Enfilade

Pueblo de Teotenango, en el valle de Matalcingo, en Nueva España / Town of Teotenango, in the Matalcingo Valley, in New Spain, detail
(Seville: Archivo General de Indias, MP-MEXICO,33). More information is available here.

◊   ◊   ◊   ◊   ◊

Opening this fall at the Prado (with the English description from Spain.info). . .

Tornaviaje: Arte Iberoamericano en España / Tornaviaje: Ibero-American Art in Spain
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 5 October 2021 — 13 February 2022

Curated by Rafael López Guzmán, with Jaime Cuadriello and Pablo F. Amador

This exhibition at the Prado Museum brings together around a hundred works of art that arrived in Europe from the Americas during the Modern Era. Most of them are housed in cultural and religious institutions, or are in private collections, mainly in Spain. Return Journey is divided into four sections. The first, ‘Geography, Conquest, and Society’, looks at the concept of cultural landscape within the geographical framework of the Americas, the Spanish conquest, and the peoples who lived there during the Modern Era. The second, ‘The Pantheon of the Americas: Religious Exchanges’, addresses religious beliefs, in both the Iberian Peninsula and in the Americas, how they have impacted each other, and the resulting fusions. Visitors will find oil paintings, sculptures, and drawings from important centres of production in Lima, Alto Perú, Puebla de los Ángeles and Ciudad de México, together with works by renowned Spanish painters such as Murillo. The third section, ‘Art Journeys’, presents a wide range of household and religious artefacts; and the fourth, ‘Impronta Indiana’, brings together a series of works that reflect the artistic materiality of Spanish America throughout the Modern Era.

◊   ◊   ◊   ◊   ◊

El tornaviaje o viaje de regreso que da título a esta exposición nos permite valorar las obras de arte que llegaron desde América a España y, por extensión, a Europa durante la Edad Moderna.

La finalidad de esta muestra es visibilizar, a través de aproximadamente un centenar de obras, este rico patrimonio que, proveniente del Nuevo Mundo, se conserva en instituciones culturales, espacios religiosos o colecciones particulares, principalmente en España. Estos objetos, llegados en distintos momentos de la historia, forman parte de nuestro patrimonio histórico y cultural, sin que, a veces, reconozcamos las razones de su presencia.

La muestra se organiza en cuatro grandes secciones. La primera de ellas, ‘Geografía, Conquista y Sociedad’, gira en torno al concepto de paisaje cultural, dándose cita en el mismo la geografía de América, la conquista y las gentes que habitaron estos territorios durante la Edad Moderna. De esta forma, en esta sección, conviven obras de carácter religioso, aportes cristianos que justificaban la conquista, con valores estéticos indudables, a las que se unen vistas de ciudades en las que la traza urbana y el mercado con los productos de la tierra configuraron un paisaje sin igual. Espacios por donde deambulan y se desarrollan los distintos estamentos sociales, representados en cuadros de familias nobiliarias, eclesiásticos, virreyes y, claro está, indígenas, también con sus diferencias estamentales, que nos hablan de esa sociedad diversa.

Quizás el Biombo de la Conquista de México y La muy noble y leal ciudad de México resume con sus dos caras el concepto de esta sección, reproduciendo la conquista de Tenochtitlán, por un lado, y la ciudad de México, por el otro, habitada por más de doscientos personajes, representando el momento histórico constitutivo de América y la vitalidad de la capital novohispana y, por extensión, de las grandes ciudades capitales del nuevo continente.

Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz (1713–1772), San José y el Niño / St Joseph with the Child Jesus (Church of Santa María la Real, or San Agustín of Badajoz, Spain).

La segunda sección, ‘El panteón americano. Devociones de ida y vuelta’, reúne una exquisita selección de óleos, esculturas y dibujos que tienen como objetivo analizar las devociones religiosas, tanto americanas como peninsulares, así como sus intercambios e hibridaciones. El visitante podrá entender el viaje y la transferencia de las imágenes de devoción, merced al patrocino de los indianos y de algunos virreyes, que reintegraron a sus lugares de origen parte de una memoria compartida; sobre todo, de sus experiencias de fe vividas desde ultramar. Quedará también patente en esta sección el constante envío de obras de pintura “fina” de los más afamados centros de producción de Lima, el Alto Perú, Puebla de los Ángeles o la Ciudad de México, así como obras realizadas en España, por importantes pintores como Murillo, que ejemplifican el impacto de los imaginarios americanos que formaron parte de la propaganda devocional y de los procesos de santificación.

La tercera sección, ‘Las travesías del arte’, se centra en uno de los intercambios comerciales con valores artísticos más fecundos como serían los objetos de ajuar que cruzaron el Atlántico con destino a los lugares más variopintos. Mobiliario diverso para el viaje o para las salas de las residencias dialogan con una nutrida selección de objetos de ajuar, domésticos y religiosos, que pretende cubrir un amplio abanico de tipologías, permitiendo mostrar físicamente el concepto de “tesoro” que asociamos con los objetos llegados de Indias. Los indianos, emigrantes enriquecidos en el nuevo mundo, son ese hilo que hilvana las lejanas tierras de donde proceden estos objetos con un crisol de pueblos y ciudades españolas.

La cuarta y última sección, ‘Impronta indiana’, reunirá un corpus de obras que, pese a su disparidad, se interrelacionan al ser referentes y reflejos de la materialidad artística hispanoamericana a lo largo de la Edad Moderna. Tendremos la ocasión de entender cómo la larga tradición artística prehispánica se adapta a las nuevas exigencias de los reinos hispánicos. Cómo leen los maestros artesanos indígenas las indicaciones y demandas de la nueva sociedad y cómo, a su vez, integran lenguajes y simbología de su propia cultura, permitiendo en su conjunto valorar la riqueza del patrimonio que llegado de América fue integrándose y moldeando, cambiando sin rupturas, la cultura de la península ibérica y, también, la europea; asumiendo América como parte de nuestra identidad.

Las investigaciones que han conducido a la concreción de este proyecto se reflejarán también en un catálogo que acompañará a la exposición.

El proyecto está comisariado por Rafael López Guzmán, Catedrático de Historia del Arte Iberoamericano en la Universidad de Granada, y cuenta con la colaboración de varios especialistas en cultura visual del periodo virreinal en América.

Rafael López Guzmán, Adrián Contreras-Guerrero, Gloria Espinosa, Jaime Cuadriello, and Pablo F. Amador, Return Journey: Art of the Americas in Spain (Madrid: Prado, 2021), 304 pages, ISBN: 978-8484805632, 32€. Also available in Spanish and Castellano editions.

◊   ◊   ◊   ◊   ◊

Note (added 4 October 2021) — The posting was updated to include a revised English title, identification of the exhibition’s curators, and details for the catalogue.

Note (added 14 October 2021) — The press release (in English) is available via Art Daily.

From the press release (30 July 2021) for the exhibition:

By Her ­Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, 30 September 2021 — 9 January 2022
Detroit Institute of Arts, 6 February — 29 May 2022

Curated by Eve Straussman-Pflanzer and Oliver Tostmann

The first exhibition solely dedicated to Italian women artists at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, By Her ­Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800 explores how women succeeded in the male-dominated art world of the time. From the group of eighteen artists presented, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1654 or later), takes center stage with outstanding portraits and images of heroines. This exhibition recognizes and celebrates the vital contributions of women to the history of art in Italy through rarely seen works, recent scholarship, and introductions to virtually unknown artists.

“Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Rosalba Carriera, among others, created pathbreaking works of art, simultaneously subverting expectations and challenging norms,” said Oliver Tostmann, Susan Morse Hilles Curator of European Art at the Wadsworth. “Their works and careers are often distinguished by alternative choices and idiosyncratic methods employed within the context of the male dominated art world of the time. By Her Hand brings together a wide spectrum of works by these artists—many on view for the first time—inviting visitors to explore, reassess, and celebrate the achievements of Italian women artists.”

The exhibition features a wide array of paintings, miniatures, and works on paper from institutional and private collections in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The artists take on a range of subjects from portraiture and still life, to historical and religious stories. Many works are being shown publicly for the first time or are making their U.S. debut such as Artemisia Gentileschi’s ravishing Mary Magdalene. By Her Hand reweaves history by examining women artists’ work and careers from the 1550s to the 1750s. Despite the fundamental differences and challenges women artists faced, some achieved notable success in their lifetime. The accomplishments of this diverse and dynamic group are introduced, discussed, and reassessed. Until recently, many of these Italian women artists were overlooked by critics, scholars, collectors, and institutions alike.

Artemisia Gentileschi is arguably the best-known artist included in the exhibition. Gentileschi’s talents were widely recognized by her contemporaries, many elite patrons of her day knew of and desired her work. Important works by Gentileschi highlight her innovative ideas, use of sensuous colors, and command of the brush. The Wadsworth’s Self-Portrait as a Lute Player is compared with the recently discovered Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria from the National Gallery, London, as well as Portrait of Saint Catherine from the Uffizi Galleries, Florence. This will be the first opportunity to see these three celebrated paintings side by side in the United States. Additional examples of Gentileschi’s pioneering depictions of strong women, such as Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes from the Detroit Institute of Arts, will also be on view.

The compelling works of art on view in By Her Hand coupled with stories of their pioneering makers reveals a nuanced picture of the role Italian women artists played from the Renaissance to the Rococo. By Her Hand celebrates their long-overlooked contributions, and aims to inspire continued reexaminations of the role women artists have played throughout the history of art.

“Never before in its long history has the Wadsworth devoted an exhibition to the work of professional women artists in sixteenth through eighteenth-century Italy, despite the fame of our Italian Baroque painting collection” said Jeffrey N. Brown, Interim Director & CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum. “By Her Hand is the first exhibition in any encyclopedic museum in the United States to focus on this subject. This ground-breaking exhibition provides our audiences with a chance to encounter the outstanding art produced by these women artists in early modern Italy and to appreciate the far-reaching consequences of Artemisia Gentileschi’s illustrious career.”

By Her Hand is a collaboration between the Wadsworth and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Curated by Eve Straussman-Pflanzer former curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts now Curator and Head of Italian and Spanish paintings at The National Gallery of Art, Washington and Oliver Tostmann, Susan Morse Hilles Curator of European Art at the Wadsworth. After its debut at the Wadsworth, it will travel to Detroit where it will be on view February 6–May 29, 2022.

Rosalba Carriera, Allegory of Grammar, ca. 1715, pastel on paper (Private Collection).

Artists in the exhibition

Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1535–1625)
Diana Scultori (c. 1547–1612)
Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614)
Fede Galizia (c. 1574–c. 1630)
Isabella Catanea Parasole (active 1585–1625)
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1654 or later)
Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596–1676)
Giovanna Garzoni (1600–1670)
Virginia da Vezzo (1600–1638)*
Anna Maria Vaiani (1604–1655)
Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665)
Ginevra Cantofoli (1618–1672)
Caterina de Julianis (c. 1670–c. 1742)
Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757)
Marianna Carlevarijs (1703–after 1750)
Maria Felice Tibaldi (1707–1770)*
Veronica Stern Telli (1717–1801)
Anna Bacherini Piattoli (1720–1788)

* Virginia da Vezzo and Maria Felice Tibaldi are represented in portraits painted by their husbands Simon Vouet (1590–1649) and Pierre Subleyras (1699–1749).

Eve Straussman-Pflanzer and Oliver Tostmann, with contributions by Sheila Barker, Babette Bohn, C. D. Dickerson, Jamie Gabbarelli, Hilliard T. Goldfarb, Joaneath Spicer, and Lara Roney, By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021), 192 pages, ISBN: 978-0300256369, $40.

Press release for the exhibition, via the European Textile Network (‘Tafelfreuden’ is my new favorite word! -CH). 

Tafelfreuden: Historische Leinendamaste / The Delights of Dining: Historical Linen Damasks
Abegg-Stiftung, Riggisberg, 25 April — 7 November 2021

Linen Damask with Grapevines, United Provinces, 1660–80 (Abegg-Stiftung, inv. no. 3573; photograph by Christoph von Viràg). White-in-white patterned table linen was generally more expensive than fine glassware, exquisite porcelain, and cutlery in the seventeenth century.

Patterned table linen has adorned festive dining tables since the Late Middle Ages. These pure white tablecloths, napkins, and hand towels are patterned with discreet, artfully-drawn pictorial compositions and coats of arms. Used in conjunction with fine silverware, linen damasks served as a status symbol in both princely and bourgeois households. The textiles that have survived are valuable testimony to historical dining culture. Among the many pleasures of dining, besides indulging the palate, is the spectacle of fine glassware, exquisite porcelain, and silver. And since the early sixteenth century, table linen made of white linen damasks has also been a common part of festive banquets. Often it was the most expensive item on the table.

White-in-white patterned table linen? Is there anything to see at all? Most definitely. For concealed within these seemingly plain white cloths are hitherto unimagined visual worlds and experiences. Their subtlety prompts us to ponder our sense of sight and optical phenomena generally, since depending on the fall of light—and unlike on perfectly illuminated photographs—the woven designs are not always clearly visible. But anyone ready to engage with them will soon discover motifs drawn from seafaring or everyday life, mythological and Biblical scenes, portraits of rulers, historical events, and the patrons’ coats of arms. The Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg possesses one of the world’s most important collections of historical linen damasks. These monumental tablecloths, napkins, and hand towels are normally kept in storage. This year’s special exhibition, however, will feature a selection of exceptionally fine examples dating from the sixteenth to eighteenth century. These will be flanked by texts and short films explaining their manufacture, place of origin, and use.

Related publication from the museum:

Cornelis A. Burgers, White Linen Damasks: Heraldic Motifs from the Sixteenth Century to circa 1830 (Riggisberg: Abegg-Stiftung, 2014), 2 vols, 564 pages, ISBN: 978-3905014563, CHF 280.

The Abegg-Stiftung’s collection of white linen damasks ranks amongst the foremost in the world. With tablecloths, banquet napkins, handtowels, and napkins, it covers a wide range of patterns, including heraldic and historical motifs, biblical and mythological stories, flowers, hunting scenes, views of towns, etc. With emphasis on heraldic motifs all such patterns feature in this catalogue. Occasionally clients also had their names and a date woven in. Most of this napery originates from weaving centres in the Southern and Northern Netherlands, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, and Russia.

From the press release for the exhibition:

Iron Men: The Artistry of Iron in Samurai Armor
The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, The Samurai Collection, Dallas, 1 May — 3 October 2021

Curated by Jessica Liu Beasley

On May 1, The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection will unveil its newest exhibition, Iron Men: The Artistry of Iron in Samurai Armor. The exhibition will be on display through October 3. The show examines the vital role that iron played in Japanese warrior culture and technology from the third century, when the knowledge of ironworking arrived in Japan, to the end of the samurai era in the nineteenth century. Over eighty artworks, including several masterpieces and many objects that have never before been on display, will be showcased in Iron Men. An array of samurai ironworks—full suits of armor, helmets, accessories, weapons, and horse tack—have been assembled to highlight the ways in which this seemingly unyielding metal gave way to works of protective art.

“It’s interesting to think about the common uses of iron and how, with the samurai and our collection, iron is the medium the Japanese artisans used to create the amazing pieces on display,” said Niña Barbier-Mueller Tollett, Director of Cultural Affairs for The Samurai Collection. “In the new exhibition, I think Iron Men is really referring to the craftsmen, as well as the samurai. We are excited to be bringing this aspect of samurai history to light.”

Samurai were the warriors of premodern Japan who shaped the country’s history for centuries. Their culture was one of pageantry, violence, beauty, and honor, and their spectacular armor was worn during epic battles and glorious ceremonies. The exhibition is a testament to the peerless craftsmanship of the metalworkers and reveals how they mined, smelted, and ultimately forged iron into lifesaving armor. Transcending utility, components were often meticulously inlaid with gold and silver, adorning high-ranking samurai, the daimyo, in wearable art that skillfully merged artistic form and protective function. Suits of armor from the powerful Ikeda and Date families show how these expertly crafted iron suits gave the warriors a distinguished identity and prominent appearance.

“It is remarkable to see these masterworks of iron from the collection presented together,” said Jessica Liu Beasley, curator of Iron Men and curator of The Samurai Collection. “Samurai armor is often coated in layers of lacquer that conceal the quality of the iron beneath, hiding any flaws, mistakes, or carelessness. In Iron Men, the plates are exposed, revealing every texture and lustrous finish. The virtuosity of the armorers is clearly displayed for the visitors to experience.”

The sections of the exhibition follow the story of Japanese ironworking from its introduction throughout the age of the samurai. Armorers harnessed the protective powers of iron technology to formulate their own distinct type of armor. Examples of medieval samurai armor from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries illustrate the innovative construction that used hundreds of tiny scales (sane), which enabled superior flexibility and range of motion. Schools of armorers emerged, and the exhibition presents the work of several master armorers, providing an opportunity for side-by-side comparisons of some of the finest ironwork produced for the samurai.

Following further evolution of Japanese armor, the exhibition looks at how the introduction of firearms in the sixteenth century influenced armor fabrication. The country was in the midst of large-scale civil warfare and, in response to the new weapons, larger, more solid plates of iron had to be incorporated into the armor to protect warriors from bullets. Several components in Iron Men were bullet tested (tameshi teppo) to prove that the iron structure was strong enough to take the impact. Later, during the Edo period (1615–1868), to accommodate the changing roles of the samurai, another innovative style of armor emerged that was created with chainmail and smaller plates of iron. In this section, visitors will learn how this streamlined armor was built for ease of wear, transport, and storage.

The final sections of the exhibition show additional works from the Edo period, a time of relative peace in Japan that occurred under the unification imposed by the Tokugawa family. No longer embroiled in constant warfare, the need for battle armor decreased, and armorers had the opportunity to elevate their craft to new heights. Sumptuous creations gleam with fine metal details and decorative fittings. Sculptural iron helmets and masks were molded into fantastic three-dimensional shapes of creatures and deities. Objects of this caliber were greatly important during the many ceremonies and processions where the daimyo used the armor to demonstrate their wealth and status. Though the armor grew in beauty and refinement, the armorers to the samurai were mindful that conflict could arise again at any time. Balance had to be maintained between the elegance of their craft and the responsibility they burdened to protect the fates of their clients.

◊   ◊   ◊   ◊   ◊

The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection presents armor that once protected and adorned these fierce warriors. Established in Dallas’s Harwood District in 2012, The Samurai Collection is the only museum of its kind in the U.S. and is now one of the largest in the world. Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller began acquiring art of the samurai over thirty years ago. The family has selectively built the collection with an intense focus on artistic detail and sculptural quality. The objects, which range in date from the fifth to nineteenth century, are presented in a variety of rotating exhibitions—each exploring an intriguing aspect of Japanese warrior culture. Additionally, a large exhibition of the samurai armor is currently touring through the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe. Its upcoming exhibition at Bernisches Historisches Museum will debut 4 November 2021. The Samurai Collection is housed in the historic St. Ann’s School building, originally constructed in 1927.