Enfilade

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, Robert Nanteuil after Nicolas Mignard, 1661
(Los Angeles: The Getty, 2010.PR.60)

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Press release (27 May 2015) from The Getty:

A Kingdom of Images: French Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, 1660–1715 
Getty Research Institute, Getty Center, Los Angeles, 16 June — 6 September 2015
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, 2 November 2015 — 31 January 2016

Curated by Louis Marchesano, Christina Aube, Peter Fuhring, Vanessa Selbach, and Rémi Mathis

Louis XIV’s imperialist ambitions manifested themselves in every activity under his dominion, which included the production of etchings and engravings. Fully appreciating the beauty and utility of prints, he and his advisors transformed Paris into the single most important printmaking center in Europe, a position the city maintained until the 20th century. Fueled by official policies intended to elevate the arts and glorify the Sun King, printmakers and print publishers produced hundreds of thousands of works on paper to meet a demand for images that was as insatiable then as it is now.

On view at the Getty Research Institute (GRI) at the Getty Center June 16 through September 6, 2015, A Kingdom of Images: French Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, 1660–1715 was organized by the Getty Research Institute in special collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France. This major exhibition surveys printmaking in the era of Louis XIV and commemorates the 300th anniversary of his death.

“In art history, too often certain media are neglected in favor of what is popular, such as painting and sculpture,” said Thomas W. Gaehtgens, director of the Getty Research Institute. “However, the truth is that at a time when France was positioned as the cultural capital of Europe, printmaking asserted itself as a fine art while printmakers successfully inserted themselves into the official art academy that had previously been the stronghold of painters and sculptors. Indeed, our understanding of the history of art and culture in France is a history told in French prints. A Kingdom of Images addresses a significant lacuna in scholarship and shows the rise of French printmaking to be richer and more complex than has been generally recognized.”

Mademoiselle d’Armagnac in a Dressing Gown, Antoine Trouvain, 1695 (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie)

A Kingdom of Images features nearly 100 works produced during the golden age of French printmaking—from grand royal portraits to satiric views of everyday life, and from small-scale ornamental designs to unusually large, multi-sheet panoramas of royal buildings. The exhibition was curated by Louis Marchesano, curator of prints and drawings at the GRI; Christina Aube, curatorial assistant at the GRI; prints specialist Peter Fuhring of the Fondation Custodia in Paris; and Vanessa Selbach and Rémi Mathis, curators of seventeenth-century prints at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

“No other medium served the Crown as well as prints,” said Marchesano. “Through prints, allies and enemies alike bore witness to the refinement of French technical skill, aesthetics, and taste. They not only learned about Louis XIV, they also saw that French fashion, design, and inventiveness had outmatched the rest of Europe. One of the reasons that this period has not been the subject of a large exhibition is that curators and scholars dismissed many of the prints as propaganda, the kind of over-the-top imagery in which the king appears, for example, as a mythological figure or a Roman emperor. While I do not disagree with the ‘propaganda’ label, I would urge viewers to consider the sophistication of both the message and the way that message is delivered. Also, I would argue that we need to think of propaganda in a wider sense. Remember, Louis XIV wanted to demonstrate to the world that France was the new cultural capital and in this respect it was under his reign that prints accomplished two goals. First, as works of art they attained unparalleled artistic sophistication and influence, which we can see for example in the portraits by Robert Nanteuil; and second, they carried a message that the rest of Europe came to envy: France was the center of fashion, design, and elegance.”

The works on display include fashion prints, portraits, religious and moralizing images, maps and views, and works depicting the fine and decorative arts, architecture, and lavish festivals. The first section of the exhibition, ‘Glory of the King’, contains one of the most exquisite portraits of Louis XIV ever created (Nanteuil’s engraving of 1676), along with huge illustrated calendars showing the king in various guises. In one he is a heroic warrior, and in another, an elegant dancer in exquisite garb.

The ‘Fashion’ section contains marvelous works of the greatest rarity, including a pair of figures whose engraved clothing has been replaced with real fabric from the late 1600s. These are commonly referred to as ‘dressed prints’. Images of design and style are not strictly limited to this section, but can be seen throughout the entire exhibition.

The section devoted to architecture highlights Louis XIV’s greatest building programs: the Louvre, the church of the Invalides, and the palace and gardens of Versailles. The megalomaniacal impetus behind the construction of these buildings also informed the unusual monumentality of the prints that represented them; these works were produced by the best printmakers of the day: Etienne Baudet, Antoine Coquart, Pierre Lepautre, and Jean Marot.

For Louis XIV, festivals were one way in which to keep the aristocracy entertained and in line. Festivals had to impress and overwhelm audiences and those organized by the Crown were so costly that they sometimes threatened the budget of the government. The illustrated books designed to record those events, several of which are on display in the ‘Festivals and Events’ section, were made with the highest production values. A notable example is The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island, a publication featuring the etchings of Jean Lepautre, whose work allowed the world to witness the perpetual entertainments of a mythological realm ruled by a benevolent king.

A Kingdom of Images is one four exhibitions across the Getty that mark the 300th anniversary of the death of Louis XIV.
• Coinciding with A Kingdom of Images, the exhibition Louis XIV at the Getty at the J. Paul Getty Museum June 9, 2015 to July 31, 2016 is a special installation in the Museum’s South Pavilion that will focus attention on a variety of extraordinary pieces in the Getty’s collection made during Louis’s lifetime when France became the leading producer of the luxury arts in Europe.
• Louis Style: French Frames, 1610–1792 on view at the Getty Museum September 15, 2015 – January 3, 2016 will draw on the Museum’s large collection of French frames, Louis Style presents a survey of the exquisite carved and gilded frames produced during the reigns of four French kings.
• Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV, exclusively on view at the Getty Museum December 15, 2015 through May 1, 2016, will be the first major museum exhibition of tapestries in the Western United States in four decades. The exhibition will feature 15 larger-than-life tapestries ranging in date from about 1540 to 1715 and created in weaving workshops across northern Europe. In an exclusive loan from the French nation, most of the tapestries are from the collection of the Mobilier National, which preserves the former royal collection.

Louis XIV Online
Starting May 30, curators and other experts will be blogging regularly about the exhibition and related themes on The Getty Iris under the series title Louis XIV at the Getty. Audiences can join the conversation about the Sun King and his artistic legacy on @thegetty Twitter with the weekly series #SunKingSunday.

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From The Getty Store:

Peter Fuhring, Louis Marchesano, Rémi Mathis, and Vanessa Selbach, eds., A Kingdom of Images: French Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, 1660–1715 (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2015), 344 pages, 
ISBN: 978-1606064504, $80.

Once considered the golden age of French printmaking, Louis XIV’s reign saw Paris become a powerhouse of print production. During this time, the king aimed to make fine and decorative arts into signs of French taste and skill and, by extension, into markers of his imperialist glory. Prints were ideal for achieving these goals; reproducible and transportable, they fueled the sophisticated propaganda machine circulating images of Louis as both a man of war and a man of culture.

This richly illustrated catalogue features more than one hundred prints from the Getty Research Institute and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, whose print collection Louis XIV established in 1667. An esteemed international group of contributors investigates the ways that cultural policies affected printmaking; explains what constitutes a print; describes how one became a printmaker; studies how prints were collected; and considers their reception in the ensuing centuries.

A Kingdom of Images is published to coincide with an exhibition on view at the Getty Research Institute from June 18 through September 6, 2015, and at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris from November 2, 2015, through January 31, 2016 (Images du Grand Siècle, l’estampe française au temps de Louis XIV, 1660–1715).

Peter Fuhring works at the Fondation Custodia, Paris, where he is in charge of Frits Lugt’s Marques de collections de dessins & d’estampes. Louis Marchesano is curator of prints and drawings at the Getty Research Institute. Rèmi Mathis and Vanessa Selbach are curators of seventeenth-century prints in the dèpartement des Estampes et de la Photographie at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, where Vanessa Selbach is also head of the Rèserve and old master prints service.

Gavin Hamilton, Agrippina Landing at Brindisium with the Ashes of Germanicus, 1765–72 (London: Tate)

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Press release (8 June 2015) from Tate Britain:

Fighting History
Tate Britain, London, 9 June — 13 September 2015

Curated by Greg Sullivan with Clare Barlow

Fighting History celebrates the enduring significance and emotional power of British history painting through the ages, from 18th-century history paintings by John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) and Benjamin West (1738–1820) to 20th-century and contemporary pieces by Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) and Jeremy Deller (b.1966). Juxtaposing work from different periods, the exhibition explores how artists have reacted to historical events, and how they capture and interpret the past.

Often vast in scale, history paintings engage with important narratives from the past, from scripture and from current affairs. Some scenes protest against state oppression, while others move the viewer with depictions of heroic acts, tragic deaths and plights of individuals swept up in events beyond their control. Amy Robsart exhibited in 1877 by William Frederick Yeames (1835–1918), which has been newly conserved for this exhibition, casts a spotlight on a historical mystery while John Minton’s (1917–1957) The Death of Nelson 1952 offers a tender perspective on the death of one of England’s greatest naval commanders.

During the 18th century, history painting was deemed the pinnacle of an academic painter’s achievements. These paintings traditionally depicted a serious narrative with moral overtones, seen in John Singleton Copley’s The Collapse of the Earl of Chatham in the House of Lords, 7 July, 1778 1779–80. The way history was presented in these works was not a precise description of events, but aimed more towards the Italian istoria—a narrative that pleased the eye and stimulated the mind.

While some conventional accounts suggest that history painting died off in the 19th century, this exhibition shows the continuing vibrancy of the genre, as new artists have engaged with its traditions to confront modern tragedies and dilemmas. Richard Hamilton’s The citizen 1981–3 offers one illustration of this, highlighting the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland in the late 20th century. Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave 2001, a re-enactment of the 1984 clash between miners and police in South Yorkshire, is also featured. Comprising a film, map, miner’s jacket and shield amongst other things, the room immerses visitors in a pivotal moment in the history of the miners’ strike. In addition, Malcom Morley’s triptych Trafalgar-Waterloo 2013 venerates Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, who are separated by a cannon based on one from the HMS Victory protruding from the canvas in the central panel.

The exhibition also compares traditional and contemporary renderings of historical events from scripture, literature and the classical world. There is a room dedicated to interpretations of the Deluge—the biblical flood that symbolises both the end and the beginning of history—including J.M.W. Turner’s (1775–1851) The Deluge 1805 and Winifred Knights’ (1899–1947) The Deluge 1920, which contains unmistakeable references to the former. There is also a section focusing on depictions of antiquity, seen in works such as Sir Edward Poynter’s (1836–1919) A Visit to Aesculapis 1880 and James Barry’s (1741–1806) King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia 1786–8, which frames the Shakespearian tragedy in a scene of ancient Britain.

From Ancient Rome to the Poll Tax Riots, Fighting History looks at how artists have transformed significant events into paintings that encourage us to reflect on our own place in history. It is curated by Greg Sullivan, Curator British Art 1750–1830, Tate Britain with assistance from Assistant Curator Clare Barlow.

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Clare Barlow, Mark Salber Phillips, Dexter Dalwood, and M. G. Sullivan, Fighting History (London: Tate Publishing, 2015), 64 pages, ISBN: 978-1849763585, £13.

Fighting History is the first book to engage with the story of British history painting and its survival into contemporary practice today. Beautifully illustrated with works from the Tate collection, as well as a number of paintings from other institutions and from practicing artists, the book traces the tradition of history painting from the baroque allegory of the seventeenth-century court to contemporary works by Dexter Dalwood, Jeremy Deller, Michael Fullerton, and others. Three short essays address themes in history painting, from the question of the shifting meanings of ‘history painting’ to an account of the great radical artists in the genre. In an interview with Dexter Dalwood, one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary painters, the artist explains the enduring significance of history painting in twentieth-century art and in his own practice.

From the press release:

Sir Hans Sloane’s Plants on Chelsea Porcelain: A Loan Exhibition
Stockspring Antiques, London, 2–16 June 2015

Chelsea plate with a wavy brown-edged rim, painted with a Corallodendron flower, leaves, floret, seed pod and seeds, and two butterflies, ca. 1753–56; Mark: red anchor over 34;
24.5 cm (Private Collection)

The exhibition Sir Hans Sloane’s Plants on Chelsea Porcelain aims to identify the plants on Chelsea porcelain botanical wares and link them to their source drawings and prints—many of which were by G. D. Ehret and were published by Philip Miller in Figures of the most Beautiful, Useful, and Uncommon plants described in the Gardeners Dictionary and other botanical publications of the period. The catalogue includes chapters on Sir Hans Sloane, the Chelsea Physic Garden, and Philip Miller’s role in receiving and propagating the imported plants and seeds from the New World, Africa, and Asia, as well as his influence on garden planting and design in Britain. The exhibition comprises of the loan of over 70 pieces of Chelsea porcelain from private and museum collections, which are shown with their relevant source engravings. Previously only about 10 plants on Chelsea porcelain had been correctly identified and linked to botanical engravings; so the exhibition includes significant new research.

The catalogue by Sally Kevill-Davies is generously sponsored by the Cadogan Estate (email stockspring@antique-porcelain.co.uk to order a copy, £30 + p&p). The exhibition is on view at Stockspring Antiques, 114 Kensington Church St., London W8 4BH, weekdays 10–5.30 and Saturdays 10–4; closed on Sundays.

Sally Kevill-Davies, Sir Hans Sloane’s Plants on Chelsea Porcelain (London: 2015), 229 pages, ISBN: 978-0956570222, £30.

From the exhibition press release:

Bread and Wine: Traces of the Eucharist Mystery, 16th–18th Centuries
Pane e vino: Tracce del mistero eucaristico nella pittura a Como dal XVI al XVIII secolo
Cathedral of Como, 9 May — 31 October 2015

Curated by Eu­ge­nia Bian­chi and An­drea Straffi

La mostra Pane e vino: Tracce del Mistero eucaristico nella pittura a Como dal XVI al XVIII secolo, visitabile dal 9 maggio al 31 ottobre 2015 presso la cattedrale di Como, è uno dei fulcri del progetto Pane e vin non ci mancava: Uomini e merci in movimento tra campi, botteghe e chiese nel Comasco, promosso dal Centro studi ‘Nicolò Rusca’ in occasione di EXPO 2015. Con un allestimento appositamente ideato per gli spazi della cattedrale e un ricco apparato di testi e immagini, vengono illustrate trenta opere—tra dipinti e affreschi dal XVI al XVIII secolo—scelte all’interno del patrimonio artistico comasco per il loro contenuto esplicitamente eucaristico o per la presenza di segni e simboli che rimandano a quel Mistero. La tematica dominante della mostra è infatti l’Eucaristia, come si trova rappresentata o evocata nei dipinti che arricchiscono le chiese di Como e della sua provincia, a memoria di un popolo di fedeli desiderosi di abbellire e impreziosire i propri luoghi di culto con immagini di profondo significato teologico.

Non si tratta però di una mostra esclusivamente iconografica. Il valore aggiunto di questa iniziativa è offerto dai risultati delle ricerche storico-artistiche, che hanno permesso di aggiornare lo stato delle conoscenze su opere già note e di recuperare dall’oblio opere mai valorizzate e collocate spesso in contesti defilati rispetto ai più tradizionali circuiti turistici. Del Gonfalone di sant’Abbondio, realizzato da Morazzone per la confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento in cattedrale, si è trovata, ad esempio, la fonte iconografica (il testo di Nicola Laghi, I Miracoli del Santissimo Sacramento, Venezia 1597); nell’oratorio della Madonna Nera di Einsiedeln a Rogaro di Tremezzo si è scoperta una coppia di tele del valsesiano Giuseppe Antonio Pianca, artista originalissimo nel contesto barocchetto lombardo, di cui finora non si conosceva alcuna opera comasca; il San Carlo Borromeo comunica gli appestati della parrocchiale di San Gerardo a Olgiate Comasco dà invece un volto a Ludovico Mascarone, pittore probabilmente milanese noto solo a livello documentario. Ancora, è emersa a Bregnano una tela di Francesco Innocenzo Torriani e trova un’attribuzione più verosimile il ciclo con le Storie di san Rocco della chiesa di San Giacomo a Livo, da riferire al solo Ambrogio Arcimboldi e alla sua bottega.

La mostra non vuol essere un’iniziativa fine a sé stessa. Piuttosto è un caloroso invito a percorrere un ‘viaggio’ nei luoghi indicati, per prendere visione delle opere nel loro contesto, così da “toccare con mano” quell’imprescindibile rapporto, tra manufatto e luogo sacro, che va inevitabilmente a perdersi quando la fruizione avviene in un museo. Solo in questo modo prende effettivo risalto quell’hic et nunc che è insito nel ‘visibile parlare’ adottato dalla Chiesa nella sua storia millenaria al fine di diffondere e rendere comprensibile a tutti le verità del Vangelo.

Contestualmente alla mostra e per tutta la sua durata, sarà possibile visitare la Sacrestia dei Mansionari, eccezionalmente aperta per l’occasione. Sotto il suggestivo affresco con l’Incoronazione della Madonna di Morazzone e circondati da alcuni dipinti della collezione donata nel 1683 alla cattedrale di Como dal nobile comasco Giacomo Gallio, verranno esposte alcune antiche suppellettili legate alla liturgia eucaristica (calici, ostensori, pissidi, ecc. dal XVI al XIX secolo) e documenti della Confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento esistente in cattedrale.

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The catalogue is available from artbooks.com:

Eugenia Bianchi and Andrea Straffi, Pane e Vino: Tracce del Mistero eucaristico nella pittura a Como dal XVI al XVIII secolo (Milan: Silvana: 2015), 144 pages, ISBN: 978-8836631339, $45.

Il catalogo della mostra Pane e vino: Tracce del mistero eucaristico nella pittura a Como dal XVI al XVIII secolo è dedicato a trenta opere—tra dipinti e affreschi dal XVI al XVIII secolo—scelte all’interno del patrimonio artistico comasco per il loro contenuto esplicitamente eucaristico o per la presenza di segni e simboli che rimandano a quel mistero. Il filo conduttore del volume è infatti l’eucarestia, come si trova rappresentata o evocata nei dipinti che arricchiscono le chiese di Como e della sua provincia, a memoria di un popolo di fedeli desiderosi di abbellire e impreziosire i propri luoghi di culto con immagini ricche di significato teologico.

Canaletto, Capriccio, A Palladian Design for the Rialto Bridge, with Buildings, 1744, 90 x 130 cm (London: The Royal Collection, RCIN 404029) © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014.

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From the Centre d’Art de l’Hôtel de Caumont:

Canaletto, Rome—Londres—Venise: Le Triomphe de la Lumière
Centre d’Art de l’Hôtel de Caumont, Aix-en-Provence, 6 May — 13 September 2015

Curated by Bozena Anna Kowalczyk

Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto (1697–1768), is recognised as the emblematic figure of the veduta genre, the most admired Venetian artistic creation of the 18th century in Europe. This inaugural exhibition at the art centre of the Hôtel de Caumont aims to provide new insights into the complete works of Canaletto, with a particular interest in the treatment of light in the Venetian master’s paintings. Fifty paintings and drawings from international public and private collections will present Canaletto the man and the different phases of his artistic career, in Rome, London and Venice.

We initially discover Canaletto’s first activity, as a painter of theatre scenery, carried out in collaboration with his father Bernardo Canal and his brother Cristoforo. Opera librettos on which Canaletto’s name appears will be exhibited alongside his first capricci, full of musical influences, painted in 1720–1722, and the first views of Venice, composed according to the criteria for staging.

The exhibition continues with a presentation of the major undertakings of Canaletto’s youth: the views of Venice commissioned by Joseph Smith (1722–1723), Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein (1723) and Stefano Conti (1725–1726), are large scale canvases that bear witness to the skill of the young painter.

Canaletto’s visit to England, his contact with new landscapes and the light of the Thames, led to changes in his palette and his touch. A series of paintings and drawings show the new solutions he adopted to capture the atmosphere and spirit of England. Canaletto painted London and lingered over Westminster Bridge, the second bridge over the Thames, then under construction. He also painted the English countryside, travelling as far as outskirts of Scotland to depict Alnwick Castle, home of the Duke of Northumberland.

A special section is devoted to technical experiments conducted by the artist throughout his career. Canaletto conceived a systematic and scientific way to rework drawings that had been made outdoors by means of a camera obscura (dark chamber). An example of the camera obscura used by the painter is presented next to a facsimile that allows the visitor to visualise for himself what the painter would see when using this device. A reproduction of pages from his sketchbook, as well as a film, illustrate the technical work of the artist during his portrayal of views of Venice.

This exhibition is also the occasion to conduct for the first time a comprehensive study of the last years of Canaletto in Venice. The works accomplished after his return from London at the end of 1755 illustrate Canaletto’s new interests and his response to the new artistic climate in Venice, where Francesco Guardi (1712–1793) was making a name for himself. Particular attention is devoted to the artist’s tireless passion for the study of new effects of light and atmosphere. The greatest international museums have granted their support. Among them: the Royal Collection and the National Gallery of London, the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Uffizi Gallery of Florence as well as the Ca’Rezzonico of Venice.

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From artbooks.com:

Bozena Anna Kowalczyk, ed., Canaletto, Rome—Londres—Venise: Le Triomphe de la Lumière (Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 2015), 224 pages, ISBN: 978-9462300835, 45€ / $85.

For the inaugural exhibition at the Centre d’Art de l’Hôtel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence, Mercatorfonds presents the first French monograph on Canaletto, and the first worldwide following the Metropolitan Museum’s publication in 1989. Numerous recent shows, focusing on specific aspects of Canaletto’s work or simply on his depictions of Venice, are a clear indication of the public’s interest in the painter’s oeuvre. This volume introduces the reader to Canaletto and, by tracing the various phases of his artistic path, provides a complete overview of his work. To highlight the development of Canaletto’s tastes, his reactions to Venice’s artistic and cultural trends and the atmosphere of England—where he worked for nine years—the paintings and drawings shown here have been selected from among the artist’s most remarkable pieces.

José Manuel de la Cerda, Desk-on-stand (detail), Pátzcuaro, Mexico, 18th century. Lacquered and polychromed wood with gilt decoration. On loan from The Hispanic Society of America, New York.

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From the MFA:

Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 18 August 2015 — 15 February 2016
Winterthur, Wilmington, Delaware, 26 March 2016 — 8 January 2017

Exquisite objects tell the story of the influence of Asia on the arts of colonial America.

Within decades of the ‘discovery’ of America by Spain in 1492, goods from Asia traversed the globe via Spanish and Portuguese traders. The Americas became a major destination for Asian objects and Mexico became an international hub of commerce. The impact of the importation of these goods was immediate and widespread, both among the European colonizers and the indigenous populations, who readily adapted their own artistic traditions to the new fashion for Asian imports.

Made in the Americas is the first large-scale, Pan-American exhibition to examine the profound influence of Asia on the arts of the colonial Americas. Featuring nearly 100 of the most extraordinary objects produced in the colonies, this exhibition explores the rich, complex story of how craftsmen throughout the hemisphere adapted Asian styles in a range of materials—from furniture to silverwork, textiles, ceramics, and painting. Exquisite objects from Mexico City, Lima, Quito, Quebec City, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, dating from the 17th to the early 19th centuries, include folding screens made in Mexico in imitation of imported Japanese and Chinese screens, blue-and-white talavera ceramics copied from imported Chinese porcelains, and luxuriously woven textiles made to replicate fine silks and cottons imported from China and India.

The timing of the exhibition marks the 450th anniversary of the beginning of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico, which was inaugurated in 1565 and ended in 1815, two and a half centuries later.

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From the MFA:

Dennis Carr, with contributions by Gauvin Alexander Bailey, Timothy Brook, Mitchell Codding, Karina H. Corrigan, and Donna Pierce, Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2015), 160 pages, ISBN: 978-0878468126, $50.

Made in the Americas reveals the largely overlooked history of the profound influence of Asia on the arts of the colonial Americas. Beginning in the sixteenth century, European outposts in the New World, especially those in New Spain, became a major nexus of the Asia export trade. Craftsmen from Canada to Peru, inspired by the sophisticated designs and advanced techniques of these imported goods, combined Asian styles with local traditions to produce unparalleled furniture, silverwork, textiles, ceramics, lacquer, painting, and architectural ornaments.

Among the exquisite objects featured in this book, from across the hemisphere and spanning the seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries, are folding screens made in Mexico, in imitation of imported Japanese and Chinese screens; blue-and-white talavera ceramics copied from Chinese porcelains; luxuriously woven textiles, made to replicate fine silks and cottons from China and India; devotional statues that adapt Buddhist gods into Christian saints; and japanned furniture produced in colonial Boston that simulates Asian lacquer finishes. The stories these objects tell, compellingly related by leading scholars, bring to life the rich cultural interchange and the spectacular arts of the first global age.

Dennis Carr is Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Gauvin Alexander Bailey is Professor and Alfred and Isabel Bader Chair in Southern Baroque, Department of Art History and Art Conservation, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.
Timothy Brook holds the Republic of China Chair in the Department of History and Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
Mitchell Codding is Executive Director, The Hispanic Society of America, New York.
Karina H. Corrigan is H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art, Peabody Essex Museum.
Donna Pierce is Frederick & Jan Mayer Curator of Spanish Colonial Art, Denver Art Museum.

Press release for the exhibition now on view at Salisbury:

Turner’s Wessex: Architecture and Ambition
The Salisbury Museum, 22 May — 27 September 2015

Curated by Ian Warrell

J.M.W. Turner, The Choir of Salisbury Cathedral, 1797, watercolour, 65 x 51 cm (The Salisbury Museum)

Visitors to The Salisbury Museum this summer will be treated to a highly original and fascinating exhibition on J.M.W. Turner. Newly discovered facts and a wealth of material never previously assembled together revises the traditional outline of Turner’s formative years. Turner’s Wessex: Architecture and Ambition reveals new insights into Turner’s ambitious and innovative work as a very young man and his complex relationships with extremely wealthy patrons. “We are astonished to discover that Turner began his career here in Salisbury, painting the town, its magnificent cathedral and the extraordinary Fonthill Abbey nearby,” said Adrian Green, Director of The Salisbury Museum.

Building on recent successes with Constable and Cecil Beaton exhibitions, The Salisbury Museum showcases J.M.W. Turner’s meteoric rise at the turn of the nineteenth century, working for two of England’s wealthiest men as they embarked on extravagant building projects and historical research on a very grand scale in the Wessex region.

Salisbury is likely to be a magnet for visitors throughout 2015, as across the green from the museum at Salisbury Cathedral the Magna Carta celebrates its 800th anniversary. Exceptional National Trust properties such as Stourhead will be open to visitors nearby, and 20 minutes away the ancient monument of Stonehenge continues to cast its mysterious spell.

Turner first visited Salisbury in 1795 when he was 20 years old. As his career developed, he returned to paint Stonehenge and its surrounding landscape. Set in the vast Wessex plains, his depictions of the ancient stones proves to be among his most hauntingly atmospheric works.

The first of Turner’s patrons in the Salisbury area was Sir Richard Colt Hoare, a gentleman-antiquarian who inherited the Stourhead estate in 1784. In the late 1790s when Turner was barely out of his teens, Sir Richard commissioned him to paint a series of watercolours of Salisbury and its newly restored cathedral, which was then the subject of much controversy. Wiltshire owes much to Colt Hoare for his involvement in the first archaeological survey of the landscape around Salisbury and the books he published on the history of Ancient and Modern Wiltshire.

But it was another local patron, William Beckford, described by Byron as “England’s wealthiest son,” who from 1798 gave Turner his most valuable early commissions, and engaged him to paint the gothic folly he was building at Fonthill Abbey. With characteristic bravado, Turner worked on the largest sheets of paper available, bringing all his daring experimental skill to bear, always pushing at the boundaries of technical achievement. His depictions of Beckford’s legendary tower—part of which fell down in 1800—provide a unique record of its construction. The exhibition includes a series of sketches Turner made on site, usually held in the Tate archive.

The third part of the exhibition charts Turner’s delightful work in the wider Wessex region—spanning Wiltshire, the Dorset coast, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It includes surprising images such as his exquisite watercolours of fish, and witty caricatures made along with other members of the Houghton Club. Many of the waterolours relate to Turner’s popular topographical views, which reached a wide audience as engraved prints and continue to do so today. The exhibition culminates in a record of the historic visit made by the French King Louis Philippe to Queen Victoria in 1844—the first visit by a French King to England in roughly 500 years.

The exhibition has been selected by the distinguished Turner scholar Ian Warrell, working in collaboration with the team at Salisbury Museum, and builds a vibrant and dramatic picture of the brilliant young artist, driven by self-belief and limitless ambition, grafting his way in a complex world. The Salisbury Museum is proud that the unmatched collection of Turner watercolours of Salisbury cathedral at the heart of the exhibition is being seen together for the first time since 1883. The exhibition offers a unique view into how Wiltshire’s great patrons provided a crucial springboard to the career of one of England’s best-loved artists.

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From Scala:

Ian Warrell, Turner’s Wessex: Architecture and Ambition (London: Scala, 2015), 208 pages, ISBN: 978-1857599305, £25/ $40.

Turner was only 20 in 1795 when he first visited Salisbury. This book focuses on the important commissions that resulted from his contact with the region, which provided the foundations for his success. Reunited here are his inventive watercolours of Salisbury Cathedral painted for Sir Richard Colt Hoare, widely dispersed since 1883. Turner’s matchless ability to depict architecture also attracted the attention of the eccentric art lover and writer, William Beckford. The problematic construction of Beckford’s legendary but short-lived neo-gothic abbey at Fonthill was uniquely recorded in Turner’s sketches and watercolours.

As his career developed, Turner repeatedly revisited an area that captivated him. His depictions of Stonehenge, in particular, proved to be among his most hauntingly atmospheric works. In this beautifully illustrated book many rarely seen works are brought together, illuminating this formative and fascinating period in Turner’s output.

Ian Warrell is an independent curator, specialising in British art of the nineteenth century. He is the author of many books on Turner, most recently Turner’s Sketchbooks.

On view in Sèvres:

Corée Mania: Roman d’un Voyageur
Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, 21 January — 20 July 2015

Curated by Stéphanie Brouillet

Dragon Jar, Korean, 18th century (MNC28154 Sèvres – Cité de la céramique / RMN)

Cité de la céramique célébre en 2015 les Années croisées France-Corée, en organisant deux expositions: l’une patrimoniale avec Roman d’un voyageur, l’autre contemporaine à travers la présentation des œuvres de Yik-Yung Kim et Yeun-Kyung Kim.

Du 21 janvier au 20 juillet, l’exposition Roman d’un voyageur s’articule autour de la figure emblématique du diplomate Victor Collin de Plancy (1853–1922), premier consul de France en Corée qui collecta de nombreux objets et œuvres d’art coréens. L’exposition invite à un double voyage : celui vers la péninsule coréenne, au cœur de l’Extrême-Orient, à la découverte d’une culture ancienne et raffinée, et l’autre sous la forme d’une plongée dans le temps, vers le « royaume ermite » de la fin de l’époque Choson, à la fin du XIXe siècle.

De nombreuses céramiques dont certaines exceptionnelles du 1er siècle de notre ère à nos jours, dont la grande jarre à décor de dragon du XVIIIe siècle, considérée comme un chef-d’oeuvre des collections nationales conservées par l’établissement, sont présentées ainsi que du mobilier, des instruments de musique, des objets quotidiens, des photographies, des peintures, des documents d’archives qui évoquent le pays et son art de vivre.

Une journée d’étude sur le céladon, à la fois sous l’angle historique mais aussi scientifique, prévue à l’automne, viendra ponctuer cette saison coréenne à la Cité de la céramique.

Le commissariat est assuré par Stéphanie Brouillet, conservatrice du patrimoine chargée des céramiques asiatiques à Sèvres. La scénographie est confiée au designer Vincent Dupont-Rougier.

A summary in English is available from the Asia Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS):

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The catalogue is published by Loubatières:

Roman d’un Voyageur, Victor Collin de Plancy: L’histoire des Collections Coréennes en France (Carbonne: Loubatières, 2015), 263 pages, ISBN: 978-2862667195, 39€.

Victor Collin de Plancy fut le premier représentant de la France en Corée entre 1888 et 1906. Interprète puis diplomate, il se passionna pour l’histoire et l’art de ce pays resté longtemps fermé pour les Occidentaux. Désireux de le faire connaître en France, il rassembla un grand nombre d’objets—céramiques, manuscrits, livres, meubles ou costumes—dont il fit don à des institutions françaises au rang desquelles figure le Musée national de la céramique. Il fut également au cœur d’un petit groupe de voyageurs passionnés par la Corée qui, à leur tour, enrichirent les collections françaises.

A preview of the catalogue is available here»