"Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey" by George Stubbs to be auctioned at Christie’s

During the the Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale on 5 July 2011 at Christie's in London, one of the most important works of the British painter George Stubbs (1724-1806) is expected to realise in excess of £20 million.

Commissioned by the horse’s owner, Frederick St. John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, and executed during the year of 1765, "Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey (40in. x 76¼in. (101.6 x 193.6 cm.) shows Gimcrack in the foreground with his trainer and jockey, a stable-lad rubbing him down, and in the background winning a ‘trial’ by some distance.

George Stubbs spent his early artistic career working as a portrait painter, first in his native Liverpool, and subsequently in York. He visited Rome in 1754 and later on spent 18 months in a farmhouse in Lincolnshire dissecting and drawing horses in preparation for the publication of his famous book The Anatomy of the Horse.

His accurate depictions of animals and exceptional talent earned the artist the patronage of many important aristocrats, particularly those involved in horseracing, the ‘sport of Kings’.
Often celebrated as the most remarkable artist-scientist since Leonardo, Stubbs portrayed the horse with anatomical perfection, showing his veins pulsing through his skin.

Gimcrack was one of the most popular and admired of all 18th century racehorses. Although he was small, he had great stamina and won an impressive 28 of his 36 races, finishing unplaced only once.

Sold by the Bolingbroke family in 1943, it was bought by Walter Hutchinson, founder of the National Gallery of British Sports and Pastimes, before being sold again at Christie’s in 1951 when it made £12,600 and entered the Woolavington Collection.

This is the third time that "Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey" appears at Christie's.
The painting is offered from the Woolavington Collection, one of the finest private collections of Sporting Art, and will be auctioned at the Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale on 5 July 2011 in London.

“Caravaggio, il corpo ritrovato” - Symposium in Avezzano, Italy

One of the most celebrated painters of all times, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is not only admired because of his masterpieces, but also for the obscurity sorrounding his life that has awaken the curiosity of art historians through time.

Caravaggio was quite probably one of the most controversial characters of his time.
His successful romantic life, quarrels, the problems with justice (on May 1606 Caravaggio was accused of murder and fled from Rome to Naples, Sicily and Malta to escape the price that had been placed on his head), conclude in misterious circumstances in one day of July 1610 in Porto Ercole, but his body was not found and his death remains involved in mistery.

Produced by Doclab (authorship of Patrizia Marani and directed by Marco Visalberghi) for the National Geographic Channel HD, the documentary "Caravaggio, il corpo ritrovato" follows step by step the unveiling of an important scientific discovered wit the collaboration of Giorgio Gruppioni, antropology teacher at the Università di Bologna; Elisabetta Cilli, geneticist at the Università di Bologna; Antonio Moretti geology teacher at the Università dell’Aquila; Maurizio Calvesi, the most acredited Caravaggio's Italian biographer and art history teacher at the Università La Sapienza di Roma.

After several scientific exams, DNA comparisons and historiacal researches, the team os scholars believes that the bones kept in an ossuary in a church crypt in Porto Ercole, after reportedly being exhumed in 1956, are of a man who died in about 1610, aged between 38 and 40.

During the symposium organized by L’Associazione Culturale Etereoarte, the Liceo Scientifico “V. Pollione”, the Liceo Classico “Torlonia”, and Liceo Artistico “Bellisario", a team of researchers will illustrate the methodology and the contribution of modern scientific tecniques to help to come to a conclusion about this enigma.

The team will be constituted by: Antonio Moretti; Marco Visalberghi; Gianluca Ferrini (geology teacher Università dell’Aquila); Domenico Mancinelli (Facoltà di Scienze Università dell’Aquila); Emidio Di Carlo (art historian in Aquila).

The “ Caravaggio, il corpo ritrovato “ will take place on the 27th of May (9h30) in the mutimedia hall of the Cinema Astra in Avezzano, Italy.

In 2009 The Art Inquirer started to present to its readers a series of videos about famous artists. Watch the first episode about the life and art of Caravaggio.

"The Art of the Enlightenment" (启蒙的艺术) at the National Museum of China

Under the the joint auspices of Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, and Christian Wulff, German Federal President, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich jointly present "The Art of the Enlightenment" exhibition in partnerhisp with the National Museum of China, one of the largest museum buildings in the world.

This major exhibition follows the completion in spring 2011 of renovation work by Hamburg-based architects Gerkan, Marg und Partner and marks the high point of the German-Chinese programme of cultural events, bilaterally agreed upon in 2005.

Held at the National Museum of China in Beijing/Peking, 北京 "The Art of the Enlightment" (启蒙的艺术) is divided in nine separate chapters 'Court Life in the Age of the Enlightenment', 'Perspectives of Knowledge', 'The Birth of History', 'Far and Near', 'Love and Sensibility', 'Back to Nature', 'Shadows', 'Emancipation and the Public Sphere' and 'The Revolution of Art' exemplifying the great ideas of the Enlightenment, its influence on the fine arts and its effective history, from the artistic revolutions of the 18th century right up to the present day.

Occupying over 2700 m² and with 579 loans including the art of famous artists such as Angelika Kauffmann, Caspar David Friedrich, Francisco Goya, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Marie-Gabrielle Capet, Theobald Reinhold von Oër, Thomas Gainsborough, Julius Caesar Ibbetson and Piranesi, the exhibition shows the full spectrum of the art in the Europe of Enlightenment, encompassing painting, drawings, sculpture, prints, crafts, fashion and even exquisite scientific instruments.

Also for the entire duration of the exhibition, the Stiftung Mercator will stage the Enlightenment in Dialogue series comprising a number of dialogue blocks at intervals of around two months, addressing various facets of a contemporary examination of the subject of enlightenment.

BMW is also a partner of the exhibition and will support a cultural programme that will include an exchange programme for young curators from China and Germany, which is designed to approximate both cultures, a youth congress and a series of concerts entitled “The Music of Enlightenment".

The exhibition can be visited from April 2nd 2011 to March 31st 2012.

The National Museum of China is located at Tiananmen Square, 16, East Chang’an Street, Dongcheng district Beijing.

The Institut Néerlandais presents Netherlandish Masters 1500-1700: the hundred most beautiful drawings of the Hamburger Kunsthalle

The Hamburger Kunsthalle conserves one of the most important and beautiful collections of Dutch and Flemish drawings from the 16th and 17th centuries. At the occasion of the publication of a fully descriptive catalogue of these drawings comprising circa 1337 plates , which took Annemarie Stefes near ten years to complete, the Fondation Custodia was invited to select one hundred of the most beautiful works, which is being exhibited at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris.

The exhibition is divided in halls.

The first hall is dedicated to the 16th century, showcasing the works of masters such as Gerard David, one of the last Flemish Primitives, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525/30 – 1569), Maerten van Heemskerck (1498 – 1574) , as well as by others turning the century like the lanscape painters Roelant Savery (1576/78 – 1639) et David Vinckboons (1576 – 1629).

The second one, dedicated to the 17th century and containing the higher number of works, features three drawings by Rembrandt (1606 – 1669), and works by Nicolaes Moeyaert (1592/1593 – 1655), Adriaen van Ostade (1610 – 1685) and Hendrik Avercamp (1585 – 1636). This hall also includes a section dedicated to landscapes, exhibiting drawings by renowned Dutch landscape painters Barent Fabritius (1624 – 1673), Ferdinand Bol (1616 – 1680), Govert Flinck (1615 – 1660), the last two distinguished Rembrandt's pupils, and another section containing Dutch scenes represented by Janvan Goyen (1596 – 1656), Anthonie Waterloo (1609 – 1690), Allart van Everdingen (1621 – 1675) and Aert van der Neer (1603/1604 – 1677).

In the third hall, dedicated to the 17th Flemish century, visitors can explore some major works of important Flemish masters such as d’Antony van Dyck (1599 – 1641), Jacob Jordaens (1593 – 1678), Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – 1625) and Adrian Brouwer (1605/06 – 1638).

The fourth hall exhibits figure studies by Dutch artists such as Rembrandt's master Pieter Lastman (1583 – 1633) and works by followers of Italian compositions like Nicolaes Berchem (1621/22 – 1683). Also represented in this all are Paul Bril (1554 – 1626), Jan-Baptist Weenix (1621 – 1659/1661) and Jan Asselijn (1610 – 1652).

When visiting the fifth hall, one can explore three sections: portraits, villages and marine views. The Dutch portraiyed through drawings of Jan Lievens (1607 –1674) and Leendert van der Cooghen (1632 - 1681). Village views are represented in the works of Jan van der Heyden (1637 – 1712), Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29 – 1682) and Pieter Saenredam (1597 – 1665), regarded as the best artist of the century of this representative subject of the Dutch art. To represent a theme where Dutch artists have excelled, the marinescapes, Ludolf Bakhuyzen (1630 – 1708) and Willem van de Velde le Jeune (1633 – 1707) are the selected artists. The exhibition will be accompanied by a free leaflet (in French), which describes the drawings on display. Possibility to buy the catalogue written by Annemarie Stefes (3 volumes, in German). In collaboration with the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

"Netherlandish Masters 1500-1700: the hundred most beautiful drawings of the Hamburger Kunsthalle" (Maîtres des Pays-Bas 1500-1700: Les cent plus belles feuilles de la Kunsthalle de Hambourg) can be visited from March 24 through May 22, 2011 at the l’Institut Néerlandais, 121 rue de Lille, 75007 Paris.

Gian Bernini - The Art and Life of a Sculptor (Final Episode)

This serial of nine episodes about the life and art of the famous italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini arrives at its end.
Since its start in April, the readers of this blog had the opportunity to follow the story of one of the greatest sculptors of all time.
The previous episode can be watched here.

With the first episode about Caravaggio in December 2009, The Art Inquirer started the project of presenting several series about the art and life of famous artists, thanks to the wonderful work produced by the BBC in The Power of Art.

Soon this art blog will start another series of episodes about another famous artist.

Cincinnati Art Museum: "Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman"

Christened on the 14th of May 1727 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England, Sir Thomas Gainsborough was noted for his informal portraits and for his naturalistic landscapes. His paintings were characteristically based on his observations, rather than following formal academic rules.

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61 and is interred at St. Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey (located on Kew Green). He is buried next to Francis Bauer, the famous botanical illustrator.

Some of his most famous works are: Two Daughters with a Cat (c. 1759); Sunset (1760); The Artist`s Daughters, Molly and Peggy (1760); Lady in Blue (c. 1770)

Coinciding with the restoration of the oil portrait of Ann Ford (Mrs. Thickness) and organized by Benedict Leca, Curator of European Painting, Sculpture and Drawings for the Cincinnati Art Museum, the exhibition "Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman" takes place between September 18, 2010 and January 2, 2011.

Composed of 16 paintings, the exhibition reflects the concepts of modernity and femininity in Georgian England from the perspective of Thomas Gainsborough's portraits of women. Also included is a selection of dresses from the epoch.

The exhibition will then travel to the San Diego Museum of Art, where it will be shown from January 29, 2011 through May 01, 2011.

"Mrs. Ann Ford" Oil on Canvas, 1760

Cincinnati Art Museum, Bequest of Mary M. Emery

Gian Bernini - The Art and Life of a Sculptor (Part Eight)

This is the penultimate episode about the art and life of the great italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (also spelled Gianlorenzo or Giovanni Lorenzo)

You can watch this series starting from the first episode, or watch the previous one.

The Life and Art of Caravaggio (Part Four)

This is the fourth episode of a series of seven about the life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571–18 July 1610).
You can watch the third episode here and see the links to the previous ones.
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