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Landscape Paintings
In a Nutshell: Up to Snuff
Some objects that modern collectors regard as works of art were not seen that way by the people who originally made and bought them; so it is with snuff bottles. Tobacco reached China in the 16th century, but the use of snuff, its powdered form, became fashionable in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Its wealthy inhalers carried their personal rations in bottles rather than the boxes their European counterparts favored.
Collecting: Premium Blend
For 40 years London dealer Indar Pasricha has been collecting Indo-European furniture, a hybrid genre that was a byproduct of the spice trade that brought the Portuguese, and later the Dutch, French and English, to the Indian subcontinent and its island neighbor, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). “The ebony furniture, with its low-relief carving, looks extraordinary in a modern setting,” says Pasricha.
Shining On
The light seems to come from nowhere and everywhere. As the sun suffuses the haze and shimmers on the surface of still waters, the atmosphere holds a glow that might be silvery, bluish or fiery red. The view recedes gradually into the distance, passing through several distinct planes. The overall impression is one of silence and deep peace.
Market: A British Assortment
By: Sallie Brady Remember when London in June was a must-do? And when the annual season of top-quality antiques fairs and gallery exhibitions meant serious shopping? That was before the British pound hit the two-to-one mark against the dollar, and Americans in the English capital became as rare as sunshine. This summer, however, the forecast…
Gathering of the Tribes
By: Robert Ross From June 3–7 Brussels is once again the locus of excitement for connoisseurs of all things tribal and ethnographic. Now in its 19th year the Brussels Non-European Art Fair will turn one of Europe’s major tribal art cities into a hub of activity, with world-class dealers featuring African, Oceanic, Indonesian, pre-Columbian, Asiatic…
Market: Still on Top
By: Sheila Gibson Stoodley Few art fairs that focus on modern and contemporary art remain vital long enough to mark their 40th editions; Art Basel is one of those few. The 2009 fair will take place June 10–14 in Basel, Switzerland and will feature more than 300 exhibitors, including 11 first-timers. Art Basel has felt…
Market: A Different Light
By: Sheila Gibson Stoodley Vilhelm Hammershøi was a mysterious Danish artist who made mysterious, haunting paintings. He preferred the restrained light of his native Copenhagen and let it infuse his images, many of which depict dwellings where he and his wife, Ida, lived around the turn of the 20th century. She was his favorite model,…
In Perspective
By: The Editors UPCOMING AUCTIONS High Gloss: A trio of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann furnishings—a piano, a bookcase and a double bed—will headline one of the two Art Deco sales at Sotheby’s Paris on June 4. The boat-shaped bed, from 1928, is made of amboyna veneer, tulipwood and gilt bronze, and is estimated at €60,000–80,000 ($78,000–104,000). Fine…
Exhibitions: A Monumental Show
By: Sheila Gibson Stoodley When the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York mounts a Saint-Gaudens exhibition, it tends to be a major event. Augustus Saint-Gaudens in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which opens June 30 and continues through Nov. 15, will be the fourth such exhibition in the Met’s history and the first since…
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