antiquesandartireland.com

In Amsterdam the Rijksmuseum has recorded a record attendance of 2.45 million visitors in 2014.  Half were from the Netherlands and more than 350,000 were children, an increase of nearly 20%. Around 100,000 children were on a school visit. Last year, after its re-opening, the museum attracted 2.2 million visitors. Main attractions this year were the Calder exhibition in the gardens and the opening exhibition in the Philips Wing – Modern Times, Photography in the 20th Century – which runs to next January 11.

Wim Pijbes, Rijksmuseum General Director said: At 350,000, the record number of children visiting the museum makes me feel especially positive about the future.

Here is a short video about the Rijksmueum.

THIS website is popular around the globe and regularly achieves around 1.2 – 1.3 million hits each month. It gets an approximately equal number of hits from Ireland, the United States and Britain followed in order by France, Germany, Italy, India, Canada, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium,  Turkey and the rest of the world. The attached image from Google’s Webmaster Tools shows that antiquesandartireland.com had 1,361,967 hits in the month from November 3 to December 3, 2014.  A big thank you to all readers.

Click on this image to enlarge it.

Steven P. Murphy

Christie’s announced today that Steven P. Murphy will step down as Chief Executive Officer at the end of the year.  Patricia Barbizet will become Chief Executive Officer as well as continuing in her role as Chairman of Christie’s.

“When Mr. Pinault and Madame Barbizet brought me into Christie’s, I was tasked with helping to modernise the company and enable it to grow in the new world in which we operate, while maintaining its extraordinary spirit and culture, and consistently focusing on the art itself.  We have now successfully concluded an ambitious three year plan and the company is in the strongest leadership position in its history,” commented Steven Murphy. “I have loved everything about working with the team here at Christie’s and am extremely proud of what we have collectively achieved.”

In a statement Patricia Barbizet commented: “We are extremely grateful to Steven for his vision, leadership and commitment to Christie’s since he joined in 2010. During his tenure Christie’s has assumed a truly leading position, with sales and profits at their highest ever levels. Over this period the company ventured into new markets in India and China, launched successful online auction sales and positioned itself at the forefront of the digital transformation in the art market.”

“Having completed this core work, the company is positioned for its next phase of development and I look forward to leading the global team into a new chapter of innovation and excellence as we take Christie’s to the next level.”

Oscar Wilde is on the right of this photograph.  UPDATE: IT MADE 7,000

A previously unpublished photograph of a young Oscar Wilde comes up as lot 696 at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Slane Castle on October 13.  Contained in Lady Ardilaun’s photograph album it is part of a group photograph showing a house party at Ashford Castle, Co. Galway from October 4-12 in 1878.  The oblong 1870’s photo album has a red morocco cover.

The young Oscar, clad in tweed plus fours, is seated on the right of the photo seated on the balustrading on the front steps. The 29 leave album album, containing numerous cartes-de-visite portraits, groups, houses and scenery, mostly annotated, Macroom Castle, Birr Castle, Muckross, Bantry, Ashford, Ross Hill, Lough Cutra, Castle Macgarrett, St. Anne’s, Howth,  is estimated at 5,000-8,000.

UPDATE:  THIS SOLD FOR 7,000

From Amulet to Zodiac the A-Z exhibition now underway at Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library takes the visitor on a journey through a selection of highlights.  The curators’ choice show highlights the breadth and quality of the wonderful collection, a rare opportunity to explore the threads that link cultures across the Western, Islamic and East Asian worlds.

A is for Amulet and the exhibition displays exquisite examples of these seventeenth- to nineteenth- century protective charms from the Christian, Hebrew, Islamic and Hindu faiths. E is for Embroidery and the objects on view include European sixteenth- to eighteenth-century covers for almanacs and devotional works, as well as eighteenth- and nineteenth-century embroidered badges worn to indicate status in the Chinese imperial court. T is for Travel and among the early printed travel books is a rare 1576 guide to the ‘most famous islands of the world’ with a chapter devoted to Ireland.  B is for Beatty and M is for Mining, and rarely seen material from the Library’s Archives offer a glimpse into Chester Beatty’s family and professional life.  The show continues until February 1, 2015.  Here are some examples.

N is for Noh © Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library

A is for Amulet (Phylactery) © Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library

G is for Garden  Copyright Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library.

J is for Jade.  Copyright Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library.

Norton Conyers

Norton Conyers near Ripon in North Yorkshire –  a house that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre – has won the Historic Houses Association and Sotheby’s Restoration Award for 2014.  The late medieval North Yorkshire home of Sir James and Lady Graham, extensively rebuilt in the 17th century, has been the Graham family home since 1624.  Charlotte  Brontë is believed to have visited Norton Conyers in 1839 and it was the inspiration for Thornfield Hall. The family legend of a “madwoman” secretly confined to an attic room might have given her the idea for the crazed Mrs Rochester.

Sir James and Lady Graham, a former museum curator, began the restoration of Norton Conyers in 2006. Their assiduous work over the past eight years revealed fascinating layers of history, which visitors will be able to discover in July of 2015, when the house reopens to the public.  The restoration enhanced many features mentioned by Brontë in her description of Thornfield Hall: the battlements around the roof, the lawn, the rookery, the broad oak staircase lit by a high latticed window, the high square hall and the mad woman’s room in the third storey attic. Following the discovery of a staircase leading to the attic a secret door has been created in the 19th century panelling, opening the space to the public for the first time. Finds made during the restoration process include Tudor painted boards hidden behind 18th century plaster and a 1760’s wallpaper.

Richard Compton, President of the Historic Houses Association commented: “Norton Conyers is a very special house, steeped in history. It has been so sensitively and painstakingly restored in recent years by its very knowledgeable owners, Sir James and Lady Graham. I always look upon Norton Conyers as a classic HHA Member property whose owners are so dedicated towards the maintenance of this special place. Great care has been taken to respect the history and development of this historic house and in so doing, over the past eight years, successive layers of history have been uncovered. The HHA is delighted that this award is being made to mark and celebrate the Grahams’ remarkable achievements”.

Great Hall, Norton Conyers courtesy of Sir James Graham.

Staircase leading to the attic. Courtesy Sir James Graham.

The American Flamingo by John James Audubon.

Auction sales at Sotheby’s rose by 24% in the first half of 2014 over the first six months of 2013.  A total of 487 lots were sold for over $1 million in the period according to the first half results.  Contemporary art was up by 24% and jewellery by 34%.  A total of 41% more works were sold privately than in the first six months of 2013.

More than a dozen selling exhibitions are planned for the autumn season. Sales at Hong Kong and Beijing were up 56% and there was a 35% increase globally in buyers from mainland China. Participation in the BIDnow programme more than doubled and 16% more lots were sold online. John James Audubon’s elephant-folio The Birds of America sold in April 2014 for $3.5 million – marking a new record for an online purchase in a live auction at Sotheby’s. A partnership between Sotheby’s and e-Bay has been announced recently.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for July 16, 2014)