A painting found in the collection of the Bowes Museum in the U.K. city of Durham, has been confirmed as an original work of Sir Anthony Van Dyck.  The work, a portrait of Lady Olivia Boteler Porter, was thought to be a 19th century copy after Van Dyck until recent examinations proved it as an original.  “To find a portrait by Van Dyck is rare enough, but to find one of his ‘friendship’ portraits like this, of the wife of his best friend in England, is extraordinarily lucky. Although as part of our national heritage values are irrelevant, for insurance purposes it should now be valued at anything up to £1m.” Said Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, an art historian and presenter. (more…)

Kehinde Wiley, The Three Graces, all images courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon

Galerie Daniel Templon in Paris is presenting Kehinde Wiley’s first solo show in France, entitled The World Stage: France, 1880-1960. Wiley’s portraits feature mostly black and brown men on elaborate, baroque backgrounds, their natural stances modified by Wiley to echo the Napoleonic, kingly gestures of traditional portraits like those of Anthony van Dyck.

Kehinde Wiley, Bonaparte in the Great Mosque of Cairo

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‪‬Italian police recover 37 old masters paintings stolen from a Roman businessman’s collection in 1971. Paintings by Berlinghieri, El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck are among the works, worth £6 million in all.  Five works from the original theft still remain missing. [AO Newslink]

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Charles II as Prince of Wales in amour (ca.1637-38) by Anthony Van Dyck, via Tate Britain

Van Dyck and Britain, now showing at the Tate Britain, displays 60 magnificent paintings, drawings, and prints by Belgian-born Sir Anthony Van Dyck. The exhibit also includes a range of supporting and comparative material from public and private collections in Britain and internationally. It tells the story of Van Dyck’s incredible impact on British visual culture and reunites 17th century aristocratic family members such as Katherine, Duchess of Buckingham and her two sons, George II Duke of Buckingham and Lord Francis Villiers, works that have never been displayed together before. Also exhibited are works from his English predecessors such as Peter Lely and John Singer Sargent. The Royal Collection, The National Trust and many private lenders have loaned works to the exhibition.

Van Dyck and Britain [Tate Britain]
Anthony Van Dyck’s Portraits of Nobility [FT]
Van Dyck and Britain, Tate Britain, London [The Independent]
Van Dyck and Britain at Tate Britain, Review [The Telegraph]

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