Madrid gallery sells works to museum
De la Mano Gallery in Madrid has sold five works to The Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas. The Spanish drawings from the 17th and 18th centuries join the museum’s growing collection of Spanish art, along with a modernist terracotta sculpture also from Spain.
Chief among the works on paper is The Death of Mary Magdalene (c.1645-50) by Alonso Cano (1601-67), a painter and architect who studied alongside Diego Velázquez and is known for his work at Granada Cathedral. The pen and ink drawing measures 3 ½ x 7 ½ in (9 x 19cm) and depicts the Magdalene recumbent on a bed with two small angels above her. About 120 of Cano’s drawings are known, mostly in Spanish institutions.
The other drawings are Bearded Head in Half Profile by Francisco de Herrera the Elder (c.1590-1654), a sculptural study by Pedro Duque Cornejo (1678-1757), an engraved ornament study by José Camarón Bonant (1731-1803) and Portrait of Christopher Columbus, 1793, by Mariano Salvador Maella (1739-1819).
The sculpture, A Baby Rolling Over by Agustín Querol y Subirats (1864-1909), is the first example of 19th century sculpture at the Meadows. It was donated by Michael P Mezzatesta, an art historian and director of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
The Meadows Museum opened as part of Southern Methodist University in 1965.
Phillips and Poly team up in HK
Auction houses Phillips and China’s Poly Auction will jointly conduct sales of 20th Century & Contemporary Art in Hong Kong in November.
The auctions at the JW Marriott hotel will feature paintings, sculptures and other works of art produced by a combination of both internationally recognised artists for the evening sale and emerging, early career artists for the day sale. Beforehand, the two houses plan to host a series of auction-related programmes together in major cities in mainland China including Beijing and Shanghai.
Phillips opened its Asian headquarters and launched its first auction in Hong Kong in late 2015. To date, Phillips has held eight auction series there. Edward Dolman, CEO of Phillips, said the partnership “will enable Phillips to establish a broader foothold across Greater China, while offering Poly our global reach and expertise”.
Beijing’s Poly is China’s largest state-owned auction house. This year marks its 15th anniversary.
In May Christie’s and China Guardian announced they had teamed up to create a series of sales, exhibitions and events in Shanghai in the autumn. The two auction houses (the world’s largest and China’s second largest) hope the collaboration will attract new clients.
China Guardian was founded by chairman Chen Dongsheng in 1993. Christie’s first opened an office in Shanghai in 1994 and in 2013 became the first international art auction house to be granted a licence to operate independently in mainland China.
Van Leerdam now the TEFAF MD
Charlotte van Leerdam is now MD of TEFAF.
Charlotte van Leerdam has been appointed managing director of TEFAF, The European Fine Art Foundation. She joined the company in 2019 as chief financial officer (CFO) and succeeds Sofie Scheerlinck, who was appointed MD in February following the departure of CEO Patrick van Maris van Dijk. Van Leerdam is to take on the MD role as well as her responsibilities as CFO.
Her appointment follows that of Hidde van Seggelen as chairman of TEFAF’s executive committee in June. Scheerlinck is set to leave the company but will continue to lead the TEFAF Online Initiative until November.
Talk on how dealers influence museums
The role of antiques dealers in developing public museum collections is the focus of a virtual event hosted by the Furniture History Society next month. Dr Mark Westgarth, who curated last year’s exhibition SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story at The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, will give a talk on the show and the history of the trade in a video call via Zoom.
The show highlighted objects that major public collections had acquired through dealers. In his talk, Westgarth will discuss not just the process of putting the exhibition together, but also the tales of discoveries made along the way, as well as some of the stories and myths around antiques dealing. The talk will include installation shots of the exhibition for those who missed it in person.
It takes place at 7pm on September 6 and will last about an hour with the chance to ask questions. Details on how to attend are available from The Furniture History Society (furniturehistorysociety.org).
Westgarth is the leader of the Antique Dealers Research Project at Leeds University, and recently completed a programme of events under the banner of SOLD! The Year of the Dealer.
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The number of staff The National Trust is planning to make redundant. The potential loss of specialists and the removal of historical items from its venues has caused a backlash (see Letters)
