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    • Archive for January, 2024

    ARTISTIC FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER THREAT

    Saturday, January 13th, 2024
    An interior shot of Palazzo Volpi in Venice with contents to be sold by Sotheby’s in Paris.

    Art mirrors life and the life it is currently mirroring is one of censorship and intolerable attacks on freedom of expression.  The art world has not been immune as  the Israeli-Hamas war has spawned a new wave of hidden and not so hidden persuaders who move to stifle anything other than total support for hardliners against humanity. Against this background of global uncertainty there is a pipeline of interesting international sales coming up in 2024.  On offer already are a variety of covetable lots as diverse as the contents of a sumptuous Venetian palace on the Grand Canal to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Archive to a Royal portrait by Velazquez and property from the life and career of Marilyn Monroe.  We must assume that all this will be okay once there is nothing in these auctions – such as seeking a ceasefire in Gaza – that can be construed as anti-semitic.

    A pair of stools or tabourets delivered to the Empress Josephine at Christie’s in New York

    Sotheby’s will offer 200 lots from Palazzo Volpi in Venice at an auction in Paris on February 28. The collection will include palatial Roman tables, ballroom banquettes, art panels in the style of Jacopo Sansovino, Wagner sofas and Venetian mirrors. Julien’s will offer contents from the Playboy archives and from Marilyn Monroe at a three day sale in Los Angeles on March 28, 29 and 30.  Highlights will include a Playboy Bunny silkscreen by Andy Warhol and a black and cellophane effect evening gown worn by Monroe in The Seven Year Itch.  The Velazquez portrait of Isabel de Borbon is at Sotheby’s in New York on February 1.

    A black and cellophane effect evening gown worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch at Julien’s

    Elvis Presley’s Gretsch guitar from his Las Vegas residency is among the lots at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in New York on the same day along with a pair of c1800 tabourets or stools delivered to the Empress Josephine at Chateau de St. Cloud.

    It has the potential to be an exciting year with many records being broken at home and abroad.  Yet in 2024 there are well founded accusations of censorship in an art world that has never been noted for its lack of freedom of expression.  In New York board members and many art writers withdrew in protest after the editor of the prestigious Artforum magazine, David Valasco, was abruptly fired when a letter supporting Palestinian liberation was published which omitted to mention the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7.  Advertisers like gallerist David Zwirner and the Chanel culture fund threatened to withdraw.The Saarland Museum in Germany cancelled an exhibition by Candice Breitz, who is Jewish and has condemned Hamas, saying they would not show works by anyone who does not recognise Hamas terror as a rupture of civilisation.  The entire selection panel for the next curator of Documenta, a global art exhibition in 2027, resigned after disputes with administrators about the war. This mirrors the wider environment.  Think of resignations like that of Harvard President Claudine Gay in a campaign led by the Wall Street Jewish financier Bill Ackman whose wife is a former member of the IDF. You do not need to be a soothsayer to know there will be more resignations. UPDATE: The first American retrospective of Samia Halaby (87), regarded as one of the most important living Palestinian artists, has been cancelled by officials at Indiana University.

    Andy Warhol’s original Playboy Bunny at Julien’s.

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    A SHIPWRECK AND AN ALLEGORY AT UILINN

    Saturday, January 13th, 2024
    Title: Fata Morgana. Artist: Majella O’Neill Collins. Dimensions: 70 x 100cm. Year: 2022. Photography: CultureArk

    A 21st Century ghost ship is the inspiration for an exhibition which opens today at Uilinn, the West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen.  Artist and Sherkin Islander Majella O’Neill Collins became fascinated with the story of the MV Alta, the merchant vessel abandoned at sea 1,400 miles south of Bermuda in 2018 after engine failure when en route from Greece to Haiti. It drifted for 496 days over 2,300 nautical miles until washed ashore at Ballycotton during Storm Dennis in February 2020. Re-named 14 times with owners who are impossible to trace the ship remains unclaimed, unsalvaged and on the rocks. The sense of this vessel sailing along on relatively untroubled water, entering uncharted waters and eventually hitting a rock inspired the artist and led ultimately to the exhibition Allegory of the MV Alta. It continues until February 24.

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    AMONG THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITEMS OF PHILATELY EVER AT AUCTION

    Friday, January 12th, 2024

    The earliest posted envelope using a prepaid stamp comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on February 2. The Penny Black fixed to a Mulready envelope is estimated at $1.5-$2.5 million.

    Introduced at the beginning of May, 1840, the Mulready, an ornate wrapper designed by William Mulready, and
    the Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, aimed to streamline and revolutionize postage
    prepayment. Both methods were an important new step in communication, eliminating the need fol carriers
    to handle money, reducing the risk of theft and forgery. This pre-paid envelope, the earliest known in existence,
    was successfully sent, firstly stamped with a Penny Black on May 2, then ingeniously repurposed, turned inside
    out, and remailed as a Mulready on May 4, the letter covered a combined journey of over 400 miles, all before
    the official start date for the stamp on May 6.

    Before the introduction of postage stamps, mail in the United Kingdom was paid for by the recipient, a system
    that was associated with an irresolvable problem: the costs of delivering mail were not recoverable by the
    postal service when recipients were unable or unwilling to pay for delivered items. The adoption of prepayment, championed by Birmingham School teacher Rowland Hill, was a result of the Postage Reform Act of 1839, which abolished free franking privileges and established uniform penny postage rates. The subsequent Treasury Competition, offering a prize for the best prepayment solution, garnered over 2,600 entries, leading to the creation of new stationery and stamps. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    ELTON JOHN’S ATLANTA COLLECTION AT CHRISTIE’S, NEW YORK

    Thursday, January 11th, 2024
    JULIAN SCHNABEL (B. 1951) – Portrait of EltON ($200,000-300,000). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $189,000

    Iconic property from Elton John’s former Atlanta home is to be sold in a series of landmark sales at Christie’s in New York. Beginning with an evening sale on February 21 the series will comprise of eight sales both live and online. The city of Atlanta played a crucial role in John’s life, becoming the hub he would return to throughout his numerous tours within the United States. He solidified this connection to Atlanta in 1992 when he acquired the condominium in Park Place, on Peachtree Road. His unexpected choice of Atlanta as a residence was driven by personal reasons. After becoming sober in 1990, he found solace and support in the warm community and recovery facilities of the city, such as the Triangle Club, which played a critical part in his recovery.

    Over the years, Elton John assembled a distinctive collection of works of art, objects and memorabilia, many of them crafted specifically for his home on Peachtree Road. Fans will discover an in-depth look at Elton John’s deep passion for photographs, which he began collecting avidly in the 1990s. Creating a gallery-like atmosphere, he adorned the walls of his Atlanta residence with pieces by pioneering artists, such as Andy Warhol, Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Beard, Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon and more. Also included are highly intimate artworks crafted personally for Elton John and his husband David Furnish. Among them is Damien Hirst’s “Your Song” signed and inscribed ‘xxx for Elton + David love Damien Thank You,’ with an estimated value of $350,000-450,000; as well as a portrait of Elton John by Julian Schnabel. There are fashion pieces from the iconic performer’s dazzling stage wardrobe, including a noteworthy Ivory and Gold Ensemble designed by Annie Reavey in circa 1971. This ensemble (estimate $8,000 – 12,000) holds historical significance as one of the initial sets of stage attire crafted exclusively for Elton John.

    A testament to Elton John’s eclectic tastes, his Atlanta apartment featured elaborate Versace upholstery—a nod to John’s longstanding friendship with the Versace family. Included in the sale is an incredible group of Versace items including a selection of vintage Gianni Versace shirts estimated at $4,000-6,000, in addition to tableware and home décor. The condo served as a personal sanctuary with a grand piano (estimate $30,000-50,000) art glass collections, antiques, and artifacts from his global travels.

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    A SCORCHING MCGUINNESS AT WHYTE’S

    Wednesday, January 10th, 2024
    Norah McGuinness – WILD CHERRY, 1961

    Wild Cherry by Norah McGuinnes will feature at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on March 11.  Already consigned are notable works by Jack Yeats, Daniel O’Neill, Harry Kernoff, Grace Henry, George Campbell, Lilian Davidson and others. The auction house is still seeking consignments for this sale.

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    ANGLO-INDIAN SUITE FROM CASTLETOWN AT SOTHEBY’S IN LONDON

    Tuesday, January 9th, 2024
    A pair of Anglo-Indian giltwood chaises longues, Bombay, 19th century. UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION

    This pair of Anglo-Indian giltwood chaises longues is one of five lots originally at Castletown House at Sotheby’s Royal and Noble sale in London on January 17. The estimate is £5,000-£8,000. Lots 46 to 51 in the sale from Castletown comprise of five lots of a suite of 19th century Anglo-Indian furniture from Bombay. A giltwood cabinet is estimated at £4,000-£6,000, a three fold screen is estimated at £2,500-£3,500, a piano stool is estimated at £1,000-£2,000 and a giltwood bergere has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000. UPDATE: ALL FIVE LOTS WERE SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION.

    An Anglo-Indian giltwood cabinet, Bombay, 19th century UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION

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    THE GUTTMANN MOUSE HELMET AT CHRISTIE’S, NEW YORK

    Monday, January 8th, 2024
    THE GUTTMANN MOUSE HELMET
    AN IMPORTANT ROMAN IRON, BRASS AND COPPER HELMET FOR JULIUS MANSUETUS, together with A DOLABRA
    ANTONINE PERIOD, CIRCA 125-175 A.D.
    Estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $1,260,000

    The Guttmann Mouse Helmet, an important Roman iron, brass and copper helmet with a punched inscription for the helmet’s original owner, Julius Mansuetus,  is the top lot at Christie’s Arms and Armour from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art Part I sale in New York on January 30. It is estimated at $1,000,000-1,500,000. Additional top lots include a Greek bronze Corinthian helmet ($300,000-500,000), a Roman iron and tinned bronze cavalry helmet ($300,000-500,000), a Roman sheet brass helmet of Weisenau type ($250,000-350,000), and the Thétis Fragment, a fragmentary Greek bronze inscribed back-plate from an anatomical cuirass ($150,000-250,000).

    The sale will offer around 40 lots from the museum’s unparalleled collection of ancient arms and armour from across the Mediterranean world — the largest private collection of its kind. It is the second chapter of a collecting odyssey offered across six sales from December 2023 to December 2024. The works of art, spanning antiquities to contemporary sculptures, have been the nucleus of the South of France museum since its foundation by Christian Levett in 2011. The Mougins Museum of Classical Art closed its doors to the public last August and will reopen in June 2024 as Female Artists Mougins Museum, dedicated solely to works by female artists from The Levett Collection. 

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    TURNER AND VERMEER AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

    Saturday, January 6th, 2024
    Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) Great Yarmount Harbour, Norfolk c1840 © National Gallery of Ireland

    Nearly every year in Ireland the low light of January is offset by the shining collection of Turner watercolours at the National Gallery. In 2024 the annual Vaughan Bequest display of Turners is displayed alongside a collection of 18th and 19th century coastal scenes by Irish and British artists who drew inspiration from the rugged coastlines and busy fishing communities they encountered. Turner and Coastal Scenes – on view until January 31 – reveals not only his passion for the sea and shipping, but an extraordinary understanding of the ever changing pattern including both violence and serenity of the sea. No less than 15 watercolours from the gallery’s collection – some not seen in public for years – are included.  Work by artists John Thomas Serres, Thomas Walmsley, Edward Dayes,  John Callow, David Cox the Elder, James Howard Burgess, Andrew Nicholl, Henry Newton, George Petrie and Frederic William Burton is being shown together for the first time.  Well known locations like the Baily Lighthouse in Howth, Dun Aonghasa on the Aran Island and the Giant’s Causeway in Co. Antrim are featured. A highlight of the yearly cultural calendar the Turner watercolours have been shown annually in January since 1901, except for 2021.  They were bequeathed by the wealthy English collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. He stipulated that the delicate works be shown only in January when the natural light is at its lowest.

     Johannes Vermeer – Girl with the Red Hat c1669. Andrew W. Mellon Collection. Courtesy National Gallery of Art,

    There will be something spectacular to look forward to at the Gallery when the days start to lengthen as well. Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington will be a highlight of the upcoming show titled Turning Heads: Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer at the gallery from February 24 to May 24.It features work from Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries who were exponents of the tronie – an intriguing painting of a head that depicts an exaggerated facial expression.  Among the works to be shown are Study of an Old Woman by Rubens, The Laughing Man by Rembrandt and The Man with the Golden Helment c1650 from the circle of Rembrandt.The groundbreaking show will present an opportunity for a powerful face to face encounter with people from 300-400 years ago through an extraordinary collection of Old Master paintings.  Each work unfolds its own story.  The exhibition is a collaboration between The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp and the National Gallery.An unprecedented opportunity to see Mistress and Maid by Vermeer from the Frick arises at the gallery later in the year.  This painting has rarely travelled outside New York, where the period home of the Frick Collection is under renovation.  It will be displayed alongside the National Gallery’s Woman Writing a Letter with her Maid.  Vermeer Visits runs from May 11 to August 18.

    Johannes Vermeer, 1632–1675 – Mistress and Maid, ca. 1666?67.  The Frick Collection, New York, photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.

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    GEARING UP FOR THE WINTER SHOW IN NEW YORK

    Saturday, January 6th, 2024
    Thomsen Gallery New York will bring this 19th century Japanese Kano School two panel folding screen to the Winter Show.

    The premier antique fair in the United States, New York’s Winter Show, will offer an extraordinary variety of vetted antiques from around the world spanning 5,000 years from antiquity to today.  The annual extravaganza at the Park Avenue Armory will bring together 65 renowned international dealers in fine and decorative arts from January 19-28. Established in 1954 it has consistently addressed the shifting role and value of art, antiques and design.  New European exhibitors this year include Galerie Nathalie Motte Masselink (Paris) with Old Master drawings, Galerie Léage (Paris) with objects and furniture from the 18th century in a shared stand with Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz (Paris) and Peter Harrington (London) specialising in rare books, manuscripts, and works on paper.  Returning exhibitors of Daniel Blau of Munich will offer Modern and Contemporary works on paper, Robert Young of London with British and European folk and naive art and Wartski London with antique jewelry, Fabergé and silver Aronson Antiquaire of Amsterdam with 17th and 18th century Delftware and Koopman Rare Art of London with fine English silver, gold boxes and jewellery.

    Glass Past will bring the c1925 Mosaico Vase by  Nicolo Barovier of Venice to the Winter Show.

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    SENSATIONAL VENETIAN PALACE CONTENTS AT SOTHEBY’S PARIS

    Friday, January 5th, 2024
    INTERIOR VIEW OF PALAZZO VOLPI

    Sumptuous lots from Palazzo Volpi, the Renaissance palace on the Grand Canal in Venice and birthoplace of the Venice Film Festival, will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s in Paris on February 28. A total of 200 lots of furniture and works of art from the collection of Count and Countess Volpi of Misurata will include palatial Roman tables, ballroom banquettes, sopraporta panels in the styleof Jacopo Sansovino, Wagner sofas and Venetian mirrors. They will include items from the palace’s piano nobile, the main floor containing the portego (a typically Venetian reception room), the ballroom and the music room. Highlights will include a set of 14 Venetian giltwood chairs, a pair of Italian giltwood side tables and a Venetian Japanese style console.

    The magnificent Renaissance residence was acquired in 1917 by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata (1877-1947), founder of the Venice International Film Festival after whom the Volpi Cup prize for the best actor and actress is still named. Over the course of his lifetime and the generation that has followed, the Count and his family hosted some of the greatest names in the 20th century in the opulent rooms of the palazzo including Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel, Josephine Baker, King Fouad of Egypt, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Andy Warhol, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Barbara Hutton, Elizabeth Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida, Harrison Ford and George Clooney.

    GIORGIO ARMANI AT PALAZZO VOLPI

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