New Book | Cadogan & Chelsea
Published by Unicorn and distributed by The University of Chicago Press:
Beatrice Behlen, Amber Butchart, John Julius Cooper, Brent Elliott, Alan Powers, John Simpson, and Alwyn Turner, Cadogan & Chelsea: The Making of a Modern Estate (London: Unicorn Publishing, 2017), 224 pages, ISBN: 978-1910787434, £50 / $75.
The Cadogan Estate in Chelsea is one of the few remaining ancient family estates in London, covering one of the capital’s most dynamic, thriving and fashionable districts. Its foundations were laid in 1717, when Charles, Second Baron Cadogan married the daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, who had purchased the Manor of Chelsea in 1712. This lavish book celebrates the family’s three-hundred-year stewardship of the estate, which today is in the hands of the present Viscount Chelsea, who succeeded his father, Earl Cadogan, as group chairman in 2012.
Beautifully illustrated, this collection of essays by expert commentators looks at the history and lineage of this noble family and the formation of the Estate as we know it today.
Exhibition | Afro-Atlantic Histories
From ArtForum:
Histórias Afro-Atlânticas / Afro-Atlantic Histories
Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) and concurrently at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, 28 June — 21 October 2018
Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Ayrson Heráclito, Hélio Menezes, Lilia Schwarcz, and Tomás Toledo
In the most violent and uncertain times of its recent history, Brazil is revisiting the origins of its racial frictions: the slave trade. Histórias afro-atlânticas (Afro-Atlantic Histories) is a massive, 380-work survey of African, Latin American, and European art from the past five centuries, chronicling the largest diaspora in modern history. Nearly half of all Africans captured by slave traders were brought to Brazil, from the time the Portuguese arrived, in the sixteenth century, all the way through the nineteenth century. The show is a sequel to Histórias mestiças (Mestizo Histories), staged four years ago at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, the cultural center that is also cohosting the current exhibition. Its scope is far-reaching, with pieces by colonial-era Dutch master Albert Eckhout and modern greats Théodore Géricault and Paul Cézanne, as well as contemporary art-world darlings Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, and Hank Willis Thomas. A fully illustrated catalogue and companion reader will help sharpen our perspective on it all.
As noted in the May–August 2018 bulletin from the Yale Center for British Art, the YCBA has loaned six works including four paintings by Agostino Brunias (1728–1796).
Note (added 14 October 2018) — Reviewing the exhibition for The New York Times (12 October 2018), Holland Cotter describes it as “a hemispheric treasure chest, a redrafting of known narratives, and piece for piece one of the most enthralling shows I’ve seen in years, with one visual detonation after another.” The full review is available here.
New Book | Stowe House
From Scala Publishers:
Nick Morris, Stowe House: Saving an Architectural Masterpiece (London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers, 2018), 160 pages, ISBN: 978-1785511110, £20 / $28.
The restoration of Stowe House and development of the surrounding estate by Stowe School, allied to work in the landscape gardens by the National Trust, is one of the greatest rescues of a country house ever achieved. The ancestral home of the Temple-Grenvilles came close to demolition in 1920, when the entire site was put up for sale. The formation of Stowe School in 1923 secured a future use that maintained the traditions of the Enlightenment with its unrelenting quest for knowledge and understanding. The past 94 years have seen innovation in land management with the gifting of the gardens to the National Trust and a renovation programme of truly monumental proportions. This book details the architectural history of the site, tells the story of the restoration through the words of those most closely involved, and demonstrates how the School has continued to build in a sympathetic and harmonious manner that preserves the estate’s identity and character.
Nick Morris, Stowe House’s Chief Executive Officer who has managed restoration work there for the past eight years, has drawn together contributions from leading experts to produce an authoritative work that looks behind the creation of the house, charting the continuing evolution of the site and demonstrating the care taken to ensure authenticity throughout the £40m restoration programme. As Stowe School’s Operations Director from 2009 to 2017, he was closely involved in the School’s building projects and management of the site.
Exhibition | Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill
Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of the Ladies Waldegrave, 1780-81, oil on canvas, 143 × 168 cm (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, purchased with the aid of The Cowan Smith Bequest and the Art Fund 1952).
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This fall at Strawberry Hill:
Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill
Strawberry Hill House & Garden, Twickenham, 20 October 2018 — 24 February 2019
Curated by Silvia Davoli and Michael Snodin
This exhibition brings back to Strawberry Hill some of the most important masterpieces in Horace Walpole’s famous and unique collection for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. Horace Walpole’s collection was one of the most important of the 18th century. It was dispersed in a great sale in 1842. For the first time in over 170 years, Strawberry Hill can be seen as Walpole conceived it, with the collection in the interiors as he designed it, shown in their original positions.
Strawberry Hill was filled with a celebrated collection of paintings, furniture, sculptures, and curiosities: great portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Peter Lely, Allan Ramsay, Rubens, Van Dyck, Hans Holbein, and Clouet; miniature portraits by Isaac and Peter Oliver, Hilliard and Petitot, a carved Roman eagle from the 1st century AD; fine furniture including a Boulle cabinet, fabulous Sèvres pieces as well as some oddities such as a lime-wood cravat, carved by Grinling Gibbons, a lock of Mary Tudor’s hair and a ‘magic mirror’ (an obsidian disc) which Dr Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s necromancer, had used for conjuring up the spirits.
In 1842, the collection was dispersed worldwide in a 28-day ‘sale of the century’. From the 1920s to the ‘70s, Walpole scholar and consummate collector Wilmarth S. Lewis, who edited and published with Yale University Press the 48-volume Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence (New Haven, 1937–83), assembled the largest private collection of Walpoliana, including many pieces from Strawberry Hill, which he and his wife bequeathed to Yale University in 1980 as the Lewis Walpole Library, with whose help the Strawberry Hill Trust is delighted to be mounting this exhibition.
Walpole left detailed descriptions of the displays in each of the main rooms of his villa, so that nearly all the works can be shown in their original positions. In The Great Parlour, a display of portraits of Walpole’s family includes the famous Reynolds’s painting of Walpole’s nieces, The Ladies Waldegrave, (now in the National Gallery of Scotland). The Tribune will house the famous rosewood cabinet designed by Walpole, owned by the V&A, together with a display of exquisite portrait miniatures. Walpole’s gilded, crimson Gallery will be once again house the impressive Roman sculpture of an eagle and be hung with life-size portraits, including The Family of Catherine de Medici by Clouet.
Silvia Davoli, Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill: Masterpieces from Horace Walpole’s Collection (London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers, 2018), ISBN: 9781785511806, £15.
Print Quarterly, June 2018
The eighteenth century in the current issue of Print Quarterly:
Print Quarterly 35.2 (June 2018):
Juan Camarón, Robinson in his Llama Skin Habit and Parasol, 1788–89, brush and grey wash, 110 × 65 mm (London, British Library).
A R T I C L E S
• Benito Navarrete Prieto and Alejandro Martínez Pérez, “Drawings for the Spanish Robinson Crusoe by José Juan Camarón and Rafael Ximeno,” pp. 160–72.
The article addresses newly identified drawings by José Camarón and Rafael Ximeno for the seminal Spanish edition of Robinson Crusoe by Tomás de Iriarte, published in Madrid in 1789. The presence of the drawing for the map and the narrative illustrations among Iriarte’s papers underscore the poet’s close involvement with the book’s production and illustration.
• Kate Heard, “The Royal Collection of Satirical Prints in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” pp. 173–82.
In describing the the history of the collection of satirical prints in Britain’s royal collection before their sale in 1921 to the Library of Congress, the article explains the origins of the collection under George III, its development most famously under George IV, its continued growth under Queen Victoria and Prince Albert—when Georgian works entered the collection that would not have been acquired earlier, including prints that were critical of the royal family—and finally the disfavor the collection solicited during the reign of George V from the royal librarian John Fortescue, who brokered the 1921 sale.
N O T E S A N D R E V I E W S
• Celina Fox, Review of Bernard Nurse, London: Prints and Drawings before 1800 (Bodleian Library, 2017), pp. 198–200.
• Susan Sloman, Review of Ann Gunn, The Prints of Paul Sandby (1731–1809): A Catalogue Raisonné (Brepols and Harvey Miller Publishers, 2016), pp. 200–03.
• Flavia Pesci, Review of the exhibition catalogue Nicholas Stanley Price, At the Foot of the Pyramid: 300 Years of the Cemetery for Foreigners in Rome (Casa di Goethe Museum, 2016), pp. 203–04.
• Mark McDonald, Review of the catalogue Peter Raissis, Prints and Drawings: Europe 1500–1900 from the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2014), pp. 204–06.
• Charles Newton, Review of Elisabeth Fraser, Mediterranean Encounters: Artists between Europe and the Ottoman Empire, 1774–1839 (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017), pp. 206–09.
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Note (added 6 June 2018) — The original posting did not include descriptions for the two articles.
The Burlington Magazine, May 2018
The eighteenth century in The Burlington:
The Burlington Magazine 160 (May 2018)
Agostino Cornacchini, Charlemagne, 1725, marble (St Peter’s Basilica).
A R T I C L E S
• Gloria Martínez Leiva, “Art as Diplomacy: John Closterman’s Portraits of Carlos II of Spain and His Wife Queen Maria Anna of Neuburg,” pp. 381–86.
• Teresa Leonor M. Vale, “Art and Festivities in Eighteenth-Century Rome: Letters from a Portuguese Priest, 1721–22,” pp. 387–93.
R E V I E W S
• Christopher Rowell, Review of the exhibition Thomas Chippendale: A Celebration of Craftsmanship and Design, 1718–2018 (Leeds City Museum, 2018), pp. 414–16.
• Charles Darwent, Review of the exhibition The Dutch in Paris, 1789–1914 (Paris: Petit Palais, 2018), pp. 420–21.
• Stéphane Loire, Review of Giancarlo Sestieri, Il capriccio architettonico in Italia nel XVII e XVIII secolo (Etgraphiae editoriale, 2015), p. 432.
• Andrew McClellan, Review of Geneviève Bresc-Bautier and Béatrice de Chancel-Bardelot, eds., Un musée révolutionaire: Le Musée des Monuments français d’Alexandre Lenoir (Musée du Louvre, 2016), pp. 432–33.
Exhibition | Canaletto, 1697–1768
Now on view at the Museo di Roma:
Canaletto, 1697–1768
Museo di Roma, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, 11 April — 19 August 2018
Curated by Bożena Anna Kowalczyk
Italy’s capital celebrates Canaletto (1697–1768) by bringing together works from some of the most important museums and galleries in the world. On display, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the artist’s death, is the largest collection of his works ever exhibited in Italy: 67 paintings, drawings, and documents. Outstanding among the masterpieces are two works from the Pinacoteca del Lingotto Giovanni e Marella Agnelli in Turin, The Grand Canal from the North, towards the Rialto Bridge and The Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Carità, on display for the first time together with the manuscript from the Biblioteca statale di Lucca. Also for the first time, the two parts of a single large canvas cut before 1802, depicting Chelsea from Battersea Reach, are brought together. The left part comes from the National Trust property Blickling Hall in the UK; the right part, from the Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes de la Hanana, has been loaned for the first time by the government of Cuba.
Bozena Anna Kowalczyk, Canaletto, 1697–1768 (Milan: Silvana, 2018), 256 pages, ISBN: 978-8836639328 (English edition), €34 / $55.
New Book | Making Majesty: The Throne Room at Dublin Castle
From Irish Academic Press:
Myles Campbell and William Derham, eds., Making Majesty: The Throne Room at Dublin Castle, A Cultural History (Newbridge: Irish Academic Press, 2017), 372 pages, ISBN: 978-1911024736 (hardback), €60 / ISBN: 978-1911024729 (paperback), €60.
The Throne Room at Dublin Castle was the ultimate focus of viceregal ceremony, royal visits and many great state occasions both before and after Irish independence in 1922—a touchstone of British authority and Irish autonomy that can be analysed through the details of its form and furnishing. Making Majesty is an elegant collection of essays by leading Irish art and architectural historians that covers a broad range of perspectives, which help to enhance our understanding of this lavish and highly significant historical space, shedding new light on the major and minor figures who created, ornamented, decorated, and made use of it.
The first output of an ongoing programme of research into the cultural history of the State Apartments at Dublin Castle, Making Majesty presents original findings that offer a new reading of the nature and presence of the British monarchy and the viceregal court in Ireland. With insightful analysis that draws upon uniquely accessed archives, the contributors bring to light every aspect of how Dublin Castle’s authorities wished to be perceived and how that changed according to the whims of imperious viceroys, renowned craftsmen, and an Irish state wishing to secure an image of its newfound self-determination.
Myles Campbell works for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle in the recently established Collections, Research and Interpretation Office. He is co-editor of The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle: An Architectural History (2015) and has contributed peer-reviewed articles and chapters to books by various academic publishers. His work on Making Majesty has earned him the inaugural George B. Clarke Prize.
William Derham works for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle in the recently established Collections, Research and Interpretation Office. He is co-editor of The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle: An Architectural History (2015) and is author of Lost Ireland: 1860–1960 (2016).
C O N T E N T S
Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales
Preface by Mary Heffernan, OPW
Contributors and Editors
Editors’ Acknowledgements
Editors’ Note
Editors’ Introduction
• Jane Fenlon, The Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle in the Seventeenth Century
• Patricia McCarthy, ‘Trophys and Festoons’: The Lost Presence Chamber, 1684–1788
• Myles Campbell, ‘Sketches of their Boundless Mind’: The Marquess of Buckingham and the Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle, 1788–1838
• Graham Hickey, ‘Quite Like a Palace’: The Presence Chamber at Dublin Castle, 1838–1911
• Ludovica Neglie, ‘Admirably Calculated for the Object’: Gaetano Gandolfi’s Paintings in the Throne Room at Dublin Castle
• Sylvie Kleinman, Where Crown Met Town: The Presence of Lay Catholics and the Uncrowned Monarch of Ireland in the Chamber, c. 1795–1845
• Kathryn Milligan, Royal Visits to Dublin, 1821–1911: Pier, Procession, Presence Chamber
• Éimear O’Connor, (Ad)dressing Home Rule: Irish Home Industries, the Throne Room and Lady Aberdeen’s Modern Modes of Display
• William Derham, (Re)making Majesty: The Throne Room at Dublin Castle, 1911–2011
• Christopher Warleigh-Lack, The Creation and Evolution of Hillsborough Castle’s Throne Room: What’s in a Name?
Index
Note (added 30 May 2018) — The original posting included an incorrect table of contents.
New Book | A Princely Pursuit
Part of a promised gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, approximately 100 works from the Malcolm D. Gutter porcelain collection were exhibited at the Legion of Honor in 2015 and 2016. Published by Hirmer and distributed by The University of Chicago Press, the catalogue of the collection is now available.
Maria Santangelo, ed., A Princely Pursuit: The Malcolm D. Gutter Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain (Munich: Hirmer Publishers, 2018), 256 pages, ISBN: 978-3777429847, $65.
Through tremendous grit and research, Malcolm D. Gutter has been forming a remarkable porcelain collection over several decades, primarily on a professor’s salary. A Princely Pursuit presents more than one hundred significant pieces from the collection, which focuses primarily on early Meissen, particularly the royal collection that Augustus II (1670–1733) commissioned for the Japanisches Palais, his pleasure palace in Dresden, and the porcelain works he had imported from China and Japan. In addition to reproducing many documented pieces from the royal collection, this volume includes numerous ‘collector’s stories’ which capture, in Gutter’s own voice, his determined and painstaking hunt for Meissen porcelain around the world, as well as the legendary figures he has met and worked with along the way. Pairing Meissen history with exemplary objects from the German manufactory, A Princely Pursuit makes an essential contribution to the field of decorative arts.
Maria Santangelo is curator of fine arts for Ann and Gordon Getty.
Exhibition | Canova’s George Washington
In February, we noted the exhibition (which opened at The Frick Collection yesterday), but the original posting did not include details for the catalogue, which is now available from Giles Ltd and Artbooks.com:
Xavier Salomon with Guido Beltramini and Mario Guderzo, Canova’s George Washington (London: Giles, 2018), 188 pages, ISBN: 9781911282174, $45.
In 1816, the North Carolina State House in Raleigh commissioned a full-length statue of George Washington to stand in the hall of the State Senate. Thomas Jefferson, believing that no American sculptor was up to the task, recommended Antonio Canova (1757–1822), then one of Europe’s most celebrated artists. The first and only work Canova created for America, the statue depicted the nation’s first president in ancient Roman garb, per Jefferson’s urging, drafting his farewell address to the states. It was unveiled to great acclaim in 1821, and people traveled from far and wide to see it. Tragically, only a decade later, a fire swept through the State House, reducing the statue to just a few charred fragments.
Canova’s George Washington examines the history of the artist’s lost masterpiece, probably the least well known of his public monuments. It brings together for the first time Canova’s full-sized preparatory plaster model (which has never left Italy), four preparatory sketches for the sculpture, and related engravings and drawings. The exhibition also includes Thomas Lawrence’s 1816 oil portrait of Canova, which, like the model and several sketches, will be on loan from the Gypsotheca e Museo Antonio Canova in Possagno, Italy, the birthplace of the artist.
C O N T E N T S
Ian Wardropper, Director’s Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Xavier F. Salomon, ‘The Boast and Pride of North America’: Antonio Canova’s George Washington
Mario Guderzo, The Classical Conception of Antonio Canova
Guido Beltramini, Jefferson, Italy, and Palladio
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Photography Credits
Note (added 29 May 2018) — The original posting did not included the contents.
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