Displaying items by tag: spanish art

The long-awaited art exhibition Spanish Masters from the Hermitage. The World of El Greco, Ribera, Zurbarán, Velázquez, Murillo & Goya opened at the Hermitage Amsterdam on Saturday 28 November 2015. The exhibition includes more than sixty superior paintings and a rich collection of graphic works and applied arts masterpieces. Never before has the Netherlands hosted such a comprehensive survey of Spanish art, with work that is hardly represented in Dutch museum collections.

The San Diego Museum of Art announced Monday the acquisitions of two major Spanish paintings and will celebrate with free public admission on the last weekends of January and February.

The two paintings are "St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto" by Francisco de Zurbarán and "By the Seashore, Valencia" by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. "St. Francis" will be on view beginning Jan. 21 and "By the Seashore" on Feb. 26..

The acquisitions were made possible by generous donations from Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, in the case of the Zurbarán, and the Legler Benbough Foundation, whose donation led to the acquisition of the Sorolla.

The San Diego Museum of Art on Friday announced the acquisition of a major painting by one of the most important Spanish artists of the 17th century.

The Museum said “The Visitation” by Juan de Valdés Leal will be a “transformative presence” in the European art galleries, where it joins an already world-renowned collection of Spanish paintings.

“We are thrilled to acquire this extraordinary painting, which is the first work by Juan de Valdés Leal to enter the collection. It builds on the existing strength of our holdings of Spanish art and raises the overall significance of the collection to a new level.” said Roxana Velásquez, executive director of the museum.

The Meadows Museum of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas has acquired a major work by Francisco Goya. Portrait of Mariano Goya (1827), which was acquired thanks to the Meadows Foundation and a gift from Mrs. Eugene McDermott, has not been on display in over 40 years. Completed just months before Goya’s death, the painting, which features the artist’s grandson, is one of less than a dozen portraits painted by the artist between 1820 and 1828. The masterpiece is currently on view at the museum.

Mark A. Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts, SMU, said, “The Meadows Museum will celebrate its 50^th anniversary in 2015, and the acquisition of this extraordinary work by Goya is a wonderful way to begin that celebration…The work stands as the pivotal linchpin in our growing collection. Indeed the acquisition of the Goya caps off many notable additions to our collection this year and marks a new phase in achieving Algur H. Meadows’ dream to create a ‘small Prado in Texas.’”

Spanning from the 10^th century through the 21^st, the Meadows has one of the foremost collections of Spanish art in the world. In addition to Portrait of Mariano Goya, the museum has five other Goya paintings and complete, first edition sets of all of his major print series.

The New Mexico Museum of Art will be the only American venue to host the exhibition Renaissance to Goya: Prints and Drawings from Spain. The show, which opens at the New Mexico Museum of Art on December 14, 2013 and runs through March 9, 2014, was previously on view at the British Museum in London and the Prado in Madrid. It is currently on view at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

The exhibition spans from around 1400 to the mid-19th century and brings together for the first time prints and drawings by Spanish and other European artists working in Spain during this period. Renaissance to Goya is organized chronologically and by region and includes works from Spain’s “Golden Age” by such artists as Diego Velázquez and Jose de Ribera. Works by Francisco de Goya and his European contemporaries such as Giambattista Tiepolo demonstrate how printmaking and drawing dramatically gained popularity during the 18^th century and ultimately changed Spain’s artistic landscape forever.

Renaissance to Goya: Prints and Drawings from Spain is presented by the British Museum in collaboration with the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Sotheby’s Old Masters auction, which took place during the evening of July 3, 2013 in London, garnered over $52 million and included the sale of El Greco’s (1541-1614) Saint Dominic in Prayer. The painting sold for $13.9 million, exceeding its high estimate of $7.5 million and setting the record for a Spanish Old master at auction.

The auction, which captured the attention of collectors from 33 different countries, included another work by El Greco, Christ on the Cross, which sold for $5.1 million. The sale marked the first time in living memory that two masterworks by the artist were offered as part of the same auction.

Alex Bell, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings, said “The greatest Old Master paintings have a timeless quality that transcends their era and gives them a relevance to audiences today, as tonight’s global bidding and record result for El Greco’s St. Dominic in Prayer attest. The dialogue between Old and New is injecting fresh energy into our field. We’re now firmly in a new era, where clients from new markets are collecting Old Masters in new ways. Our response has been to offer the most exciting and diverse works we can find – and to present them in a more contemporary way.”

Staff members at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, Spain discovered an early portrait by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) while restoring a different work by the 20^th century Spanish artist. Workers removed the cardboard backing on Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (1896), which was executed by a 15-year-old Picasso, revealing a charcoal drawing of a man with a pipe.

Reyes Jimenez, head of restoration at the Picasso Museum, believes that the charcoal work is older than the portrait of the artist’s mother. The charcoal drawing is an important piece because it illustrates Picasso’s artistic tenacity as well as his mastery of challenging techniques from a young age. The newly discovered drawing suggests that Picasso’s early knowledge was greater than previously believed.

The Picasso Museum, which opened to the public in 1963, houses one of the most extensive collections of artworks by Picasso. It was the first museum dedicated solely to the work of Picasso and the only one created during the artist’s lifetime.  

The Museo del Prado, the main Spanish national art museum located in Madrid, received the largest private donation in decades on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. Prado officials announced that the museum was the recipient of 12 medieval and Renaissance works by Spanish artists.

Barcelona-based businessman and engineer Jose Luis Varez donated the collection to the institution during a ceremony, which counted the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy among its guests. Jose Pedro Perez Llorca, president of the Prado’s board of trustees, said, “These aren’t times of lavish state spending, so this donation is generous and tremendously timely.” Spain’s dire economic standing has led to severe spending cuts in an attempt to meet public deficit targets.    

The recently acquired paintings and sculptures include the central panel of an altarpiece from a church in northeastern Spain titled The Virgin Tobed (1359). The Catalan Italo-Gothic painting is believed to be by 14^th century artist Jaume Serra (died after 1405). The works will join the Prado’s exemplary collection, which includes paintings by Spanish masters such as El Greco (1541-1614), Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), and Francisco de Goya (1746-1828).

To thank Varez for his generous donation, the Prado will name a room in the museum in his honor.