Sweden Nationalmuseum Acquires Self-Portrait by Périn-Salbreux
From the press release (1 March 2023) . . .

Lié-Louis Périn-Salbreux, Self-Portrait, ca. 1800–10, black crayon, stumped and elevated with white crayon, on paper, 26.5 × 22 cm (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum NMB 2819; photo by Anna Danielsson).
Nationalmuseum has acquired a self-portrait by Lié-Louis Périn-Salbreux, a French miniaturist. The piece is one of the artist’s later works and, unlike many of his other self-portraits, is unusually modest and largely free from affectation. Périn was heavily influenced by the Swedish artist Peter Adolf Hall and enjoyed his greatest success during the years immediately before and after the French Revolution.
Lié-Louis Périn-Salbreux (1753–1817) was born in Reims, the son of a wool manufacturer. At the age of 19, he arrived in Paris to be a pupil in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Vien. By the following year, 1773, he had already been admitted to the academy of fine arts as a student, as Vien was the academy’s director. There, Périn encountered other influential artists, including Alexander Roslin, the Swedish-born portrait painter. His friendship with Roslin was to prove crucial to his future success, giving him access to several high-ranking clients, including members of the royal family, of whom Périn painted small, intimate portraits in oils. But it was as a miniature portraitist that Périn was to make his name. His training in this art form was acquired privately rather than at the academy, and the best-known of his teachers was Louis Marie Sicardi.
Roslin was generous with his support, not only referring clients but also commissioning Périn to paint portraits of Roslin himself and his wife, Marie Suzanne Giroust, which are now in the Nationalmuseum collection. The miniaturist also painted other family members, including Roslin’s daughter-in-law Adélaïde and grandson Abraham—a portrait acquired by Nationalmuseum fairly recently. What was more, Roslin entrusted Périn with creating miniature replicas of Roslin’s own oil portraits. Quite frequently, clients simply wanted a reduced version of their existing portrait, and it fell to Roslin’s younger colleague to carry out the job. One such example is a miniature replica of Roslin’s pastel portrait of the ill-fated Crown Prince Louis. Throughout the 1780s, Périn enjoyed a productive and successful career as a miniaturist without being elected to the academy. When the art world became more democratic during the Revolutionary period, he was able to exhibit at the Salon for eight years from 1791.
Périn soon adopted the free style of Swedish miniaturist Peter Adolf Hall, with its vibrating brushwork, and through Roslin he made direct contact with Hall. Like Hall, Périn employed elegant accents in the form of clothing and draperies. Both also liked to place their models in natural or parkland settings. However, Périn’s depiction of the models’ faces was more affected, with distinctive, almond-shaped eyes. Like Hall, Périn suffered when his wealthy clients emigrated during the French Revolution. As a result of monetary depreciation, Périn lost his capital and left Paris in 1799 to take charge of his family’s woollen mill in Reims. The newly married artist appended his wife’s maiden surname, Salbreux, to his own. Back in his hometown, he continued working as a portraitist, but mainly in oils and pastels. Hence his choice of technique for the self-portrait in black crayon, drawn sometime between 1800 and 1810, which was recently acquired by Nationalmuseum. Over many years, Périn produced self-portraits using various techniques, both in oils and in miniature format. These were often somewhat pretentious, indicating that the artist had a good conceit of himself, but in this relatively late work he takes a more restrained approach. The image is drawn with fine gradations in black crayon, stumped with elevations in white. Given the palpably graphic nature of the work, it is not surprising that it later provided the basis for an engraving by Henri-Joseph Dubouchet, many years after Périn’s death.
“In this sensitive self-portrait by Lie-Louis Perin-Salbreux, we see an artist with no great pretensions, with a gentle, understanding expression. This new acquisition joins Nationalmuseum’s collection of self-portraits by miniaturists, which is the only one of its kind in the world. So we are delighted to put this significant artwork on display in the Treasury,” said Magnus Olausson, director of collections.
Nationalmuseum receives no state funds with which to acquire design, applied art and artwork; instead the collections are enriched through donations and gifts from private foundations and trusts. This acquisition has been made possible by a generous donation from the Hjalmar and Anna Wicander Foundation.
Sweden Nationalmuseum Acquires Three Garden Views
Alexandre Dunouy, Rousseau Picking Flowers near the Banc des Vieillards, View of the Park at Ermenonville, ca.1800, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 13 × 18.5 cm (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum 7607; photo by Anna Danielsson).
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From the press release:
Nationalmuseum has acquired three views of French gardens and parks painted in the latter half of the 18th century by Louis-Gabriel Moreau and Alexandre Dunouy. Building on the proud tradition of topographical depictions in 17th-century French art, these artists catered to the early Romantic penchant for dense foliage and picturesque dilapidation. The park at Ermenonville features in two of the paintings, one of which shows the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau picking flowers.
One of Rousseau’s disciples was Marquis René-Louis de Girardin, who in 1766 began constructing a landscaped park on his estate at Ermenonville, 40 km northeast of Paris. For the marquis, landscape gardening represented a blend of art and poetry, where drawings or paintings served as patterns for creating scenic variety. For this purpose, he seems to have engaged the services of Hubert Robert, the noted painter of ruins. In the summer of 1778, as the park at Ermenonville was nearing completion, Rousseau came to visit. As fate would have it, the famous philosopher died there just three weeks later. His pupil and patron, Marquis de Girardin, seized the opportunity and arranged for Rousseau to be buried on a poplar-covered island in a sarcophagus designed by Hubert Robert. Rousseau soon became a cult figure, and many admirers made the pilgrimage to his grave, including King Gustav III of Sweden. The philosopher lay at rest in Ermenonville until France’s new republican rulers had his remains transferred to the Panthéon in Paris in 1794. Among those who sought to profit from Rousseau’s tremendous popularity was the landscape painter Alexandre Dunouy (1757–1841). One of Nationalmuseum’s two recently acquired paintings by Dunouy is an anecdotal image of the philosopher picking flowers near the Banc des vieillards in the park, which is believed to have been painted around 1800.
Alexandre Dunouy, La Fontaine du Bocage, View of the Park at Ermenonville, ca. 1800, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 13 × 18.5 cm (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum 7608; photo by Anna Danielsson).
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The second of the acquired views of Ermenonville by Dunouy depicts a spot known as la Fontaine de Bocage, a woodland grove in the section of park north of the chateau. As the painting shows, the grove was traversed by a stream, and by a small waterfall the marquis had erected an altar with a love poem by Petrarch. In Dunouy’s composition, we can see a woman resting in deep contemplation beside this diminutive monument. Despite the small scale, both here and in the image of Rousseau, the artist has managed to capture all the small details without being overly finicky. He reproduces the play of light in the branches and the reflections in the water surface using finely tuned colour values and a number of coloristic accents.
Louis-Gabriel Moreau the Elder, Terrace in the Park of Saint-Cloud, ca. 1780s, oil on paper mounted on canvas (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum 7653; photo by Anna Danielsson).
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Slightly older than Dunouy, Louis-Gabriel Moreau the elder (1740–1806) had specialised much earlier in painting views, especially of gardens and parks in Paris and the surrounding area. He was a pupil of another of the city’s more prominent topographical artists, Pierre-Antoine Demachy. They soon realised there was a market for motifs of this kind, either as small, delicate images on snuff boxes or as cabinet paintings. But commercially viable motifs were not a given route to election to the French academy of fine arts. Moreau made two attempts to be elected, in 1787 and 1788, but was unsuccessful because the members considered his motifs too trivial. However, he found greater favour with one of the king’s brothers, the Count of Artois, who appointed Moreau as his court painter.
Unsurprisingly, Moreau drew many of his motifs from the old royal pleasure gardens and parks, several of which were in a state of picturesque dilapidation by the late 18th century. One such place was the baroque garden at Saint-Cloud near Paris, which provides the motif for the third of Nationalmuseum’s recent acquisitions. Another version by Moreau can be found in the Louvre, likewise depicting the majestic trees in this pleasure garden which, along with the associated chateau, was sold by the Duke of Chartres to his relative King Louis XVI in 1785. The buildings were damaged in the Franco-German war of 1870 and later demolished, but the garden designed by André Le Nôtre survives to this day.
“The acquisition of Dunouy’s rare and unique depictions of Ermenonville and Moreau’s view of Saint-Cloud introduces a category of painting that was previously largely absent from the Nationalmuseum collection. And we are delighted to have the opportunity to put them on display in the exhibition The Garden: Six Centuries of Art and Nature, which opens to the public on 23 February,” said Magnus Olausson, head of collections at Nationalmuseum and exhibition curator.
Nationalmuseum receives no state funds with which to acquire design, applied art and artwork; instead the collections are enriched through donations and gifts from private foundations and trusts. The acquisition of Dunouy’s views of Ermenonville was generously funded by the Hedda and N.D. Qvist Foundation, while Moreau’s view of the Saint-Cloud park was purchased with a generous donation from the Lars Vogel bequest.
All three paintings will be on display in the exhibition The Garden from 23 February 2023 until 7 January 2024.
Amanda Dotseth Named Director of SMU’s Meadows Museum
From the press release (10 February 2023) . . .

Amanda W. Dolseth (Photo by Tamytha Cameron).
SMU has named Amanda W. Dotseth Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum. Dotseth, who will be the first female director of the Meadows Museum, served as the director ad interim and curator of the Museum since the passing of its previous director, Mark A. Roglán, in 2021. Dotseth assumes the role on 1 March 2023.
“As a scholar, collaborator, and arts leader, Amanda Dotseth brings a unique understanding of the important mission and role of the Meadows Museum,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “In addition, her many years as curator, then interim director has prepared her to position the Museum for the future while understanding its legacy.”
In her combined 19 years of experience with the Museum, Dotseth published extensively on Spanish art, contributed to and curated more than 30 exhibitions, and oversaw the acquisition of major additions to the Meadows collection. Notably, Dotseth was an instrumental participant in the early development of the historic partnership between the Meadows Museum and Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado in 2009, in which the Prado loaned three major paintings and exchanged curatorial fellows between the institutions. She played an integral role in the pioneering collaboration with Fundación ARCO in 2019 as well. By initiating and cultivating partnerships with international art institutions from the Rijksmuseum and National Gallery of Ireland to the Museo del Traje in Madrid and the Museo del Arte Abstracto Español (Fundación Juan March), Dotseth has expanded the reach and profile of the Meadows Museum and of SMU. Dotseth’s existing partnerships with academic and art institutions around the world, including the Spanish National Research Council, will be a tremendous asset for the Museum as she continues its mission to advance the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts and culture of Spain in the US.
In addition to her nearly two decades with the Museum, Dotseth is also an alumna of SMU Meadows School of the Arts, receiving her master’s degree in art history from the University in 2006. She later completed her Ph.D. at the Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London) in medieval Spanish art in 2015.
“After an extensive international search, I am thrilled that the best person to serve as the next director of the Meadows Museum is an extremely accomplished member of the SMU Meadows community,” said Samuel S. Holland, Algur H. Meadows Dean for SMU Meadows School of the Arts. “I look forward to seeing the new directions in which Dr. Dotseth will take the Museum, through her collaborative and innovative leadership, and strong curatorial voice.”
“The Meadows Museum has been a part of my professional DNA for two decades; to now be at the helm of the institution as the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director during the next phase of the museum’s life is a great honor,” said Dotseth. “I look forward to building upon and expanding the Museum’s existing strengths as we reach out to the next generation of scholars, students, and museum-goers.”
The Meadows Museum is the leading U.S. institution focused on the study and presentation of the art of Spain. In 1962, Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated his private collection of Spanish paintings, as well as funds to start a museum, to Southern Methodist University. The museum opened to the public in 1965, marking the first step in fulfilling Meadows’s vision to create “a small Prado for Texas.” Today, the Meadows is home to one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The collection spans from the 10th to the 21st centuries and includes medieval objects, Renaissance and Baroque sculptures, and major paintings by Golden Age and modern masters.
Cleveland Announces New Acquisitions
From the CMA press release (17 January 2023). . .
Recent acquisitions by the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) include a Korean abstract expressionist painting by Yun Hyong-keun 윤형근; a ten-panel folding screen by Kim Yoon-bo 김윤보; an early masterpiece by James Tissot from his English period; and a recently discovered full-length pastel portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, the most celebrated Irish portraitist of the Grand Tour. . . .
Hugh Douglas Hamilton’s Portrait of George Clavering Cowper

Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Portrait of George Clavering Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper, 1785, pastel on paper stretched on linen; sheet: 94 × 69 cm (The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund).
Preserved in remarkable condition, this portrait has remained in the sitter’s family—and was discovered only recently in the collection of the descendants of its sitter, George Clavering Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738–1789), of Great Britain. The full-length pastel was a type developed during the 18th century that appealed to English tourists on the Grand Tour to Italy. The earl, a cultural paragon in Italy and a patron of artists and composers, sat for the most celebrated Irish portraitist of the Grand Tour, Hugh Douglas Hamilton, in Florence, where he made his home.
Cowper prominently wears the sash and star of the which he had received in March 1785. The Order of Saint Hubertus was founded in 1695, a knightly order of aristocratic hunters from throughout the Hapsburg empire, whose motto was “Honoring God by Honoring his Creatures.” Evoking the emotion of this motto, Hamilton featured Cowper’s hunting dog, who receives a tender pat on the head and wears a collar inscribed with Cowper’s name.
The portrait enhances the CMA’s collection of pastels, a strength of its drawings collection. The acquisition was made possible by the Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund.
More information on the portrait is available at Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker.
The full press release describing the other three acquisitions is available here»
Dulwich Loans over 50 Paintings to Strawberry Hill
From the press release, via Art Daily and Richmond.gov.uk:

The Tribune, Strawberry Hill House, with loans from Dulwich Picture Gallery (Photo by Matt Chung).
Over fifty Old Master paintings on long-term loan from Dulwich Picture Gallery—and a further eight works from a private English collection—have just gone on display at Strawberry Hill House, helping to recreate the atmosphere of how the house would have appeared over 250 years ago.
As part of an ambitious project—through acquisitions and loan agreements, including the partnership with Dulwich Picture Gallery—Strawberry Hill House, the remarkable former home of the writer, antiquarian, and politician, Horace Walpole (1717–1797) is endeavouring to return some of the 6000 objects from the collection that Walpole amassed during his lifetime and, where possible, to recreate the original atmosphere of the house, when the rooms were filled with fantastic works of art.
In 1842, following Walpole’s death, the contents of the house were dispersed in a famous auction, known as the Great Sale. Since then, it has been a long-held desire of the Strawberry Hill Trust to bring as many pieces possible back to the historic villa in Twickenham. Indeed, its efforts have recently seen the acquisitions of an extraordinary portrait of Catherine de Medici and a celebrated Chinese ceramic fish tub with a macabre past. This appetite to acquire original objects and to display contemporaneous artworks has helped to create an atmosphere that would be familiar to Walpole were he alive today.

Detail of the Tribune, Strawberry Hill House, with loans from Dulwich Picture Gallery (Photo by Matt Chung).
The relationship between Strawberry Hill House and Dulwich Picture Gallery began in 2011 with the long-term loan of the portrait of Dorothy, Viscountess Townshend, ca. 1718 by Charles Jervas. Dorothy Walpole (1628–1726) was the sister of Sir Robert Walpole, Horace’s father. This portrait of his great aunt now hangs in its original position in the Great Parlour, where Walpole displayed portraits of both his family and some of his closest friends.
Among the paintings from the latest loan is a set of twenty-six British monarchs, assembled by the founder of Dulwich College, Edward Alleyn. These include Henry VIII, ca. 1618; Queen Anne Boleyn, ca. 1618; and Queen Mary, ca. 1618. These royal portraits have been hung in the Holbein Chamber, reflecting Walpole’s passion for history and its protagonists, which also influenced the overall arrangement of the artworks throughout the house. As an antiquarian and writer possessed of a vivid imagination, Walpole had a deep interest in royal and historical figures, evident throughout his collection, as well as in the designs of the house itself. The ceiling in the Holbein Chamber is a copy of the Queen’s Dressing Room in Windsor Castle, while the one in the Library is decorated with heraldic emblems, mythical beasts, coats of arms, and images of mounted crusaders, all reflecting Walpole’s various interests in the medieval period.
Dr Silvia Davoli, Strawberry Hill House Curator says: “Our collaboration with Dulwich Picture Gallery offers us the unique opportunity to borrow a substantial number of paintings that are very similar in style, period, and schools to those once collected by Horace Walpole; and it is thanks to these artworks that the rooms of Strawberry Hill finally appear to us in all their glory, much as they did in Walpole’s time.”
Online Catalogue | The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, French Paintings
From The Nelson-Atkins:
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
French Paintings Catalogue
Learn more about the remarkable French paintings and pastels at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. View the entire collection online, delve into recent scholarly insights and technical discoveries, or read about the history of collecting French art in Kansas City. Art historians and conservators provide fresh perspectives on the French collection, and comprehensive research sheds new light on the provenance (ownership history), exhibition history, and publication history of each work. Whether you are seeking a quick overview or deep dive, the French Paintings Catalogue is the perfect place to explore and learn more.
The French Paintings Catalogue is generously supported by The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities, Adelaide Cobb Ward in honor of Donald J. Hall’s retirement, The Mellon Endowment for Scientific Research, The National Endowment for the Arts, The James Sight Fund, and The Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
C O N T E N T S
Publication Installments
Director’s Foreword — Julián Zugazagoitia
Preface and Acknowledgments — Aimee Marcereau DeGalan
Timeline — Meghan L. Gray and Glynnis Stevenson
The Collecting of French Paintings in Kansas City — Aimee Marcereau DeGalan
Conservation Introductory Essay — Mary Schafer, Rachel Freeman, and John Twilley
Notes to Reader
Seventeenth Century, 1600–1699
Eighteenth Century and Pre-Revolution, 1700–1789
Neoclassicism and Romanticism, 1790–1860
Nineteenth Century, Realism, Barbizon, 1830–1890
Impressionism, 1860–1900s
Post-Impressionism, 1886–1900s
A Modern World, 1900–1945
Appendix I: Other Works in the Bloch Collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Appendix II: Other French Works in the Collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Glossary
About
Contributors
Photograph Credits
Anne Helmreich Named Director of the Archives of American Art
From the press release (15 December 2022) . . .

Anne Helmreich, the incoming director of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art (Photo by Loli Kantor).
Anne Helmreich has been named the director of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, effective 27 February 2023. Helmreich is currently the associate director of grants programming at the Getty Foundation and brings 35 years of experience in higher education and arts administration to this new role.
The Archives of American Art fosters advanced research by accumulating and disseminating primary sources that document more than 200 years of the nation’s artists and art communities. Helmreich will oversee its Washington, D.C., headquarters and research center, New York City research center, and Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery. She will also oversee its collections development, exhibitions, and publications, including the Archives of American Art Journal, the longest-running scholarly journal in the field of American art. Additionally, Helmreich will lead the Archives’ digitization program and the stewardship of its holdings consisting of some 30 million items and an oral-history collection of more than 2,500 audio and video interviews, the largest accumulation of in-depth, first-person accounts of the American art world.
“Anne understands how effective and impactful art can be in recording and expressing the American story,” said Kevin Gover, the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Museums and Culture. “Her track record as a successful administrator, educator and user of the Archives of American Art made her the obvious choice to conserve this vital collection and to make its holdings even more accessible to the art world and beyond.”
As associate director of grants programming at the Getty Foundation, Helmreich supports individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Through strategic grant initiatives, it strengthens art history as a global discipline, promotes the interdisciplinary practice of conservation, increases access to museum and archival collections and develops current and future leaders in the visual arts.
She also represents the Getty Foundation in the LA Arts Recovery Fund, which supports small to mid-sized arts organizations in Los Angeles.
Helmreich has been awarded over two dozen grants, published two books, edited five collections, written 19 book chapters, published 20 scholarly papers, and contributed to over half a dozen exhibition catalogs. At the Archives of American Art, Helmreich aims to expand its digital offerings, foster an inclusive and diverse culture that represents the many communities and histories that make up the United States and establish the Archives as America’s preeminent storyteller for the arts.
“I am very excited to help move the Archives of American Art into the future by making it more accessible to more researchers from all backgrounds and by expanding public engagement,” Helmreich said. “The Archives’ unique collections have helped generations of art historians record and study American art, and by digitizing and diversifying our collections and our programming for new audiences, we will continue to reflect the history and future of America through this important lens.”
Previously, Helmreich served as the inaugural co-chair of the Getty DEAI Council, the associate director of digital initiatives at the Getty Research Institute, the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University, and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and associate professor of art history at Case Western Reserve University. Helmreich holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College, a Master of Arts in art history from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in art history from Northwestern University.
Liza Kirwin, deputy director of the Archives of American Art, has served as interim director.
Sweden Nationalmuseum Acquires Portrait of Marie-Gabrielle Capet
From the press release:

Unknown French artist, Portrait of Marie-Gabrielle-Capet, 1780s, oil on canvas (Stockholm: Nationalmuseum, 7658).
Nationalmuseum has acquired a portrait of Marie-Gabrielle Capet, a French painter of pastels and miniatures. The portrait depicts the artist in the 1780s, when she was a close associate of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the day, and her future husband François-André Vincent. There is ample evidence to suggest that it was Vincent who painted this portrait of the young Capet.
Marie-Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) was born in Lyon in humble circumstances. Thanks to well-connected acquaintances, in her twenties she became a pupil of the portrait painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, who was known for taking on female pupils only. Evidence of their close relationship can be seen in Labille-Guiard’s large self-portrait from 1785, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Capet appears beside her teacher, along with another pupil, Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond. Labille-Guiard was one of the few female members of the French academy of fine arts, where she was a tireless advocate for women’s rights. In her personal life, she had a long-term relationship with her colleague François-André Vincent. In 1792 they bought a house together, where Capet also moved in.
The recently acquired portrait was likely painted a few years earlier. Labille-Guiard and Vincent both used their protégée Capet as a model, and there are several sketches of her as such, although none can be directly tied to the painting acquired by Nationalmuseum. The portrait shows her in a near-frontal pose, turning slightly to meet the onlooker with a piercing but gentle gaze, which betrays the close relationship between model and artist. The saturated colours and cohesive, symmetrical composition point to Vincent as the likely creator; these stylistic features had long made him Jacques-Louis David’s main rival in neoclassical painting.
In many respects, this portrait of Marie-Gabrielle Capet is a representation of a remarkable home, where artistic coworking and domestic roles were commingled. In an artistic sense, Capet seems to have been wholly dependent on her teacher Labille-Guiard. After the latter’s death in 1808, Capet continued looking after Vincent, whom she called ‘father’, until he died in 1816. Capet herself died only two years later, at the age of just 57, apparently from a broken heart and incapable of continuing her painting career.
“This portrait of Marie-Gabrielle Capet is notable for its unusually strong sense of presence. We really get the feeling of standing eye to eye with the model,” said Magnus Olausson, head of collections at Nationalmuseum. “With this acquisition, we can add another piece of the puzzle to the others in our collection spotlighting the great French female artists of the 18th century. So we are delighted that this significant work will shortly go on display at Nationalmuseum.”
The portrait of Marie-Gabrielle Capet will be on display in the 18th-century painting gallery from 1 February 2023.
Nationalmuseum receives no state funds with which to acquire design, applied art and artwork; instead the collections are enriched through donations and gifts from private foundations and trusts. This acquisition has been funded by a generous donation from the Sophia Giesecke bequest.
Mark Hallett Departs the Mellon Centre to Lead the Courtauld
From the PMC announcement (11 November 2022) . . .
The Paul Mellon Centre’s Director, Mark Hallett, will be stepping down after more than a decade in post to take up a new role next year as the Märit Rausing Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art.
During his time as Director, Hallett has overseen a major expansion and diversification of the London-based Centre, which is part of Yale University, and a partner of the Yale Center for British Art at New Haven. Under his leadership, the Centre has become celebrated for its support of world-class research on all periods and aspects of British art and architecture, understood in their broadest global contexts. Over the past ten years, the Centre has not only dramatically extended its scholarly reach, but also tripled in size. It has enthusiastically embraced the benefits of online publication and communication, and wholeheartedly committed itself to diversifying the field of British art studies. Over this same period, the Centre has also developed a highly ambitious series of research, teaching, learning, and networking initiatives, all of which have been designed to promote the very best scholarship on British art and architecture, to share knowledge and expertise, and to widen the Centre’s audiences.
Mark Hallett said: ‘’It has been a great honour to have led the Centre over the last decade. During that time, I have worked with a brilliant team of colleagues, both in London and in New Haven, to make the PMC a vital, vibrant, and expansive centre for the study of British art. Today, the Centre is in wonderful shape, and I know it will continue to thrive and develop. At the Courtauld, I look forward to building on the remarkable legacy of the current Märit Rausing Director, Professor Deborah Swallow, and to working with similarly world-class academics, curators, students, and supporters in helping the Courtauld write a new and exciting chapter in its history.’’
Susan Gibbons, Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communication, Yale University, and ex-officio Chief Executive of the Paul Mellon Centre, said: ‘’The transformation of the Centre under Mark’s leadership has been remarkable. He has opened the doors of the Centre wide, not only to London, but to the world, while carefully sustaining the high quality research and scholarship that has been the hallmark of the organization. From the launch of British Art Studies and the British Art in Motion undergraduate film competition, to the formation of networks for researchers and practitioners, to broadening fellowship and grant opportunities, Mark has truly championed new ways to understand and engage with British art history.”
Sydney’s Powerhouse Announces Gift of Schofield Jewellery
French demi-parure consisting of necklace (shown) and a pair of earrings (not pictured), gold and onyx cameos, 1820
(Sydney: Powerhouse, gift of Anne Schofield; photograph by Marinco Kajdanovski)
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Press release (3 November 2022) from Sydney’s Powerhouse:
Powerhouse today announced an unprecedented gift from Australia’s leading antique jewellery dealer, 100 rare pieces of historical gemstone jewellery, this acquisition is one of the most significant donations in the museum’s history.

Ring, gold, chrysoprase, and rose diamonds, ca 1780 (Sydney: Powerhouse, gift of Anne Schofield; photograph by Ryan Hernandez).
Anne Schofield’s personal jewellery collection includes works created between the 17th and early 20th centuries featuring an astonishing range of gemstones and techniques. Highlights from the Anne Schofield Collection include exquisitely crafted archaeological jewellery, 18th-century hardstone intaglios, Carlo Giuliano earrings, an Egyptian-style lapis lazuli demi-parure, Art Nouveau dragonfly and wasp pedants, Cartier and Georg Jensen pieces, and a French demi-parure with onyx cameos from 1820.
Internationally renowned for her knowledge and passion for fine jewellery, Ms Schofield established her legendary boutique Anne Schofield Antiques in Woollahra in 1970. It was the first successful business in Australia to specialise in antique jewellery. A long-standing donor and supporter of the Powerhouse as Life Fellow and honorary adviser for jewellery, in 2014 she generously lent 70 significant objects from her personal collection to the award-winning exhibition, A Fine Possession: Jewellery and Identity. [See The Culture Concept Circle for coverage of that show.]
The Anne Schofield Collection will be photographed and made available on the Powerhouse website and will be on display at Powerhouse Ultimo next year.
“Over the past 30 years I have made many individual donations of antique and costume jewellery to the Powerhouse, to enhance the museum’s existing holdings. Many famous collections throughout the world have grown in importance as a result of private donations and bequests. I strongly believe that collectors who have enjoyed success should consider giving back to their city or country as generously as Australia has given to them,” Anne Schofield said.

Ring (Italy), gold, enamel, garnets, and rose diamonds, ca 1760 (Sydney: Powerhouse, gift of Anne Schofield; photograph by Ryan Hernandez).
“Anne Schofield has extraordinary knowledge and expertise in fine jewellery. Over many years she has generously shared her knowledge with our museum and shared her collections with our audiences and communities. This transformative gift to the people of Sydney and NSW will have an impact for many generations to come,” Powerhouse Trust President Peter Collins AM KC said.
“Across her incredible career, Anne Schofield has continually sought out ways to share her remarkable collections with the public. This generosity of spirit could not be clearer than in this extraordinary donation that will transform the Powerhouse collection. Jewellery is not only powerful decorative art, but a form of social history and it is our privilege to be able to share this with the community. I pass on my deep gratitude and thanks to Anne for this gift and her ongoing commitment to the Powerhouse Museum,” Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said.
During her formative years in London in the early 1960s, Anne became passionate about the decorative arts with a focus on costume and, eventually, antique jewellery. In 1970 she established Anne Schofield Antiques on Queen Street Woollahra. In 2003 Anne was appointed a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia AM for her services to the performing arts and to the decorative arts, particularly antiques, as an author and consultant. Anne is a member of the international Society of Jewellery Historians (SJH), a Life Fellow of the Powerhouse museum, a member of the Australian Art and Antique Dealers Association (AAADA), and co-author with Kevin Fahy of the seminal book Australian Jewellery: 19th and Early 20th Century.
Powerhouse sits at the intersection of arts, design, science, and technology and plays a critical role in engaging communities with contemporary ideas and issues. We are undertaking a landmark $1.4 billion infrastructure renewal program, spearheaded by the creation of the flagship museum, Powerhouse Parramatta; expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill; the renewal of the iconic Powerhouse Ultimo; and the ongoing operation of Sydney Observatory. The museum is custodian to over half a million objects of national and international significance and is considered one of the finest and most diverse collections in Australia. We are also undertaking an expansive digitisation project that will provide new levels of access to Powerhouse collections.
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