National Portrait Gallery director unveils Tate’s operation to secure stolen Turners and £24m insurance [AO Newslink]

(more…)

Helvoetsluys – the City of Utrecht, 64, Going to Sea, Joseph Mallord William Turner (Exh 1832). Via Tate

In acknowledgment of the grand artistic tradition of admiration, imitation and competition, through January 31 Tate Britain will present the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner alongside some 100 related works by Old Masters and Contemporaries. Amid the 30+ artists presented are Canaletto, Titian, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Veronese, Watteau and Constable.

Moonlight, a Study at Millbank, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1797). Via Tate

J.M.W. Turner is often regarded as one of the most artists of his time, whose work varied to include watercolors, oil paintings, drawings and prints. While Turner’s spirit is often deemed as independent, David Solkin, Professor of the Social History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, University of London who conceived the exhibition, wishes to highlight how Turner was in fact, deeply engaged with the work of other artists.

Related Links:
Tate Britain Website [Tate.org.uk]
Tate Britain exhibition revives Turner’s and Constable’s old rivalry [TimesOnline]
Turner and the Masters [Guardian.co.uk]
The Times; May 8, 1832 – Royal Academy Exhibition [TimesArchive]
Turner and Constable: We’ve lost the art of feuds for art’s sake [Telegraph.co.uk]
Revealed: how Turner began his career copying the old masters [TheIndependent]

More Images and text after the jump…

(more…)

Storm Clouds: Sunset with a Pink Sky (1833) by JMW Turner, via Tate Britain

Currently exhibited at the Tate Britain are works by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and JMW Turner (1775-1851), two of the world’s most influential painters displayed side by side for the first time.  The paintings are part of BP British Art Displays which exhibit a unique array of works from the Tate Collection. Visitors have the opportunity to go between the mediative ambiance of six works of Rothko’s Seagram Murals to the display of Turner works from the 1966 MOMA exhibition which includes experimental watercolors such as A Pink Sky above Sea (c.1822) and Storm Clouds: Sunset with a Pink Sky (1833). Such dreamy, loose, and immersive works demonstrate the great affinity between the two painters.

Press Release
BP British Art Displays: Turner/ Rothko [Artdaily]
Rothko and Turner receive joint billing at Tate for first time [The Telegraph]
The works of two influential painters, JMW and Rothko, are being brought together in an exhibition to show the artists’ similarities [BBC]
Turner/ Rothko at Tate Britain [Timeout London]

(more…)

Temple of Jupiter Panellenius Restored, by J.M.W Turner, via Sotheby’s; Sold for $12.9 million.

Christie’s and Sotheby’s recent New York Old Master results were weaker than usual although there was some success amidst slow sales. The roster for the three days of New York sales (28 January at Christie’s and 29th and 30th January at Sotheby’s evening sales), included over 500 prestigious works. Such an opening of the 2009 auction season contained artworks of very fine quality at highly priced estimates. Even despite current economic challenges the two auctioneers offered a number of exceptionally refined artworks. These included a set of works by Francisco de Zurbaran consisting of twelve paintings (the twelve sibyls) priced between $2 and $3 million at Sotheby’s. Christie’s offered a still-life by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin entitled “Still-Life with a copper pot” estimated between $1.2 to $1.3 million, quite an optimistic pricing since nothing by the artist has sold above the million dollar mark since 1992.

The marquee success came at Sotheby’s. A stunning work by Joseph Mallord Turner entitled “The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius” sold for $12.9 million, a price that is the second highest price ever realized for a work by Turner at auction. The painting won the bid from an anonymous buyer on the telephone and was sold by Richard Feigen, a Manhattan dealer who bought the painting at Christie’s London in 1982 for $1.1 million. The painting was featured in the traveling Turner retrospective that closed in September at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Catalogue: Sotheby’s Old Masters Painting including European Works of Art
Turner and a Few Others Succeed at Slow Sales [NY Times]
Art Market Insight: New York Auctions Open with Old Masters [Art Market Insight]
The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius by JMW Turner sells for $12.9 Million at Sotheby’s New York [ArtDaily]

(more…)

Portrait of Willem van Heythuysen, Seated on a Chair and Holding a Hunting Crop, Frans Hals (circa 1630) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Old Master Paintings in London on Wednesday attracted an international client base and managed to raise $101.5 million in overall sales, which is the second highest amount in the company’s history for an auction of this genre.

The sale included not only pieces of exceptional quality, but also a number of works which had previously been held in private collections and therefore had not been on the market for some time. A re-discovered painting by Frans Hals (Pictured above), which was heretofore believed to be a copy, sold for $13,995,067 which not only exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $6.0-$10.0 million, but which also was the second highest price ever paid for a work by the artist at auction.

There were numerous other auction records set that evening, including record sales by artists including Guido Reni, Jacobo Tintoretto, Taddeo di Bartolo, Frans van Mieris the Elder and Jan Brueghel the Elder. An impressive 58% of lots sold at the auction garnered bids in excess of their estimates, contributing to the sale’s success as a whole.

Sotheby’s Auction Results: Old Master Paintings Evening Sale [Sotheby’s]
Old Masters Perform at Sotheby’s London [NYSun]
Old Master Paintings Soar at Sotheby’s Realizing $101.5 Million [Artdaily]
At Sotheby’s, Exceptional Old Master Offerings Lead to Six Records [International Herald Tribune]
Old Master Paintings Soar at Sotheby’s Auction in London [News-Antique]
Old Master Paintings Realize $101.5 Million at Sotheby’s [AuctionPublicity]
Sotheby’s Week of Old Masters Realizes GBP45.2 Million [SGallery]

(more…)