20 per copy.
James Stevens Curl has held Chairs in Architectural History at two Universities. He is Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture and Design, University of Ulster. He read for his Doctorate at University College London, and in 1991-2 and 2002 was Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.
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