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Impressionism
Dream Weavers
Until April 2010 you can see Guernica in London, at the newly expanded Whitechapel Gallery. But if you’ve visited the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid and seen Picasso’s anguished portrayal of the bombing of a Basque town during the Spanish Civil War, you might notice something a bit odd. At 10 by 22 feet, the Guernica in London is slightly smaller than the one in Spain and considerably heavier (the gallery needed six men to hang it).
Inner Strengths
This past June and July, a very interesting thing took place in the London salesrooms of Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The results for Old Master paintings surpassed those for contemporary art, and they came surprisingly close to those for Impressionist and modern art. To market watchers, this topsy-turvy state of affairs signaled a shift in art-world priorities in the wake of the global economic crisis.
Financial Report: The Pawnbroker
If the art of business has revolutionized the business of art in the past decade, Tony Barreiro and Ray Parker Gaylord are firmly in the vanguard. The San Francisco-based company ArtLoan, which they founded in 2004, lends money against the value of art collections owned by individuals and galleries.
In a Nutshell: Fine Print
When it comes to miniature books, smallness is the point. “What’s nice about them is the fact that they’re so complete and so tiny,” says Catherine Williamson, director of the books and manuscripts department for Bonhams & Butterfields in Los Angeles. “The entire text is there, it just happens to be on a miniature scale.”
Collecting: Blowing in the Wind
The weathervane collection at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont presents a visual feast of folk art. Dozens of antique wooden and metal sculptures that once crowned barns, churches, meeting houses, town halls and other structures symbolic of small-town America grace the interior of Shelburne’s Stagecoach Inn building. “We’re known for weathervanes,” says Jean Burks, senior curator and director of the museum’s curatorial department.
Books: The Other Hot Pot
Everybody now knows the story of the Euphronios krater, the sixth-century B.C. Greek masterpiece of vase painting that the Metropolitan Museum gave back to Italy last year. But what about the Euphronios kylix? A companion piece to the krater, this delicate drinking vessel shows an earlier version by the artist of the scene depicted on the krater—the body of the Homeric hero Sarpedon being carried off the battlefield of Troy by Sleep and Death.
In Perspective
By: The Editors EXHIBITIONS The Reach of Pieztsch: Picture Dreams, an exhibit drawn from the collection of Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, is at the New National Gallery in Berlin through Nov. 22. Concentrating on Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, the couple acquired works by André Breton, Jackson Pollock, René Magritte, Ad Reinhardt, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy,…
Market: The State of the Fairs
By: Sallie Brady In recent memory, there has hardly been a more tumultuous year for art and antiques fairs. In fact, before booking fall travel plans, collectors would be advised to make certain their favorite fair still exists. This is not because dealers are not selling. Indeed, antiquities and Old Masters exhibitors at TEFAF in…
Market: London Calling
By: Sallie Brady Forward-thinking collectors are looking backward. That was the message of London’s July Old Masters auctions, proving to be a bright spot in a challenged art market by outselling the season’s Impressionist, modern and contemporary sales. Salesrooms were packed, aided by the capital’s inaugural edition of Master Paintings Week, which saw 23 galleries…
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