Posts

painting

Picasso Painting Unseen For 80 Years Revealed At Paris Auction House 

/in , /by

A newly discovered painting of the French photographer and painter Dora Maar done by Pablo Picasso has been unveiled after remaining unseen for 80 years. The painting was completed during the German occupation of Paris in July 1943. 

Embed from Getty Images

‘Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat’ was finished towards the end of Picasso and Maar’s nine-year relationship. It’s described as showing Maar in a softer, more colorful light when compared to other portraits Picasso painted of her. 

One of the most famous paintings of Maar by Picasso is the ‘Portrait of Dora Maar and Dora Maar au Chat.’ Maar, however, has stated that: “All of his portraits of me are lies. They’re all Picassos. Not one is Dora Maar.”

Picasso and Maar met at the end of 1935 when she was taking photographs to promote Jean Renoir’s film The Crime of Monsieur Lange. At the time they met, Picasso was in a relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, and the two shared a daughter Maya. 

In the newly rediscovered work, Maar’s face is fragmented, but painted in bright colors without perspective. Maar appears anguished and on the point of weeping. At the time the work was created, Maar had learned Picasso, who was 61, was intending on leaving her for 21-year-old artist Françoise Gilot. 

The portrait was only displayed a few times at the time of its completion outside Picasso’s Paris atelier in the Rue des Grands Augustins. When Paris was liberated in August 1944, the painting remained in a private collection after being purchased. 

The painting’s existence was known from a black and white photograph taken after it was sold and featured in an art catalogue. The seller inherited the painting from a grandparent who was an unnamed French collector. 

Embed from Getty Images

When the Nazis occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso’s work was considered to be “degenerate.” This led to multiple raids on his atelier and threats of banning exhibitions of his paintings. 

Maar died in Paris in 1997 at 89, and is known for being Picasso’s muse in addition to his subject and lover. Independently, she was a surrealist photographer whose style had a major influence on Picasso’s work throughout their relationship. 

The auction house Lucien Paris has estimated the oil painting to be worth £6.9m (around $9.3 million), but they’re expecting it to sell for more. The house kept the painting’s existence a secret before they revealed it to the press this week. 

Auctioneer Christophe Lucien stated that this is a “significant discovery,” describing the work as a masterpiece and rare example of how Picasso’s work acted as a light during the darkest of days throughout the occupation, the Guardian reported. 

“It is not only a milestone in the history of art but also in the private life of Picasso,” Lucien said.

“It is a refreshing portrait of Dora Maar; exceptional and full of emotion. Discovering it is a big moment in our lives as experts.”

The painting will be sold by Lucien Paris on October 24th and will be on display for three days before the sale.

Prado Museum In Madrid

Lost Caravaggio Painting, That Was Previously Misidentified, To Be Shown At Prado Museum In Madrid

/in , /by

A lost Caravaggio painting depicting a suffering Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns is set to go on display at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The painting itself made headlines a few years ago after it was misattributed and almost sold for €1,500 (about $1,600).

The Ecce Homo measures 111 centimeters by 86 centimeters and was initially attributed to the 17th-century Spanish artist José de Ribera in April 2021 when it was offered for sale at a Madrid auction house, according to reports. Art experts in Spain and Italy, however, were led to re-examine the work due to its luminous quality. 

Experts from the Prado Museum contacted Spain’s culture ministry once collectors around the world heard about the painting’s potential mystery painter. The ministry ordered an export ban for the painting and gave it a protected heritage status so that it would stay in Spain. 

Embed from Getty Images

The Prado stated on Monday that The Ecce Homo will be on display in the museum from May 28th until October of this year. Miguel Falomir, the Prado’s director, stated that the museum has been working with the painting’s newest owner to restore the piece and figure out how its traveled since its creation. 

The painting was purchased from a family that had owned it for generations by an anonymous purchaser for an undisclosed sum, according to the museum.

“We’ve discovered that this is indeed a Caravaggio, and a painting that was brought to Spain in the 17th century and attributed to the Italian painter,” said Falomir. 

“During the Napoleonic invasion, it left the royal collection and it had been in a private family collection in Madrid since the 19th century. The family recently decided to sell the picture to a private buyer, and this person became interested in exhibiting this very important work at the Prado.”

Falomir stated his excitement for the work to be on display in the museum for the public and critics to enjoy. 

“It’s an enormous opportunity and one we’re thrilled about. We’re also celebrating the fact that this great work of art will stay in Spain and become part of Spain’s culture,” he said. 

Embed from Getty Images

The Prado currently has one Caravaggio on display, David with the Head of Goliath, which was initially painted in Rome around 1600 when the artist was 30-years-old. The Prado’s head of pre-1800 Italian and French painting, David García Cueto, expressed his excitement to have a second Caravaggio on display in their museum. 

“By then [1600], he [Caravaggio] had achieved a stylistic maturity through his refined use of light and shade that allowed him to capture reality in a close-up manner,” said García Cueto. 

“Caravaggio’s stylistic evolution in the last 10 years of his life was pretty innovative, expressionistic, free and striking. The Ecce Homo, painted around 1607-1610, offers a complementary vision of Caravaggio’s late work and condenses the best of the master’s style in his final years,” he stated. 

Massimo Pulini, an art historian and professor at the Bologna Fine Arts Academy, told the Guardian that he was able to identify the painting as a Caravaggio when one of his colleagues in the antique industry sent him a photo. 

“When I saw the painting, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The impact was so immediate that I instantly knew this was a Caravaggio. It was like meeting someone on the street who you haven’t seen for a long time. It’s difficult to explain what happens in certain moments when, in a millisecond, you have such an impression. It’s often a question of instinct,” said Pulini.

auction

Clara Peeters, The Forgotten 17th Century Artist Whose Painting Could Now Sell For Over $700,000 

/in , /by

A painting of a basket of flowers from the early 17th-century is about to be sold at an auction in December. The untitled work is by Clara Peeters, a Flemish painter who was written out of art history for centuries. 

The flower still life itself has not been seen in public for over 100 years, and has never appeared in any art or art history books. Overall, very little is known about Peeters life. 

Embed from Getty Images

The painting is a beautiful realistic work showing roses, carnations, tulips, and many other flowers in a wicker basket sitting on a ledge. It also features a little butterfly and cricket within the foreground. 

According to Chloe Stead, of Sotheby’s which is selling the painting, Peeters painting is done on copper, giving the piece an “enamel-like luster.”

Stead believes the painting could be sold at around £500,000 to £700,000 (more than $700,000 USD). 

“Peeters was forgotten for such a long time. There is a remarkable lack of detail known about her life, which is tantalizing given the extraordinary quality of her paintings,” Stead said.

Embed from Getty Images

According to Stead, Peeters’ paintings were previously recorded as being from outside of Antwerp, with other indications suggesting that she was a successful artist. In her lifetime, she painted around 40 works, and the still like of flowers about to be auctioned has been in a private collection in Belgium since 1928. 

“Her paintings were quite prized objects and were being passed around. Which makes it so remarkable that she – like so many of her female contemporaries – were, over the centuries thereafter, written out of art history. And only rediscovered and reassessed in the mid-late 20th century,” Stead said

The painting will be sold alongside another natural-themed still life of apricots, peaches, and plums in a porcelain bowl by artist Louise Moillon in 1634. 

Stead said: “Moillon’s paintings are sublime. She’s an expert in texture, and it’s the contrast in this painting between the cool white of the porcelain bowl and the lovely fuzzy surface of the apricots and peaches that is such a treat.

“She’s got a larger oeuvre [than Peeters] but a lot of her paintings are in private collections in France. And so she’s a name that we see less often. It’s a beautiful picture.” It has an estimate of £600,000 to £800,000.

Mural Art

Will 2020 See The Return of Mural Art?

/in , , /by

Modern interior decoration has hit somewhat of a wall in terms of creativity in recent years. Gone are the days of bold geometric patterns, statement rugs and motif wallpaper that defined the aesthetic of many of the 20th century decades. The contemporary look is characterized by its minimalist features, often favoring a monochrome palette with perhaps one feature color.

Walls do little but contain a room nowadays, and it is unusual to see a particularly colourful room or feature walls. In short, the potential of walls as a creative space in both commercial and private settings is being hugely restricted, with all the effort and thought being put on furnishings and accessories to deliver the character of an inside space. There is now a need to reintroduce some old interior decoration trends, to reawaken the personality of walls, and many believe that mural art is the answer.

Mural art dates back centuries and spans cultures, but has all but disappeared from modern interior design. The modern mural is most commonly associated with street art and usually found on the exteriors of buildings, often carrying some political or social statement. However, the art of interior mural has become somewhat of a rarity in an age where simple painted walls reign, punctuated by the odd pattern-papered feature wall. When compared to the creativity and allure achieved by the likes of Keith Haring’s street pop-art or José Clemente Orozco’s sombre social realism, walls simply do not create the excitement that they once did.

While the way spaces are decorated has remained fairly static, how we choose to furnish these spaces is certainly changing. There is an emerging discrepancy between the characteristic furniture we fill rooms with and the walls that surround it. Rich, moody colour palettes accented with dark wood and metallics are trending heavily, invoking a degree of personality that is not met by your average painted wall. A detailed focal point can tie a well-furnished room together beautifully, and provide a consistent theme that can be complemented with different furniture trends as the years roll by.

Embed from Getty Images

The mural is capable of fulfilling almost any creative idea, and is beginning to be embraced by a new wave of followers. With the vast possibilities of modern painting and application techniques, and more styles and artistic movements than ever to take inspiration from, the mural is reaching new heights and doing what plain paint and wallpaper cannot: delivering a unique and completely tailored look to interior spaces that truly reflect the character of the building, or its occupants. From palaces to bedrooms, mural art has redefined itself in terms of its versatility and sheer scope for artistic creativity, and it is the ultimate way to bring focus and personality to any indoor space.

Of course, being typically found in such grand locations as ocean liners and cathedrals does nothing for the mural’s opulent reputation. Many consider mural art to be the playground of the rich and famous, who can afford the time and expertise of a professional artist to personalize their walls, and this misconception is a contributing factor to the mural’s lack of real comeback. By employing the services of a live artist, they can tailor their approach to any style or budgetary requirements, using their creative versatility to deliver a unique product that meets the needs of the client. When comparing the one-off cost of hiring an artist—and all the years of experience and skill they give you for the fee—with the mass-produced vinyl wall art substitutes that saturate online stores, whose lack of durability, quality and uniqueness make for a short lifetime, real mural art emerges victorious.

Of course, the more commercial and formal settings like clubs and hotels begin to break out of their comfort zones and explore more interesting interior design ideas, the more mural art and its endless possibilities begin to be recognized. This isn’t to say that mural art is the exclusive territory of public spaces, though. Although in the past it may have been largely limited to children’s bedrooms in domestic settings, the mould most certainly needs to be broken. The boundaries currently encircling mural art need to be broken for it to be recognized as one of the most personal and expressive forms of interior decoration.

Now is the time for mural art to see a revival, by breaking free of the inaccurate associations it is often held to. Murals are no longer for the ceilings of cathedrals or the walls of stately homes, or just for telling a story or exposing societal injustice. It is a vehicle for unique characterization of indoor spaces, that reflect the people who live or visit there—a literal blank canvas, just waiting to be explored.