Enfilade

Museum of the American Revolution Acquires Continental Army Drawing

Posted in museums by Editor on April 15, 2024

Press release (26 March) from the Museum of the American Revolution, with coverage appearing in The Washington Post over the weekend (14 April 2024) . . .

Attributed to Pierre Eugène du Simitière, Soldiers and Camp Followers of the Continental Army’s North Carolina Brigade Marching through Philadelphia on 25 August 1777, pen and ink on paper (Philadelphia: Museum of the American Revolution).

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An eyewitness pen-and-ink sketch depicting Continental Army soldiers and camp followers marching through Philadelphia on 25 August 1777, which has never been documented or published by historians, has been donated to the Museum of the American Revolution. This sketch is the first wartime depiction of North Carolina troops ­known to exist, and only the second-known depiction of female camp followers of the Continental Army drawn by an eyewitness.

“This sketch is extremely important to our understanding of the daily operations of the Continental Army,” said Matthew Skic, Curator of Exhibitions at the Museum, who worked to authenticate the sketch and identify its creator after discovering it in a private collection. “It helps us visualize the everyday lives of these troops—the joyous, the difficult, and the mundane.”

This discovery brings to light a lively scene that newspaper accounts confirm occurred the morning of 25 August 1777, as the North Carolina Brigade and its commander, Brigadier General Francis Nash, marched to join the rest of General George Washington’s army before seeing action in both the Battle of Brandywine (11 September 1777) and the Battle of Germantown (4 October 1777).

The drawing shows two soldiers marching alongside an open-sided wagon, as well as a commissioned officer and a wagon driver mounted on horseback. Inside the wagon sit two women, one holding an infant, amongst various equipment and baggage of the brigade. Two men are also depicted riding on the back of the wagon. The inclusion of female camp followers—who shared life on campaign with enlisted husbands and fathers and supported the troops by sewing, doing laundry, and selling food—exemplifies a direct defiance of known regulations at the time about how women following the army could use wagons. Earlier in August, before the march depicted in the sketch took place, Washington himself brought up issues of women and children slowing down his troops, calling them “a clog upon every movement.”

Reverse side of the sketch of the North Carolina Brigade showing five male figure studies.

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On the reverse of the North Carolina Brigade sketch are five studies of two male figures, one brandishing a sword and the other engaged in a fist fight. Artists frequently sketched studies like these when they were working on larger works, as it allowed them to try out different poses or details and to get a sense of the scale of the larger drawing or painting.

The sketch was acquired by Judith Hernstadt, a Manhattan-based urban and regional planner and former television executive, in the late 1970s from a New York City antiques dealer. Hernstadt donated the sketch to the Museum in 2023, but at the time, the identity of the artist who drew it was still unknown. An ink inscription below the vignette of the North Carolina Brigade reads, “an exact representation of a waggon belonging to the north carolina brigade of continental troops which passed thro Philadelphia august done by …” with the rest of the lettering cut away due to an old paper repair.

After detailed research, handwriting analysis, and comparison to similar sketches, Skic identified the sketch’s creator as Switzerland-born artist and collector Pierre Eugène du Simitière (1737–1784), who settled in Philadelphia in about 1774 and is now known for documenting the rising American Revolution as it happened. Du Simitière went on to create from-life profile portraits of prominent Revolutionary leaders including Washington and he suggested the motto “E Pluribus Unum” through his rejected design for the Great Seal of the United States in 1776. In 1782, he founded the first museum in the United States that was open to the public.

Many of Du Simitière’s significant manuscripts and drawings still exist and are available for researchers to study at both The Library Company of Philadelphia and the Library of Congress. It is yet to be determined if either sketch relates to another work by du Simitière, but research is ongoing.

We were thrilled to piece together the many illuminating and significant parts of this sketch’s history through our unparalleled scholarship here at the Museum of the American Revolution,” said Dr. R. Scott Stephenson, President and CEO of the Museum. “As we round out our celebration of Women’s History Month, we revel in the discovery of this new depiction of female camp followers as highlighting the lesser-known stories and critical roles of women throughout the American Revolution are at the heart of the Museum’s offerings.”

The sketch was conserved due to generous contributions from the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, which is comprised of descendants of officers of the North Carolina Continental Line.

“The North Carolina Society of Cincinnati is proud to support the conservation and framing of this important discovery, which serves as an important reminder that the intricate history of both our state and our nation is still unfolding,” said Society President George Lennon.

 

Telescope by James Short on Display at the Herschel Museum

Posted in museums, on site by Editor on April 8, 2024

On a day when many of us are looking to the skies . . . Press release from Bath’s Herschel Museum of Astronomy:

James Short, Gregorian reflector telescope, 1738–68 (Collection of Richard Blythe, on loan to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy).

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy recently revealed a new display: a Gregorian Reflector telescope created by James Short, the preeminent telescope maker of the 18th century. The brass telescope, on long-term loan to the museum from Richard N. Blythe of Shropshire, was created between 1738 and 1768. It has a focal length of 18 inches and sits on an equatorial mount. Similar telescopes made by Short were used to observe the transit of Venus in 1761 and 1769.

Gregorian Reflector telescopes are constructed with two concave mirrors. The primary mirror collects incoming light and brings it to a focal point. This focused light is then reflected off the secondary mirror, after which the light passes through a central aperture within the primary mirror. Ultimately, the light emerges from the bottom of the instrument, facilitating observation through the eyepiece.

In his 30-year career, Short made at least 1300 telescopes. Considered the finest available, they were sought after by observatories and customers all over the world. Short had no assistant, and when he died in 1768 his method of polishing mirrors was lost. Separately, William Herschel started experimenting with making telescopes in 1773 and went on to produce telescopes of even greater quality than those by Short.

Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street, Bath (Photo by Nick Veitch, Wikimedia Commons, August 2005). Brother and sister, William and Caroline Herschel moved into what was then a new town house in 1777, just a few years before William discovered Uranus (in March 1781). The Herschel museum was established in 1981.

Patrizia Ribul, Director of Museums for Bath Preservation Trust says: “The story of the Herschel siblings William and Caroline is very special, and our acquisitions policy is focused on objects that either belonged to them, or that add important context from the time. The James Short telescope provides visitors with an excellent example of the type of telescope that would have been known to William Herschel. The fact that William, with Caroline’s assistance, went on to create telescopes superior even to this excellent example by James Short, really underlines his expertise and dedication in the field of astronomy.”

The James Short telescope is the latest in a line of exciting long-term loans and acquisitions at the museum, including Caroline’s visitor book, a full-sized replica of William’s seven-foot reflecting telescope, and Caroline’s original memoir manuscript.

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is dedicated to the achievements of the Herschels: distinguished astronomers and talented musicians. It was from this house that William discovered Uranus in 1781.

Maratti’s Birth of the Virgin Arrives at Notre Dame

Posted in museums by Editor on April 4, 2024

From the press release (via Art Daily) . . .

Carlo Maratti, The Birth of the Virgin, ca. 1684, oil on canvas, 254 × 159 cm (South Bend: Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, Notre Dame: On loan from the Cummins Collection L2024.001).

The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art announced the arrival and installation of a major altarpiece, The Birth of the Virgin, by the Italian Baroque painter Carlo Maratti. The painting is a long-term loan from the Cummins family.

Originally commissioned in 1681 or 1682 by the canons of the Church of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome, the painting shows attendants caring for the newborn Mary, who turns to look at us. In the background, Anne rests in bed, her husband Joachim at her side, his hands clasped in prayer. The church for which it was commissioned is and remains the German parish in Rome.

“Impressive for both its masterful execution and grand scale, Carlo Maratti’s Birth of the Virgin adds significantly to the collection of sacred art featured at the Raclin Murphy Museum,” said Cheryl Snay, curator of European and American Art before 1900. “Seventeenth-century patrons admired the baroque artist’s sensitive handling of this favorite subject matter, making him one of the leading painters in Rome. We are fortunate to be able to present such a coveted example to our community.”

Maratti is often seen as the last major artist of the classical tradition in Rome, which originated with Raphael and Michelangelo. From his studio in Rome, he executed numerous international commissions. In 1664, he became the director of the Accademia di San Luca, Rome.

The altarpiece hung in the church until 1685, when the canons decided to decline the commission as too costly. Maratti then sold the painting to Count Friedrich Christian von Schaumburg-Lippe, who moved it to his home in Germany. Numerous preparatory sketches for the altarpiece survive in Madrid, Windsor, and Düsseldorf.

“This extraordinary work of art by one of the great masters of the late Roman Baroque is an exquisite opportunity for all visiting the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art,” shares Museum Director Joseph Antenucci Becherer. “The generosity of the Cummins family celebrates the newly opened Museum and the ever-increasing role of the life of the arts at the University of Notre Dame and the entire region.”

The monumental altarpiece is installed on the balcony flanked by the entrances to the Gallery of European Art before 1700 and the Mary, Queen of Families Chapel. Although the origins of a museum collection at the University date to 1875 and include many liturgical images, the scale and grandeur of this altarpiece is an exceptional addition.

The Nelson-Atkins Acquires Last Known Work by Maria Cosway

Posted in museums by Editor on March 25, 2024

Maria Cosway, A Religious Allegory on the Death of a Young Woman, painted in Paris 1801–02, oil on panel, 46 × 51 cm
(Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2023.45)

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From the press release:

A major painting by an esteemed 18th-century female artist was gifted to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Realized in 1801–02, A Religious Allegory on the Death of a Young Woman is the last known work by celebrated painter Maria Cosway (1759–1838) and the second known work by the artist in a North American public collection. It is the gift of longtime museum supporters Virginia and James Moffett.

“This singularly important work is the last painting ever completed by Maria Cosway,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins. “This, along with the Rachel Ruysch painting given by the Moffetts several years ago, has significantly enriched the diversity of our European collection, and we are most grateful to them. Thanks to their extraordinary generosity, we can provide visitors and scholars with a much deeper insight into the lives of two immensely significant women artists. Their inclusion in the collection enables us to explore their history more extensively and present a more comprehensive picture of European Art.”

The nocturnal scene portrays a young woman in white on her deathbed surrounded by three mourners and one angel at her head, who leans forward with her arms extended toward the light. Three additional figures appear at her feet representing Charity, Faith, and Hope. Influenced by neoclassicism, Cosway’s composition resonates with the works of her contemporaries Jacques-Louis David, John Flaxman, William Blake, and Antonio Canova.

“This final painting illustrates the summation of Cosway’s artistic journey, religious fervor, and the profound loss of her only child,” said Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Louis L. and Adelaide C. Ward Senior Curator, European Arts.

“It is a major statement in Cosway’s career, embodying her intense Catholicism and personal grief,” added Stephen Lloyd, curator of the Derby Collection at Knowsley Hall, England, a specialist in Cosway’s work.

It is also the only known composition to have survived that Cosway realized in multiple media: painting, drawing, and etching.

Born in Italy in 1759, Maria Cosway exhibited artistic talents from an early age. Her multifaceted career included exhibiting at the Royal Academy in London and opening an art academy for women. This composition stands as her sole known painting executed in Paris.

This is the second major European gift to the Nelson-Atkins from the Moffett collection. Their painting Still Life of Exotic Flowers on a Marble Ledge by late 17th/early 18th-century Dutch artist Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) hung in the museum’s European galleries, on loan, for 20 years. Virginia and her husband James Moffett came to the museum every Sunday afternoon during those two decades to visit the painting, and they were struck by the affection with which museum visitors admired the delicate work. They decided to make the loan a gift in 2017, and it became the first example by Ruysch to enter the collection. A mature work featuring many exotic flowers from India, Peru, South Africa, and North America, it remained in the artist’s immediate family for at least 10 years, leading scholars to speculate that the painting held special meaning for her.

The Cosway and Ruysch paintings greatly enrich the European collection and join significant works by fellow 18th-century women artists Elisabeth Louise-Vigée LeBrun, Maria Luigia Raggi, and Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. The Moffetts have been similarly generous with gifts to the museum’s American collection.

Philippe Halbert Named Associate Curator at the Wadsworth Atheneum

Posted in museums by Editor on January 16, 2024

From the press release, via Art Daily:

Headshot of Philippe Halbert in front of an early 18th-century portrait by Nicolas de Largillière depicting a woman, often identified as Elisabeth de Beauharnais.The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut has named Dr. Philippe Halbert as Richard Koopman Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts. A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, Halbert earned his PhD in the history of art from Yale University, where he studied the intersections of art, empire, race, and self-fashioning in the Atlantic world. His academic work centers American decorative arts and material culture broadly, from its Indigenous roots to interconnected phenomena of diaspora, creolization, and settler-colonialism. Halbert has served as Interim Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth since November 2022.

“I am committed to telling dynamic, object-centered stories of people and place that transcend geographic, ethnic, linguistic, and temporal bounds,” Halbert said, explaining that his academic interdisciplinary research and professional endeavors are grounded in a desire to encourage appreciation of American decorative arts by specialists and general audiences of all ages.

Proficient in French and Spanish, Halbert has been involved in the development of numerous exhibitions and special installations at the Wadsworth. Oversight responsibilities include over 3,000 decorative arts objects (circa 1650–2020) at the Wadsworth, with duties ranging from daily care of the collection and related research to overseeing rotations in the permanent collection galleries, developing special exhibits, volunteer training, and building partnerships with other institutions and constituents in Hartford and beyond.

Special projects underway and upcoming include New Nation, Many Hands, a special exhibition of federal-era decorative arts and material culture drawn from the permanent collection (on view from June 2023 until September 2024); reinterpretation of the Wetmore parlor, a painted and paneled room from a circa 1746 Middletown, Connecticut, house; and reevaluation of the Wadsworth’s American decorative arts holdings in anticipation of their reinstallation in 2025.

“Philippe is an outstanding scholar and curator of the Atlantic world, especially the interaction between France and North America. His passion for the material culture of vast early America is infectious and his love of curatorial work, breadth of knowledge, and extensive scholarship are incredible assets for the Wadsworth,” said Matthew Hargraves, Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. “We are delighted that he has assumed this new role and look forward to his continued stewardship of our remarkable American Decorative Arts collection.”

Previously in his career, Halbert served as a curatorial intern at various museums, including at the Yale University Art Gallery, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Colonial Williamsburg. He has earned numerous awards and fellowships and been an adjunct lecturer and consultant for various institutions, including at the Embassy of the United States in Paris. He is a resident of West Hartford, CT.

Frick Director Ian Wardropper to Retire in 2025 

Posted in museums by Editor on January 4, 2024

From the museum press release (3 January 2024) . . .

 Ian Wardropper standing outside wearing a coat and scarfThe Frick Collection announced today that Ian Wardropper, the institution’s Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, will retire in 2025 following fourteen years of service to the Frick and a fifty-year museum career. During his tenure as the Frick’s director, Wardropper led the museum and library through a period of strategic and measured growth, which included the first comprehensive renovation and upgrade of the Frick’s historic buildings in nearly ninety years and a focused acquisitions program that has enhanced the institution’s art and library collections. He also prioritized accessibility and public outreach, spearheading innovative strategies and partnerships that enabled audiences to experience the museum and library in new ways. This has ranged from inventive online programs including Cocktails with a Curator to partnerships with the Ghetto Film School to the conceptualization and management of Frick Madison, which enabled the Frick’s collections and programs to be enjoyed throughout the institution’s renovation and enhancement project.

The Board of Trustees is working with an executive search firm to conduct an international search for the Frick’s next director. Wardropper will be honored for his innumerable contributions to the museum and the arts community at large at the institution’s fall 2024 gala, which precedes the public reopening of the museum and library in late 2024. . . .

The full press release is available here»

Robin Pogrebin covered the story yesterday for The New York Times.

Getty Acquisitions Include Portrait of Friedrich Christian by Mengs

Posted in museums by Editor on December 24, 2023

From the press release (4 December 2023) . . .

A rare Netherlandish masterpiece, a recently rediscovered German still life, and a magnificent state portrait bolster the Getty’s collection.

The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today the acquisition of three important paintings, enhancing its collection of European art. The works include The Holy Family (ca. 1520) by Netherlandish artist Gerard David; Bouquet of Flowers in a Two-Handed Vase (early 1560s) by German artist Ludger tom Ring the Younger; and Portrait of Friedrich Christian, Prince of Saxony (1751), by German artist Anton Raphael Mengs. The three paintings were purchased individually on the European art market and will go on display at the Getty Center this week.

The Virgin and Child tenderly embrace as Jesus presses his cheek against Mary’s while she holds her son tightly. Joseph holds a spoon and lidded bowl.

Gerard David, The Holy Family, ca. 1520, oil on panel, 16 × 13 inches (Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2023.104).

“We rarely are able to acquire three such significant works of art at the same time,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum. “These paintings will considerably enhance our presentation of northern European paintings, adding depth and variety across the genres of religious imagery, independent still life, and grand portraiture. I have no doubt that all three pictures, representing very different aspects and periods of European art, will engage and delight our visitors.”

An extremely rare work by Gerard David, Holy Family highlights the artist’s use of rich oil colors and delicate brushwork that distinguish his extraordinarily meticulous painting technique. David placed the three figures—Mary, Jesus, and Joseph—close to the viewer, underscoring their warm, familial bond. The Virgin and Child tenderly embrace as Jesus presses his cheek against Mary’s while she holds her son tightly. Joseph holds a spoon and lidded bowl, keeping the porridge-like milk soup warm for the child. Jesus holds an unblemished apple, a symbol of his role as the ‘new Adam’; two decaying apples sitting atop the lidded bowl offer a stark allusion to the future passion of Christ.

Typical for painters of the period, David portrayed the figures in a contemporary environment: the buildings and hilly landscape visible outside the window are characteristic of 16th-century Netherlands. The superb condition of the painting preserves David’s subtle modeling of flesh and many exquisite details, such as the fine gold highlights of the Virgin’s tresses and the tiny swan floating on the pond in the background.

“With its powerful sense of immediacy, this moving and intimate depiction of the Holy Family is a major addition to our collection of Netherlandish paintings,” says Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “Its exceptional state of preservation allows us to appreciate David’s commanding use of color and delicate brushwork.”

A vase with a bouquet of flowers.

Ludger tom Ring the Younger, Bouquet of Flowers in a Two-Handed Vase, early 1560s, oil on oak panel, 15 × 11 inches (Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2023.101).

Bouquet of Flowers in a Two-Handed Vase by German artist Ludger tom Ring the Younger becomes the earliest independent still life painting in Getty’s collection. It marks a pivotal moment in Renaissance art, when close artistic observation of European plants, initially expressed through drawn and watercolor studies by German masters Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer around 1500, became worthy subjects of panel painting.

The painting imparts a monumentality despite its relatively modest scale. On a simple shelf or table set against a dark background, the artist depicted a luxurious two-handled vase made of milky Venetian glass decorated with gold and blue enamel. The vibrant bouquet features over 15 species of plants native to northern Europe, including roses, gillyflowers, pot marigolds, pink daisies, violets, and rosemary.

“A pioneer in the history of European still life, Ludger tom Ring was the author of only a handful of panels with bouquet of flowers: this is the first bouquet painting by Ring acquired by a museum in the United States,” says Gasparotto. “With its brilliant palette, exuberant textures, and characterful vase, this work greatly expands our collection of German Renaissance art.”

A magnificent state portrait, created by Anton Raphael Mengs when he was on the cusp of international fame, captures the energy and optimism of a youthful prince. Prince Friedrich Christian commissioned the portrait in 1751, soon after the artist was appointed principal painter to the Saxon court in Dresden, Germany. The painting portrays Christian in three-quarter length, clad in tournament armor under billowing layers of richly colored drapery, sashes, and medals. The prince adopts a self-assured attitude, with one knee bent, his right hand gripping a baton, and his left arm resting upon his helmet. His soft, good-natured features are sharpened by the quick intelligence apparent in his bright, delicate eyes.

A young man is draped in fine clothing.

Anton Raphael Mengs, Portrait of Friedrich Christian, Prince of Saxony, 1751, oil on canvas, 61 × 43 inches (Getty Museum, 2023.100).

Mengs created a splendidly engaging portrait that asserts the prince’s dynastic legitimacy while concealing the sitter’s disability—likely cerebral palsy—which would have prevented him from assuming the easy, confident stance shown in his portrait. After the prince’s untimely death in 1763, the painting remained with the royal family in an almost unbroken chain of inheritance until its sale in 2022.

“With its burst of color and over-the-top grandeur, this painting is a magnificent addition to our extraordinary collection of early modern portraiture,” says Gasparotto. “The portrait will offer visitors a chance to consider the purpose and potential of the state portrait, the highest form of political image-making in early modern Europe.”

This new painting joins three other works by Mengs in the Getty collection: Portrait of William Burton Conyngham (a pastel); Asclepius (recto) and Study of a Male Youth Bearing Some Leaves (verso) (a drawing); and Portrait of José Nicolás de Azara, Marquis of Nibbiano (a painting).

The Huntington Acquires a Portrait by Goya

Posted in museums by Editor on December 21, 2023

From the press release (20 November 2023) . . . .

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Portrait of José Antonio Caballero, Second Marqués de Caballero, Secretary of Grace and Justice, 1807, oil on canvas, frame: 135 × 114 × 9 cm (The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation).

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens announced today that it has acquired a historic portrait by Spanish master Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828). Portrait of José Antonio Caballero, Second Marqués de Caballero, Secretary of Grace and Justice was painted in 1807, a time when Goya was renowned for his portraits of the Spanish nobility and just before the Napoleonic invasion of Spain profoundly altered the nature of his later work. While The Huntington holds a number of Goya’s etchings and aquatints, Portrait of José Antonio Caballero is the first Spanish oil painting to join The Huntington’s art collection and will complement its extensive holdings of Library materials on Spanish imperial history. The painting—which will go on view in the Huntington Art Gallery on 29 November 2023—is The Huntington’s third masterpiece acquired through a gift from The Ahmanson Foundation.

“Once again, The Ahmanson Foundation has proven to be an invaluable strategic partner, helping us reach our goals of broadening our collections with significant works and inviting new, interdisciplinary connections,” Huntington President Karen Lawrence said. “We couldn’t be more grateful to them for making possible the acquisition of such a superb and historically significant masterpiece.”

Considered one of the last Old Masters and one of the first and most influential great modern painters, Goya was celebrated during his lifetime for his ability to capture his subjects’ innermost personalities as well as their grandeur and political power—albeit with what has been perceived as an occasional layer of satire. He is also acclaimed for his virtuosic painterly style; flickering, impressionistic brushwork; and, in his later years, revolutionary subject matter.

Trained in Madrid and inspired by travels in Rome, Goya became a Spanish court painter in 1786, and he soon became known for such royal and aristocratic portraits as Portrait of José Antonio Caballero. But after the 1808 French invasion of Spain that began the Napoleonic Wars, Goya turned his artistic attention to portraying the horrors of war in paintings and prints.

Portrait of José Antonio Caballero is historically fascinating and a prime example of Goya’s genius as a portraitist,” said Christina Nielsen, the Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Museum at The Huntington. “Along with the exquisite French portrait by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun acquired with The Ahmanson Foundation last year, it will add an important international perspective to our outstanding collection of 17th- and early 18th-century British portraits.”

The Ahmanson Foundation funded The Huntington’s acquisition of Portrait of Joseph Hyacinthe François-de-Paule de Rigaud, comte de Vaudreuil (ca. 1784) by Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), the most important female artist of 18th-century France, in 2022, and the monumental Portage Falls on the Genesee (ca. 1839) by Anglo American painter Thomas Cole (1801–1848) in 2021.

The sitter in the Goya painting, José Antonio Caballero (1754–1821), was from the minor nobility in Spain. He studied law and went on to a successful career in the royal court, holding four secretary positions. His accomplishments included convincing King Charles IV of Spain to conduct a vaccination campaign against smallpox that extended to the Spanish territories in North and South America and Asia. Goya painted the portrait when Caballero was the secretary of state and had just inherited the title of Marquis de Caballero from his uncle.

In the portrait, Caballero is depicted in a highly decorated ministerial uniform and seated in a red armchair. His black coat and bright red waistcoat are extensively embroidered with gold decoration. He looks directly at the viewer, conveying a sense of stature and power, with his right hand at his waist and his left hand holding papers. A powder-blue-and-white sash is draped across his chest, pinned with the Order of the Grand Cross of Charles III. The bright white insignia of a knight of the Order of Santiago is pinned to his coat.

The portrait will be installed in the Huntington Art Gallery, the former residence of founders Henry E. and Arabella Huntington, in a paneled room that was once Henry Huntington’s private office.

Spain’s Museum of Romanticism to Receive a Pieta by Goya

Posted in museums by Editor on December 21, 2023

As noted at Art History News, from Spain’s Ministerio de Cultura:

Spain’s Ministry of Culture [has announced] that they have acquired an early Pieta by Francisco Goya. . . The painting is believed to have been inspired by the artist’s travels in Italy. The work was acquired for €1.5m and will head to the National Museum of Romanticism in Madrid.

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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Pietà, 1772–74, 84 × 58 cm (Madrid: Museo Nacional del Romanticismo).

El Ministerio de Cultura ha adquirido La Piedad, una obra fechada en la etapa temprana del pintor aragonés Francisco de Goya (1746–1828), por valor de 1,5 millones de euros. La obra se destinará a la colección permanente del Museo Nacional del Romanticismo, museo de titularidad estatal y gestión del Ministerio.

El cuadro, inédito hasta época reciente, permite conocer mejor la pintura religiosa del artífice. Mide 83,5 × 58 centímetros y conserva su tela y bastidor originales. La obra se ha fechado entre 1772 y 1774, por lo que es un testimonio relevante sobre las fuentes de inspiración que el aragonés recogió de su viaje a Italia, donde pudo conocer La Piedad de Miguel Ángel y otros modelos de Carracci, Maratti y Giaquinto. Tras su regreso a Zaragoza en 1771, Goya pudo expresar su evolución en sus trabajos en la Basílica del Pilar y en la Cartuja Aula Dei, con un estilo comparable con el de La Piedad adquirida por el Ministerio.

En la última década, el lienzo ha sido objeto de distintas solicitudes para su exportación, si bien estas han sido denegadas al tratarse de una obra de gran rareza, representativa del periodo temprano de la producción de su autor y por constituir uno de los pocos ejemplos de su obra religiosa, ayudando así a definir la figura del artista en su contexto.

Con La Piedad, el Museo Nacional del Romanticismo refuerza la presencia del “romántico quizá más glorioso y original,” en palabras del historiador del arte Manuel Bartolomé Cossío (1857–1935). Hasta ahora, la institución sólo contaba con una pieza de Goya, San Gregorio Magno, Papa, una obra monumental que pertenece al museo desde su fundación y que da buena prueba de la importancia que la producción del aragonés tuvo en el periodo romántico. Actualmente, el San Gregorio Magno, Papa preside el Oratorio, un espacio propio de las viviendas acomodadas que se empleaba para la devoción privada y donde se oficiaban los actos religiosos de carácter íntimo, como bodas, bautizos o velatorios. Precisamente, la temática y el tamaño de La Piedad sugieren que fue un encargo de algún eclesiástico o comitente de la burguesía zaragozana para cumplir una función devocional privada o doméstica.

Decorative Arts Trust Announces Failey Grant Recipients for 2024

Posted in exhibitions, museums by Editor on December 17, 2023

From the press release:

Page from the African Union Society book of records, recording a land transaction between Arthur Flagg and Cupid Brown for a house and lot on Thames Street (NHS Vol. 1674B, Page 190).

The Decorative Arts Trust is pleased to announce that the 2024 Dean F. Failey Grant recipients are the Andrew Jackson Foundation in Nashville, TN; the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, PA; Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA; Museo de las Americas in Denver, CO; the Newport Historical Society in Newport, RI; and the Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, RI.

The Failey Grant program provides support for noteworthy research, exhibition, and conservation projects through the Dean F. Failey Fund, named in honor of the Trust’s late Governor. Each of these projects also incorporates contributions from an emerging scholar. Failey Grant applications are due October 31 annually.

The Andrew Jackson Foundation will conserve and exhibit Sarah Yorke Jackson’s 1820–30 Spanish guitar attributed to Cabasse-Visnaire L’ainé that is currently on display in the Hermitage Mansion. The project will be led by Collections Manager Jennifer Schmidt and Collections Aide Haley Weltzien.

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art will publish the catalogue for The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick exhibition. Wharton Esherick Museum (WEM) Director of Curatorial Affairs Emily Zilber will be the catalogue’s primary author, with essays by WEM Director of Interpretation and Research Holly Gore, Philadelphia-based design and culture writer Sarah Archer, and Philadelphia Museum of Art Assistant Curator in the Department of European Decorative Arts Colin Fanning.

Fallingwater will restore 24 oversized blueprints of shop drawings for Frank Lloyd Wright’s built-ins and furniture as well as 28 blueprints of the guest house. Paper conservator Jayne Girold Holt will work with Hannah Cioccho, Fallingwater’s newly appointed Collections Manager and Archivist.

Museo de las Americas plans to launch a digital resource focusing on a collection of Latin American textiles, which includes containers, clothing, and blankets. Curator of Collections Laura Beacom will work with a paid intern to photograph, digitize, and upload content to Bloomberg Connects and Google Arts and Culture.

The Newport Historical Society will develop A Name, a Voice, a Life: The Black Newporters of the 17th–19th Centuries, an exhibition about how the lives of Africans and African Americans have been interpreted from the written record. The exhibition will be led by Collaborating Curator Zoe Hume and Project Director Kaela Bleho.

The Tomaquag Museum will conserve an 1840s Narragansett birchbark canoe, which was crafted by the great uncle of Ferris Dove, the Narragansett Chief Roaring Bull. Conservator Linda Nieuwenhuizen will perform a condition assessment, and Tomaquag Museum Archival Assistant and Narragansett Nation citizen Kathryn Cullen-Fry will document the history and community memories of the canoe, which will serve as a centerpiece of Tomaquag’s new visible storage facility.