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caravaggio perduto

Have we found the Lost Caravaggio?

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In 2006 “Il Caravaggio perduto”, by J. Harr, was published. The volume describes the discovery of a painting by the Italian Master that had been lost for centuries. The protagonists are a great art historian and a PhD graduate, who discovers, in the inaccessible and forgotten archive of the Mattei family, in Recanati, the proof that an original by Caravaggio (the Capture of Christ: Jesus surrounded by soldiers and kissed by Judas) had been sold in 1802, with an incorrect attribution, to a Scottish gentleman. It is not a fiction; it is more or less the chronicle of what happened a few decades ago.

As a consequence, the version now in Dublin became the original Caravaggio, after having entered the collection as Gerrit van Honthorst. A splendid subject of which there are many versions.

One is now exhibited at Palazzo Pitti, and a new volume, The Capture of Christ by Caravaggio – A recovery for the Uffizi Galleries , edited by Sillabe, (for now unfortunately only in Italian) summarises the historical, artistic and scientific studies carried out on the canvas previously in storage at the Baldissera Carabinieri Station in Florence.
Thanks to the accurate provenence research that constitutes the heart of the volume, it was possible to ascertain the origin of the canvas from the Lorraine castle of Commercy, not far from the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Nancy where an Annunciation by Caravaggio is kept, probably commissioned by the Duke of Lorraine.
The same castle from which also other works destined for the Florentine grand-ducal collections arrived in Florence in 1737, when the Habsburg-Lorraine took over the regency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Scientific analyses on the painting were performed by Art-Test and generated many interesting surprises, starting with a previous, hidden different version of a soldier, as revealed by the X-ray images.

One thing is certain, we will hear about this painting again. Stay tuned!
caravaggio perduto
hals

ARTESTIAMO – seen, read, observed for you – A family … torn to pieces (and then reunited … or almost)

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During our last trip to Belgium, we visited the exhibition DUTCH SPRING: Frans Hals Portraits A Family Reunion  at Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Until May 19, it will be possible to enjoy this small exhibition that focuses on on the innovative approach to the “family portraits”  of the Flemish painter.

Beyond the excellent quality of the paintings, including a beautiful portrait by Rembrandt, what intrigued us the most, was the philological reconstruction of a painting, probably dismembered between the end of the 18th and the beginning from the nineteenth century, for unknown reasons , and now in different collections.

The idea of the exhibition was born as a consequence of the purchase by the Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio, USA), in 2011 of a painting by Frans Hals “Van Campen Family Portrait in a Landscape”, and of the recent restoration of the painting, attributed to the same artist and kept at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, “Tree Children of the Van”.

It was in fact made evident that these works were originally part of a single painting, to which a third, now in a private collection (not shown), also belongs.

Thanks to the restoration, but above all to the diagnostic campaign carried out during the restoration, it was possible to understand how the Belgian painting hid some figures, probably covered at the time when the painting was dismembered. And this prompted further research.
Using images and diagnostics performed during the restoration, this research was also aimed at highlighting the artist’s characteristics of innovation in his contemporary landscape.

The news is that this research has not been left visible only to specialists. The multimedia installation accompanying the exhibition is excellent and fully demonstrates the educational potential of diagnostics. Thanks to an brilliant realization, very intuitive and rich in information and details, it becomes clear what the vicissitudes of a large format painting could be, its possible transformation over the centuries, because taste or exhibition necessity.  It also allows a clear reading of the “balances” within a representation that is intended at describing also the hidden dialogues between the protagonists.
Nothing has been left to chance, even the graphics are elegant and appealing, and the results are visible.
During the period in which we stayed in the room where the installation was, many people stopped to look at the whole 7 min video. An investment worth doing.
lubec

LuBeC 2019: the possible future of Culture: musea as metropolitan hub to resist against barbarism?

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Among fairs dedicated to cultural heritage, Lucca Cultural Heritage (LuBeC), now in its fifteenth edition, has found a specific place. Its original and original vocation is to participate in the debate between public administration and business and to generate concrete actions for a culture that produces not only economic but also social results.

The landscape of public cultural heritage management is inevitably changing and LuBeC focuses on this transformation in different areas.

The increasing digitization, with new tools and ways of management, is addressed in the “digitalization, archive and open data” area.

The reflections proposed in the other spaces, examine the need to adapt to this change and manage it in the best way, guaranteeing its economic, social and environmental sustainability and promoting public participation in cultural activities.

It becomes relevant to question how much the culture industry can be incisive on the economic and social balance of a city or how much making everything “usable” to tourists, especially in some places already saturated, won’t let citizen feel extraneous to their territory. This reflection inevitably binds the vision of a museum as a cultural hub and a center of social education and therefore a place in which to form the conscience of citizens. This, in particular, could be the mission of civic museums. The defense of the territory and its enhancement inexorably pass through the shared knowledge of its history. An objective that can be achieved using, for example, new tools such as gamification, which are appealing, especially for new generations.

All the themes proposed in this edition are also in line with the European Agenda for Culture. LuBec will thus contribute to the international debate on what are the synergies to be implemented to contribute to the smooth functioning of culture as a fundamental cog in gears of society.

The LuBec awaits us on 3 and 4 October. The program and info on inscriptions at this link: https://www.lubec.it/en/exhibiting-lubec-digital-technology.html

lubec
saloni

That’s fair!

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Even if the sector in general appears to be in a bit of a crisis, there are still quite a number of fairs organized on conservation, in Italy and in the world. In our country, this year there will be two within a few months.

In the International Restoration Fair in Ferrara, (18th to 20th September), the eye-catching theme is the project RESTAURO MADE IN ITALY
The goal is to maintain international visibility and reiterate Italy as one of the world’s reference points. The fair will also be associated with the first edition of the Restoration Week, which will see the launch of the APT (Association of Preservation Technologies) – European Chapter. A new European network for the restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage. We also signal the interesting conference “The meaning and marketing of restoration in Italy and target Countries: an overview”, on Thursday 19th, where the meaning of the term “restoration” in the various countries and cultures will be discussed.

The appointment with the Florence Art and Restoration Fair is from 13 to 15 May 2020, at Palazzo dei Congressi.
Also this year Heritech – the Future of Heritage Science and Technology – scientific conference, will be organized in the same period and place of the trade show and this is why Art-Test has chosen to participate in this event.

The 1st edition of FLORENCE HERI-TECH – The Future of Heritage Science and Technologies, two years ago, welcomed leading researchers and scholars from all over the world to present and discuss innovative techniques and technologies. The proposed contributions were 180, with the involvement of public institutions, universities, companies and museums. Art-Test Florence, which has always actively participated in research, had presented 4 papers, and was awarded “for the commitment and constant study in the search for new scientific approaches” with the Palazzo Spinelli Award “Research and Development of new technologies qualified for cultural heritage“.
We are still preparing the contribution for the 2020 edition, and knowing that Florence will become the international heart of restoration and cultural heritage, we will be proud to be part of it.

saloni
biaf

60 years of dreams

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Next 21st September, the BIAF, the Biennial International Antiques Fair of Florence, will open its doors in Palazzo Corsini. It will be sixty years after the first edition, noticeably in a very different context, compared with when one in whitch the Bellini brothers commenced the adventure.

For two weeks the city will attract, also relying on its charm, as the past,  art dealers and collectors from all over the world. Although the antiquarian sector, and Florence, are no longer those in which, for example, Bernard Berenson lived (and died, unfortunately, the same year of the BIAF first edition).

The seventy-seven galleries participating this year are for example specialized in various sectors, including contemporary art. Unthinkable in the days when “Italian Renaissance painters” of the Lithuanian connoisseur became an international bestseller.

The peculiarity of BIAF remains, however, the promotion of Italian art in the market. Paintings, sculptures, drawings, and all other artworks on display, are made by Italian Masters or by foreign artists who worked in Italy.

Sixty years ago connoisseurs like Berenson, who contributed to raise interest in the Italian old master, were unchallenged authorities in attributions. This too has changed today. In the most prestigious international fairs, artworks are admitted to the sale only after having passed a careful scrutiny, done also by scientific means. It is the so-called “vetting”. The BIAF also has a Vetting committee. Divided into 3 commissions: Painting and Drawings, Sculpture and Furniture and Decorative Arts. They are formed by art historians, and restorers, of international renown, with an undoubted knowledge and an authoritative preparation.
However, scientific diagnostics seems to be still absent from this procedure, which is essential to guarantee buyers.

Notwithstanding, diagnostics offers more than this. As Maurizio Salomon, an art historian and gallery owner, explains in one of the commercials (#amolarteperche) created to promote the fair. The desire to make a discovery is often the drive for the collector. Finding a “pentimento”, a preparatory drawing, or details that are not visible to the naked eye, makes you fall in love. Few occasions allow you to have this kind of feeling, hopes, dreams. And this is still the same as sixty years ago.

biaf
diagnosticanoncosta

The costs of not doing it!

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The costs for a diagnostic campaign to authenticate a painting may seem high, but they are always a good investment.
Without a painting having positively passed a series of tests to determine the compatibility of methods and materials with the period or the envisaged author, there is the risk of running into a fraud, which can be millionaire and deceive also auction houses of the calibre of Sotheby’s.

In this case, the possible scam that led to the arrest of both the painter and the antiquarian involved, covers a total of over 200 million euros and well-known and much-studied authors, from El Greco to Frans Hals.
Naturally it is neither the first nor it will  be the last scam we read about; the chronicles report more and more frequently of similar cases. The market is full of fakes for sale. Counterfeiting of artworks can however be uncovered and indeed, for example, produced other arrests recently in Bologna

How to avoid risking the unwary purchase? Invest in serious scientific analyses, and at a qualified laboratory, not involved in the market.

It is an investment, not a cost. The cost is not the diagnostics, it cost is not to do it!

diagnosticanoncosta
detective

Special Investigation Corps: Art Detective

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As already announced in the last newsletter, Art-Test (devi prendere quella en)  will be teaching staff of the master NON-INVASIVE ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE: THE PICTORIAL WORKS organized by the Center for Criminological Studies.

Have you wondered how to discover if a painting is authentic or fake?

This is the master for you.

You will see things differently. When you go to an exhibition or a fair, the eye will fall on details that you had never notice before, which will take on different meanings.

The master will guide you to a different approach to art and the artwork, explaining which are the fundamental steps to achieve a thorough assessment. The journey will start from a correct Condition Report, where we will consider all the components of the artwork: the support (canvas, table, paper ), the frame and the pictorial materials (preparation, priming, pictorial film, possible retouches). Effectively drafting this type of documentation, together with correctly interpreting the problems that are proposed in investigating each specific artwork, will be the starting point of a well-designed diagnostic project.

Cutting-edge scientific instrumentation and knowledge of the limits and possibilities of each instrument will do the rest.

Great importance will be given to scientific sources and artistic literature, as indispensable tools for the correct reading of scientific data.

Taking inspiration from paintings  intriguing at the last edition of TEFAF here same example of what could be discussed at the master

tefaf

A NEW POLICY OF ARTWORK AUTHENTICATION WAS THE REAL NOVELTY OF LAST TEFAF EDITION

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Sunday, March 24th the 32nd edition of the Tefaf Maastricht  ended. Once more a grand edition, confirming this exhibition as the most prestigious art and antiquity fair worldwide. In the Netherlands the first appointment, to be followed by New York Spring  and New York  Fall.

Looking forward to visiting the American editions, three of us arrived in Maastricht for a 8 hours breathless marathon. 279 exhibitors (with 38 new entries) proposing masterpieces and rarities from all over the world. Counting 97 exhibitors, the ancient art section remains the most numerous. But the fair shows also a greater and clearer opening to new participants in the section dedicated to contemporary research and welcomes for the first time names of great caliber, including Pace Gallery, Kamel Mennour, Almine Rech and Sprüth Magers.

 

TEFAF MAASTRICHT VETTING COMMITTEE

The year 2019 marks some very important innovations for TEFAF, especially for what concerns the vetting , i.e. the new assessment policy of the proposed artworks.
Until last year, the selection committee was composed of 189 experts active in 29 categories, who analysed the artworks to be exhibited, verifying quality, provenance and attribution. The committees made use of technology and equipment such as microscopes, ir and xrays devices. With these instruments and the experience, the committees selected the artworks and in case of doubt the object was refused.

Possibly this was not enough to guarantee transparency and, above all, to express objective assessments.
The change came with the establishment of a new committee headed by Wim Pijbes, general manager of Rijkmusem Amsterdam from 2008 to 2016, which comes with at TEFAF as Global Chairman.

No gallery owners, art dealers, dealers and experts in auction houses are to be part of the vetting committees; they can be consulted, but have no longer  right to vote in the selection phase as tTefaf advisors have considered appropriate to avoid any possible conflict of interest.

The experts consulted this year are over 180, from 114 institutions and 14 different countries..

 

COUP DE COEUR

Visiting the stand we got to see many masterpieces we felt in love with, among which we have chosen 3+1, in our sole discretion, as the most intriguing ones.  A romantic and delicate painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir Jeune Filles aux Lilas exhibited by Richard Green


Pierre-Auguste Renoir Jeune Filles aux Lilas
Olio su tela, cm 54,9 x45,7
1890 circa
Richard Green, Stand 302

at stand 302and a Salomé  by Luca Giordano , a work belonging to his impetuous younger phase of experimentation, where the figure is immersed in a vigorous chiaroscuro (the painting was proposed by Lullo-Pampoulides, stand 368).


Luca Giordano  Salomé
Oil on canvas, cm 101 x 75
1660-70 circa
Lullo-Pampoulides, stand 368

Moreover, we were pleasantly surprised to find at the fair both the preparatory drawing, presented by Arnoldi-Livie of Monaco (stand 339) and the painting (or at least one of the 8 known ones, with the same subject) of La Lecture (Deux Fillettes, bouquet des pivoines sur fond noir) by Henry Matisse exhibited by Hammer Galleries in New York (stand 406).


Henry Matisse, La Lecture
Pencil on paper, 
Arnoldi-Livie di Monaco, stand 339

Henry Matisse, La Lecture (Deux Fillettes, bouquet des pivoines sur fond noir)
Oil  on canvas, cm 46×55,2
1947  
Hammer Galleries New York, stand 406
 

With great pleasure we also found some “old friends”, i.e.well over ten very prestigious artworks analysed by Art-Test in the past:.

The guarantee of authenticity remains a crucial factor in trading works of such value. And we believe that scientific diagnostics, with accurate analysis and total transparency, is the best vehicle to promote market confidence.