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  • Posts Tagged ‘Velazquez’

    AMONG THE MOST VALUABLE OLD MASTERS EVER AT MARKET

    Sunday, December 31st, 2023

    This full length  portrait of Isabel de Borbon (1602-44), Queen of Spain, the most important work by Diego Velázquez  to come to market in half a century, comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on February 1 with an estimate of around $35 million (€32.48 million).  The much loved queen, widely admired for her quick wit, intelligence and generous spirit, was daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second wife, Marie de Medici. The portrait once hung at the Buen Retiro palace in Madrid and at the Louvre. It was taken to France after Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 and sold to merchant banker Henry Huth in 1838.  Last at auction in 1950 it has been in the possession of the present owners since 1978 and is among the most valuable Old Masters ever to come to market. The last time a portrait of this calibre by the artist came to auction was 1970, when his Juan de Pareja sold for £2.3 million (€2.69 million)  – almost tripling the previous world auction record for any painting. Velázquez is among the most influential Spanish painters of all time.

    DIVERSE WORLD CULTURES AT NEW YORK WINTER SHOW

    Saturday, January 18th, 2020

    The Winter Show which gets underway in New York on January 24 is a celebration of diverse world cultures from antiquity to the present day. The leading art, antiques and design fair in the US attracts experts in fine and decorative arts from around the world.The reach of objects on display is global too.  Among the 2020 highlights are a c1725 George I red japanned bookcase, an Egyptian green basalt bust of a nobleman from the Late Dynastic Period c664-610 BC, a c1849 Sevres enamel ewer, an aboriginal rainforest softwood painted shield, a Fang Ancestral Reliquary from Gabon, Africa, an 1815 New York City made pier table and a Japanese burl wood stand designed to instal a small object dedicated to meditation.The annual loan exhibition for which this show is renowned offers visitors a focused look at exceptional collections.This year it features masterworks, including a Velazquez portrait, from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library spanning 4000 years of history, art and culture from the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and The Philippines. There is work by El Greco and Goya, mid 18th century painting from the Cuzco School in Peru, an exceptional 17th century aquamanile or water container from Portugal, a painting by John Singer Sargent from his travels in Spain and work by the Valencian master Sorolla, subject of an exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland last year.

    Camilo Astalli, known as Cardinal Pamphili by Diego Velazquez courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library New York

    A PIVOT ON WHICH ART HISTORY TURNS

    Saturday, December 29th, 2018

    Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez painted in 1656: