Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Artworks

Another “Gift” From Rome’s Mayor

If you’re in the neighborhood of Malibu, Ca., you may want to stop in at the Getty Villa one day soon. There’s you’ll find an ancient statue on loan from Rome’s mayor, part of his “The Dream of Rome” project through which he’s sending masterpieces from the Eternal City to American museums.

Last December, I wrote about Bernini’s Medusa, which was sent to the Legion of Honor branch of the Fine Arts Museums sof San Francisco, and  now Lion Attacking a Horse, which dates to the fourth century B.C., is at the Getty Villa.

Since its arrival in Rome from Asia Minor at some point before 1300 A.D.,  Lion Attacking a Horse has never before left the city. As I wrote in a brief article in today’s Wall Street Journal:

In 1300, the piece is mentioned in archival documents and located in the Piazza del Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill – the first piece of ancient art in what became Europe’s oldest public art museum. By 1347, it had moved to the steps of the Palazzo Senatorio in the piazza, where it dominated an area used for the administration of justice and capital executions.

As a result, this dramatic depiction of a fallen horse being devoured by a ferocious lion came to symbolize the city of Rome.

There is stayed until about 1925, when it inexplicably went into storage. Now restored, it’s on loan to the Getty.

You may know this piece, however, because as Pat Wengraf, the London dealer, told me:

Probably the earliest reinterpretation of the antique marble in the Capitoline Museum is found in bronze group now in the Detroit Institute of Arts, which is signed by Antonio Susini (who worked for Giambologna circa 1580-1600). Susini’s bronze probably dates from circa 1580 -1590.  However, many replicas of the ancient marble were reproduced in bronze on a much smaller scale particularly for the Grand Tourists who visited Italy from the late 17th century.  Susini’s model of a “Lion attacking a Horse” is often found paired with a group of a “Lion attacking a Bull” – more usually on a small scale in bronze, but sometimes on a larger scale in marble. 

Photo Credt: Courtesy of the Getty

 

 

Breaking Now: Poland’s Raphael, Feared Destroyed, Is Rediscovered

This will be short, as I’m busy writing articles — but I can’t let go the breaking news coming from The Art Newspaper:

Poland’s long-lost Raphael found

According to the article, posted online, Portrait of a Young Man, dated to around 1513-1514, from the Czartoryski family collection in Crakow, has been discovered in a bank vault.

It had been taken by the Nazis in 1939 for Hitler’s Führermuseum, Linz, and it had disappeared from view in 1945 shortly before the end of the Second World War.

More details at that link, but many more should be coming out in future months.

Hat tip to Paul Jeromack, who pointed out the article.

A Match? Dallas Museum of Art + Leonardo — UPDATED

Art in America magazine has a scoop: Dallas Museum of Art Director Max Anderson apparently wants to buy the Leonardo, Salvator Mundi, that has resurfaced over the last year and was exhibited at the National Gallery of London’s Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan last year. 

The price tag would be about $200 million.

According to the article, published online:

Jill Bernstein, the museum’s chief communications officer, confirmed to A.i.A., “We have brought Leonardo da Vinci’s recently re-discovered masterpiece Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World) to the DMA. We are actively exploring the possibility of acquiring it.” Measuring about 26 by 18 inches, the painting shows Christ holding a glass orb in his left hand, with his right hand raised in benediction.

Anderson sees the painting as a “destination painting,” the story notes. And who wouldn’t? Only one other painting by Leonardo is on public view in the United States — Ginevra de’ Benci, which is in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C.

Where will Dallas get the money? And is the painting worth $200 million, given its condition? It was heavily overpainted and then cleaned too aggressively.

Some of Leonardo’s hand is evident, however, in the orb and the raised hand, and people may well flock to see the picture.

UPDATE: Robert Simon, one of the dealers who is handling the painting, sends a statement about the “overcleaning” remarks made by some people:

There is no doubt that the painting had been heavily overpainted — probably in the seventeenth century. That is essentially the reason why Leonardo’s authorship was not recognized until recently. But the statement that the painting was cleaned too aggressively is misleading. As Dianne Modestini (who cleaned and restored the Salvator Mundi) indicated in public presentations given at the Leonardo conference held at the National Gallery in January and at the Institute of Fine Arts in February (and soon to be published), damage to the painting was largely limited to the narrow areas along two very old cracks in the panel –neither of which go through the head of Christ. While there was localized paint loss there and some scattered abrasions elsewhere, the paint surface of the painting remarkably retains much of its original glazing — a fact confirmed by recent technical analyses. The removal of overpaint in the recent cleaning was undertaken delicately and at the highest level of conservation standards.

 

Out Go The Sargents In NYC; In Comes Flavin, LeWitt In Texas

When I learned today that the Players Club in New York City has been selling its portraits by John Singer Sargent — two down and one to go — I thought it was worth mentioning here. The money, from the disposition of pictures of actors and members, Edwin Booth, the club’s co-founder ($2.5 million), and Lawrence Barrett ($1 million), is intended to pay for the rehabilitation of the Club’s crumbling facade — an 1845 building that was Booth’s home. On the market now is Sargent’s portrait of Joseph Jefferson, also expected to bring $1 million. This all according to The New York Post.

It’s a private club, of theater people, and they have every right to sell — the only reason to mention it is the opportunity these portraits present to would-be buyers. Dealer Warren Adelson bought the Booth (at left).

But along with that news came a bookend about the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art, which is about to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its Tadao Ando-designed building. Reinforcing some public opinion about modern art, here was the lede in the Dallas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

What does a 10-year-old want for reaching the two-digit milestone? Some fluorescent lights? Perhaps a box of colored pencils for drawing on the wall?

That’s what the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has purchased…

Clever, but…the article was referring to works by Dan Flavin and Sol LeWitt, of course. Still, it was a positive article, noting that “The Modern’s new pieces are debuting over the fall in an anticipatory buildup for the anniversary party” on Dec. 6.

So what exactly has the museum acquired:

The blue and yellow fluorescent light sculpture by Dan Flavin and the wall drawing by Sol LeWitt are two of many presents, er acquisitions, the Modern has purchased recently. Many of the new pieces are by artists already represented in the Modern’s stable, such as Fort Worth-based Vernon Fisher, Howard Hodgkin, Bruce Nauman and Nicholas Nixon. New names that will go up on the walls are those of Robyn O’Neil and Mark Bradford. Bradford’s painting, Kingdom Day, 2010, is a homage to the Kingdom Day Parade held every year in Los Angeles on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bradford’s depiction specifically references the 1992 parade in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating; in it an explosive landscape is rendered from the topology of satellite imagery.

Also new to the institution is a piece by Jenny Holzer, who will be given a semi-permanent gallery for one of her signature signs that scrolls LED aphorisms such as “Money creates taste;” “Your oldest fears are you worst ones;” “Slipping into madness is good for comparison;” and “Mothers shouldn’t make too many sacrifices.” The rolling platitudes will move from one end of the long clerestory gallery to the edge of the pond and seemingly slide into the water. This gallery is a neighbor to the one that houses the Ladder for Booker T. Washington by Martin Puryear, and as one of the most valuable tracts of museum real estate, it needed a destination piece.

On view by Oct. 21 will be LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #50A, 1970; Flavin’s Untitled (for you Leo, in long respect and affection) 4, 1978; Nixon’s latest installment for his photographic series, The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts, 2011; Bradford’s painting, O’Neil’s nearly 14-foot long charcoal drawing These Final Hours Embrace At Last; This Is Our Ending, This Is Our Past, 2007; and Hodgkin’s Ice, 2008-10.

Up by Nov. 16 will be Fisher’s The Coriolis Effect, 1987; and Nauman’s video and sound installation Studio Mix, 2010. Holzer’s work, which is yet to be titled, is the showpiece of the anniversary gala.

It”s clever to unveil things like this, doling them out and giving people new reasons to visit and new things to talk about. Good for whoever thought it up. And I can live with that lede.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Players Club (top) and Ft. Worth MoMA (bottom)

 

“Art Is Everywhere” — Or Could Be

Starting today, residents and visitors to Delaware will see reproductions of paintings from the Delaware Art Museum on main streets and other open-air spaces in three counties. This “pop-up” exhibition is part of the museum’s celebration of its 100th anniversary year, which began last November.

The reproductions  of Edward Hopper’s Summertime (at left), Winslow Homer’s Milking Time and 13 other works of art are printed to scale and framed. In a press release, the museum’s Executive Director Danielle Rice said that “By sharing reproductions of some of our most beloved works of art, we’re hoping Art is Everywhere will spark curiosity and inspire both new and current visitors.” A map of the installations is available online, and there’s a list on the museum’s website exhibitions page.

As long as the reproductions are good — the exhibition is sponsored by the printer,  Aztec Printing & Design — I like this idea. I have since the Detroit Institute of Arts did the same thing on a larger scale (40 paintings)  in 2010, and called it DIA:  Inside|Out. (More details are here.)

At the time, I criticized the DIA for missing the opportunity to solicit small donations via texting from passers-by. One commenter then told me that was too expensive (a surprise because other museums have successfully used texting, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for its drive to purchase Lime Green Icicle by Dale Chihuly). And the DIA, if I recall correctly, did not comment publicly but told me privately that Inside|Out wasn’t used to fundraise because the museum had recently completed a large campaign and that the outdoor show, marking its 125th anniversary, was outreach. That’s fair.

At the time, the DIA said it was “the only museum in the country doing it, though the idea came from the National Gallery in London’s 2005 program where they posted reproductions of their masterpieces around SoHo” and said it was “wildly successful.”

So the Delaware Art Museum gets a pass on fundraising, thanks to the DIA. But I must quibble a bit with the selections. Although the museum says it is “best known for its large collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art, works by Wilmington-native Howard Pyle and fellow American illustrators, and urban landscapes by John Sloan and his circle,” how come five of the 15 selected works are by Pyle? And five by Pre-Rapahaelites?

Only one is by Sloan, a better artist than Pyle; and the Delaware museum owns “the largest collection of art by Sloan, as well as the John Sloan Manuscript Collection, a treasure trove of archival materials.” That’s Sloan’s Spring Rain at right.

I know the Delaware Art Museum is more varied than this selection, and while I believe in stressing one’s strengths, maybe this wasn’t the time for that.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of the Delaware Art Museum