Displaying items by tag: british art

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. has received a gift of $1 million from British artist and philanthropist Basil Alkazzi for the acquisition of paintings and drawings by contemporary American and British artists. Alkazzi decided to make the generous donation to the Hirshhorn because of his admiration for the museum’s commitment to supporting emerging artists.

Kerry Brougher, the Hirshhorn’s interim director and chief curator, said, “His gift will allow the Hirshhorn to significantly enhance its holdings of hand-painted paintings and drawings by key figures in the U.S. and U.K. As we celebrate and highlight our collection this year during our 40th anniversary, we are thrilled that thanks to the public-spiritedness of donors like Basil Alkazzi this collection will continue to grow and be a lasting legacy to the nation.”

The Hirshhorn focuses its collection-building and exhibition-planning on modern and contemporary art and sculpture.

Two signed works by contemporary British artist Damien Hirst were stolen from the Exhibitionist Gallery in London. The works, which are from Hirst’s colorful spot paintings series, are worth around $54,000.

Officials believe that one person carried out the robbery and gained entry into the gallery by forcing open the front doors. It appears that the suspect had specifically targeted the two paintings.

Hirst, who rose to fame in the 1990s, is believed to be the richest living artist.  

The Heritage Lottery Fund has given a $240,000 development grant to National Museums Liverpool to renovate the Lady Lever Art Gallery, which houses one of the UK’s finest collections of fine and decorative art. Renovation plans include returning over a quarter of the existing space to its original architecture and expanding galleries so that more of the collection can be made accessible to the public.

Sandra Penketh, the Gallery’s directory, said, “This project will transform the Gallery and breathe new life into the collections. It will also mean improved accessibility for visitors and greater educational resources for local schools and the community.” The Gallery’s initial grant allows it two years to submit a proposal for a more substantial bequest, which will ideally help them get closer to their £2.8 million fundraising goal.    

Founded in 1922 by the soap magnate William Lever, 1^st Viscount Leverhulme in honor of his late wife, the Lady Lever Art Gallery holds an outstanding collection of 18^th and 19^th century British paintings and furniture as well as a celebrated collection of Wedgwood pottery.

The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University is currently hosting an exhibition focused on the work of two prominent British artists – Francis Bacon and Henry Moore.  The institution has brought together 20 sculptures and 20 drawings by Moore and 20 paintings by Bacon to explore how the vastly different artists handled the treatment of the human figure as well as violence in the 20th century.

Francis Bacon / Henry Moore: Flesh and Bone surveys the distinct visual languages of both artists. While their perspectives differed, each one was inspired by visions of humanity. Professor Christopher Brown CBE, director or the Ashmolean, said, “This is one of the most ambitious and exciting exhibitions we have mounted since we reopened in 2009. It compares the two greatest British artists of the twentieth century, and promises to be both visually thrilling and immensely through-provoking.”

Francis Bacon / Henry Moore: Flesh and Bone, which features works mainly from the 1950s and 1960s, will be on view at the Ashmolean Museum through January 19, 2014.

Opening on October 2, 2013 at Tate Britain in London, Art Under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm will be the first exhibition to explore the history of physical attacks on art in Britain from the 16^th century to the present day. The show will present famously marred works while exploring the religious, political and aesthetic motives that have provoked these violent acts.

The exhibition will include Statue of the Dead Christ (1500-20), which is being loaned to the Tate by London’s Worship Company of Mercers where the work was discovered beneath the chapel floor in 1954. The work was attacked by Protestants during the Reformation and is missing a crown of thorns, arms and lower legs. It is the first time that the Mercer has loaned the work since it was discovered nearly 60 years ago. John Singer Sargent’s (1856-1925) portrait of Henry James, which was attacked by a suffragette at the Royal Academy in 1914 with a knife, will also be on view. A less violently disgraced work is a portrait of Oliver Cromwell that was hung upside down by a devote monarchist. The work is on loan from the Inverness Museum in Scotland.

Art Under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm will be on view at Tate Britain through January 5, 2014.

Christie’s evening sale of Old Master & British Paintings, which took place on July 2, 2013 in London, garnered $36.2 million and attracted buyers from 11 countries. Georgina Wilsenach, Head of Old Master & British Paintings at Christie’s London, said, “This sale saw strong prices for paintings from all schools particularly Italian, Flemish and British. We welcomed, once again, bidders from Asia, the Middle East, South American and Russia as well as the traditional markets of Europe and America.”

Canaletto’s (1697-1768) masterpiece, The Molo, Venice, from the Bacino di San Marco, was the evening’s top lot. The work, which is one of the artist’s most celebrated views of Venice, realized $12.8 million, well over its high estimate of $8.9 million. The painting, one of the largest of this particular subject, once belonged to Edward Howard, the 9^th Duke of Norfolk and a major patron of British art. The work was passed down through the Duke’s family until the 1970s.

Other highlights from the sale included Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) detailed study of a bearded man’s head in profile holding a bronze figure. Created after the artist had returned to Antwerp from Italy, the composition depicts one of the kings featured in Rubens’ monumental Adoration of the Kings (1616-17), which was painted for the Church of Saint John in Mechelen. The study brought $2.6 million, just over its low estimate of $2.2 million.

A multimillion-dollar art collection built by poet T.S. Eliot’s widow, Valerie, will be sold at Christie’s London on November 20, 2013. The collection includes works by Francis Bacon (1909-1992), Lucian Freud (1922-2011), and J.M.W. Turner (1775-19851). Ms. Eliot, who passed away in November at the age of 86, amassed her collection using royalties from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music Cats, which was based on her husband’s whimsical poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Ms. Eliot’s collection, which resided in the London home she shared with her husband, is expected to garner around $7.6 million.

Highlights from the collection include drawings and watercolors by 18^th and 19^th century British artists including Turner, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), and John Constable (1776-1837); a sculpture by Henry Moore (1898-1986); and a lush landscape titled The Cathedral, Hackwood Park by Winston Churchill (1874-1965). There will also be portrait miniatures from the 16^th through the 19^th centuries, furniture, and jewelry for sale.

Proceeds from the Christie’s auction will benefit the Old Possum’s Practical Trust, an arts charity created by Ms. Eliot.

Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century is now on view at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT and explores the art created in Britain during the reign of King Edward II. The period, which is known as the Edwardian era, lasted from 1901 to 1910.

 Sandwiched between the rigid Victorian era and the devastation of World War I, the Edwardian era was a time of rapid technological growth, significant artistic development, shifting political and social structures, and increased consumption among the elite. Edwardian Opulence explores how all of these changes influenced the creation, consumption, and display of British art through a range of objects.

 Highlights from the exhibition include portraits by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), diamond-studded tiaras, vivid Autochrome color photographs, bejeweled bell pushes by Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), and an extravagantly embellished gown that belonged to the American-born Vicereine of India.

The show is comprised of 170 works from public art museums and private collections. Lenders include Queen Elizabeth II, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Musée d’Orsay. Edwardian Opulence will be on view through June 2, 2013.

Looking at the View, a sweeping display of 300 years of British landscape painting, opened at London’s Tate Britain on February 12, 2013. The exhibition coincides with the re-opening of the Tate Britain galleries, which were closed for renovations.

The show is part of the museum’s BP British Art Displays, a series that highlights contemporary and historic British art from its collection. Curated by Tate Britain’s director Penelope Curtis, Looking at the View illustrates the different ways British artists have interpreted and portrayed their surroundings over the past three centuries. The exhibition features works from the Romantic and Pre-Raphaelite periods as well as paintings from the Land Art and other contemporary movements. Artists on view include J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), John Brett (1831-1902), Henry Lamb (1883-1960), Lucian Freud (1922-2011), and Tracey Emin (b. 1963).

Looking at the View, which presents over 70 works by more than 50 artists, is arranged according to motif and draws connections between artists from vastly different time periods and movements. It is on view at Tate Britain through June 2, 2013.