Utz

Bowery

joaomaga — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:51:25 +0000

Walking up the Bowery recently, on an incredibly cold day, I was stunned to see a huge line of visitors waiting to get into the New Museum. Quickly, I remembered that Carsten Holler’s Experience exhibition was on, with his famous slide and tank. I doubted that 99% of the crowd had heard of Relational Aesthetics, Bourriaud or anything of that sort. Bottom line, what really counted was to tell you’re their friends that they haven’t been to slide in the museum. Good luck in getting strange diseases.

Barry X Ball, Purity, white iranian onyx (Sperone Westwater) - after Antonio Corradini.

Anyhow, a few meters north, at Sperone Westwater, two other – much more interesting – exhibitions had just a handful of visitors. On the top floor, “Portraits/Self-Portraits from the 16th to the 21st Century”, while on the two first floors “Marble Sculpture from 350 B.C. to last week”.
The first had some truly word class works – the portraits by Ghirlandaio and Palma, the Younger were fantastic – but it lacked a sense of unity to the overall exhibition. Having separated the 20th and 21th century pieces in one floor and the rest in another, not only re-enforced this idea of being a random selection of wonderful portraits, but also diminished, in our opinion, the energy of the modern works, that lacked the gravitas of the traditional paintings.
The exhibition dedicated to marble sculpture was intriguing, surprising and very enjoyable, exploring several routes of the expressionistic qualities of the material and with a much better dialogue between the different chronological periods. Highly recommended.

Last night

joaomaga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:25:57 +0000

Howler at Piano’s – NY Times

Why Art Is a Sensible Investment — Just Not for You

joaomaga — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:08:42 +0000

Investing in the “art market” is essentially throwing your money into an unregulated market. It’s extremely risky and should not be undertaken by anyone without bottomless capital and a superior knowledge of the industry. It’s been compared to other luxury “alternative investments” like gold or even real estate (…). But buying the kind of art that might make you money is more in the realm of buying a sports team (…). The fan-owned Green Bay Packers notwithstanding, neither sports teams nor major art purchases are investments that should be undertaken by the layman, but they are still investments that can pay off when done right — and that’s a distinction that should probably be made more clearly more often. (Artinfo).

Mallett at Ely House

joaomaga — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:09:52 +0000

Mallett is moving from Bond Street to the nearby Dover Street, to Ely House, built for the Bishops of Ely by the architect Robert Taylor in 1772-6 . The move will happen in early March 2012.

Marialva’s Breughel

joaomaga — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:40:04 +0000

Jan Breughel II (Antwerp 1601-1678), The story of Adam and Eve, all signed 'J. Breughel', oil on copper inset into wooden supports.

Browsing the forthcoming Christie’s Old Master Paintings catalogue of 25th January, I stopped at a wonderful set of six paintings by Jan Breughel II depicting the Story of Adam and Eve. The lushness and richness of the scenes were enough to ignite my interest but curiously enough the provenance showed me that the set had belonged in the 19th century to two collections I have had to briefly study in the past. First, to the collection of the Marquis of Marialva, Dom Pedro de Meneses, and then to the Duke of Newcastle, at Clumber Park. Dom Pedro, friend of William Beckford and Portuguese ambassador to Paris, died without direct heirs and his collection and library were sold in Paris, though later than the 1814 date noted. I wonder if this set is mentioned in the sale catalogues. Anyhow, I am now truly curious to see these wonderful paintings soon at Sotheby’s later this month.

Museu de Arte Antiga’s new acquisition

joaomaga — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:12:23 +0000

CYRILLO VOLKMAR MACHADO (1748-1823), The Last Supper, pencil and ink on paper, 34 x 23 cm

The National Museum in Lisbon recently acquired an interesting drawing by Cyrillo Volkmar Machado, a study for an altar of the Church of São Sebastião da Pedreira. Not only is a wonderful piece which will complement the museum’s drawings collection but it is worth to note that it was acquired with funds provided by a private donor, rare rare thing in a country where gifts and patronage of museums seem almost non-existing, especially in the old masters and antiques world.

Wideville in December

joaomaga — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:47:50 +0000

The 18th century way of living still exists with good taste and flair. And outdated is your mother!

Adoration

joaomaga — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:08:59 +0000

The Adoration of the Christ Child, Follower of Jan Joest of Kalkar (Netherlandish, active about 1515), Oil on wood, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982 (1982.60.22) © Metropolitan Museum of Art - This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 537.

Com saudacoes ao Mestre Luis, senhor do Belo.

joaomaga — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:43:05 +0000

December’s Sun

joaomaga — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:30:19 +0000

Today, on the terrace at Sao Vicente de Fora Monastery, I only needed a few seconds to confirm that it is indeed the most stunning place in Lisbon. The church, the quietness of the cloisters, the always empty royal pantheon, the whiteness of the sandstone and probably the most important set of Portuguese baroque tiles in the world, makes it such a great experience to explore it. And then you get to the terrace and see the view.