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To Selfie or not  to selfie

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To Selfie or not  to selfie

Selfie” in 2013 was elected as “word of the year”, and still maintains its place in the vocabulary. Selfies are not just an ephemeral fashion and it doesn’t matter if the first assonance is with selfish. Being is sharing and if you don’t share, you are nobody.


Art often ends up being just a background. And more than enjoying the moment, it appears a spasmodic anxiety of showing that moment in which we are ourselves in front of that important monument. Works of art and more or less famous architectures are often perceived only as an impressive scenography, and the time of the visit is consumed in a few quick gestures: framing, shooting, posting.

It is, clearly, a transitory, ephemeral moment: the sharing of our selfie becomes the essential part, the place where it is done becomes secondary, however fascinating or famous is the location, it all boils down to a paradoxical and grotesque snapshot in which the viewer becomes an integral part of the work of art, as protagonist, of course.

What is needed is to attract attention, and the only requirement concerning the artwork is that it has to be photogenic, amazing, in short, “instagrammable”. 

But this has also a positive side. In fact, this ever more pervasive need to show the place where we are, feeds curiosity and more and more “influencers” are attracted by the desire to immortalise themselves right in front of a work of art or monument. This could be a powerful tool for cultural dissemination.

More and more museums, which previously prohibited taking photographs, now are the first to invite and photograph the artworks, invent hashtags to publicise and share news about the exhibitions or the planned events.


This is a different way of bringing more people closer to art. Certainly very direct and effective.
Whether it is artistic or not, therefore, today the “selfie” represents a creative medium to convey culture, together with thoughts, stated of mind, social conditions.

 

El Greco on tour

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El Greco on tour

Are you in Paris for these holidays and you have not yet booked the visit to the Leonardo exhibition?
Perhaps not everyone knows that in these very same days at the Galerie Sud-Est du Grand Palais there is a surprising exhibition on El Greco. European painter par excellence, also in his name: half in Spanish and half in Italian but which unmistakably identifies a … Greek, after some battling in various European courts, he ends up in the austere Toledo to exercise a knowingly extravagant art, with a unique technique. 

Art-Test was asked to investigate several artworks by him, the atelier and his followers and also the only El Greco painting in the Uffizi collection Saint Francis and San John the Evangelist, recently presented at the conference in Bettona. The artwork was there acclaimed as a certainly autograph work, and it is indeed of excellent quality.


Painter who has visibly inspired so many artists from Cocteau to Picasso, El Greco seems nowadays a little neglected. No one seems to really talk about this exhibition. But he still give some satisfaction in the art market, and for those in search of true art, there is not only the great Leonardo. El Greco is also worth a trip to Paris. Strikes permitting.

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
Rifl_sito23

Happy Holidays from Art-Test!

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Here is the adoration of the Shepherds by Andrea di Niccolò (1470-1480), from the Conservatory of Santa Maria Maddalena in Siena and now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale. We have selected it to illustrate not only the nativity, but also our love for art and our satisfaction for discoveries which are possible through our research.
The results of scientific analyzes tell us much about the paintings :they speak, for example, of their genesis, the style and of the choices of the artist. Seeing part of the creative process allows us to ask ourselves  the right questions on who, why and when. The answers are never trivial and to learn more we don’t have much choice but to keep studying! A pleasure that we share with you .
This artwork is in fact part of “Under the gold”, the database of diagnostic images of a hundred paintings from the Pinacoteca of Siena that Art-Test Firenze has recently developed, in collaboration with the Superintendence of Siena and Grosseto. The database can be yours: here you will find more information (http://www.art-test.com/it/database-it/).

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Art-Test Firenze wishes everyone Merry Christmas and a New Year full of exciting discoveries!
We thank you for the interest with which you have followed us throughout 2014!
Our offices will be closed from December 23 to January 6 . For any urgent communication please contact us by e-mail to info@art-test.com.