Johann Christian Neuber

“Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court” is an exhibition currently showing at The Frick Collection in New York.  It is an absolute gem of an exhibition, pun intended.  It is a collaboration of the Frick, Galerie J.Kugel in Paris and the Grünes Gewölbe (the Green Vaults) of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.  About 250 years ago, Neuber was director of the latter institution.

Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808) was a renowned goldsmith who was appointed to the court of Friedrich Augustus III, elector of Saxony, around 1775 and served in that capacity for the rest of his life.  His specialty was working with gemstones from the Saxon region, his most popular boxes showing floral, landscape and complex geometric designs.  At the time there was a growing interest in the natural sciences and Neuber’s stone work was very much in vogue.  Feeding on this interest he used local stones, not importing them, and went out of his way to identify the stones and where they came from.

The exhibition is neither exhaustive nor exhausting but a perfect size to convey the artist’s work and technique.  It is beautifully curated by Charlotte Vignon, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, and Ian Wardropper, Director, of the Frick Collection.  Works are arranged in the center round gallery of the museum.

Photo credit: Michael Bodycomb

There are 8 cases showing roughly 35 boxes, a few pieces of jewelry and 2 large Meissen porcelain allegorical groups on bases by Neuber.

The boxes are either tabatières (snuff boxes) or bonbonnières (candy boxes).  The snuff boxes are usually rectangular all have a hinge for they are for personal use, but the candy boxes which are round have removable lids so that one can offer a candy to others.  It is a nice touch that in some of the cases either the tabatière is shown open or the bobonnière is shown upside down with its lid beside it so that one can see that every surface is decorated.

Photo credit: Michael Bodycomb

In the center of the room is the piece de resistance, a table, which by any standard is over the top.

Photo credit: Michael Bodycomb

In 1779 the Congress of Teschen was held in order to make a peace treaty to settle the War of Bavarian Succession.  France and Russia both offered their diplomatic services to the warring parties.  Russia was represented by Prince Nikolai Repnin and France by the diplomat and Ambassador to Austria, Baron de Breteuil.  The resulting Treaty of Teschen ended the War to the great benefit of the Elector of Saxony and by way of thanks the Elector made a gift of a huge Meissen porcelain service to Repnin and the spectacular Neuber table to the Baron de Breuteuil.

The Louis XVI style table is made up of 128 stones all with a designated number on the frame securing each stone in place.

Photo credit: Georges Fessy

These numbers are listed in a handwritten catalog, which still exists inside the table (Neuber made similar catalogs for his boxes). An iPad app has been created which gives the history of the table and reproduces the handwritten catalog, with a printed version in English.  There is an iPad mounted on the wall within the exhibit to use there, but if you prefer, you can go to the iPad App Store and search for Neuber and the free app is there for you to download.

The catalog is exhaustive with 400 pages and 500 illustrations.  It is edited by Alexis Kugel who added a Neuber Catalogue Raissoné at the end of the tome.  The Director of the Green Vaults, Dirk Syndram and his deputy director, Jutta Kappel led a team of scholars from several countries in order to give us a complete picture of Neuber and his work.

I must say that while I had an appreciation of Neuber before seeing the show he was never on my favorites list, but this exhibition gave me a whole new slant on the artist and I will look more carefully next time I see an example of his work.

You only have one more month to see the exhibition which closes on August 19th.


**All images courtesy of the Frick Collection.

London Town

One more comment on the Masterpiece Fair, in order to add a note of art education, they held a one day symposium with the director and the curators from the Wallace Collection.  The lectures all related to the Wallace’s wonderful collections.  But personally, I found the director’s, Dr. Christoph Vogtherr, the most interesting because he spoke about how paintings were displayed in the 18th century and how their hanging related to what is acceptable today.

As I mentioned before, the fair is not the only art event in London at this time.  First come the modern auction sales and the following week the old masters.  Therefore, it is a perfect time to hold Master Drawings’ and Master Paintings’ week.  It adds up to an incredibly busy time in London.  This year, of course, art weeks are flanked by the Jubilee for the Queen’s 60th year on the throne and the summer Olympics.  That should bring London’s already slow moving traffic to a total standstill!

My challenge was how to best divide my time.  Sotheby’s and Christie’s had auctions in fields of interest overlapping each other.  There must have been 10 or 12 over four days .   Also, there were over 35 galleries to visit.  Needless to say, it is not possible to do it all but I did my best to see what I thought would be of interest.

In the auctions the biggest price of the week occurred at Christie’s for the John Constable of “The Lock” which was sold by Baroness Carmen ‘Tita’ Thyssen-Bornemisza  for 20 million British Pounds plus the commission.  Since Spain acquired her deceased husband’s collection and her pictures are on loan at the resulting museum in Madrid this caused quite a stir.  Sir Norman Rosenthal, a trustee of the Thyssen Museum, and former exhibitions director at the Royal Academy in London, quit in protest over the sale of the painting.  The Baroness, however, did go in with a guarantee from Sotheby’s that she would get a minimum no matter what happened.  It was announced before the lot was sold that the guarantee was in turn guaranteed by a third party who would be bidding on the lot.  Rumor has it that the guarantor is a Russian.  Since the picture brought the minimum of the estimate of 20 million pounds I presume that ‘The Lock’ is headed for Russia.

Another interesting lot at Christie’s was a small picture by Pietro Lorenzetti (active in Sienna between 1306 snd 1345) showing Christ between Saints Paul and Peter.  The estimate was 1 to 1.5 million pounds but it sold for over 5 million with commission.  Not only were there bidders in the room and on the telephone but also on the internet.  When the bids came from the latter the screen flashed ‘Texas’.  So we all know that there is a Texan interested in buying early Italian paintings.  Unfortunately, his or her bid was not high enough to acquire the picture.

In the Master Drawing and Master Paintings departments I have made it to probably 85% of the galleries.  It’s more physical work than you may think.  Though the British have mercifully discovered air conditioning, elevators or lifts as they call them are not all that common.  So at many galleries you walk up and down 1 to 3 steep flights. Happily, in many cases it is worth the trek.

Johnny van Haeften, a renowned dealer in Dutch 17th century painting was looking for something different to show this week.  He hit upon a superb idea.  One of his ancestors is a known artist, Nicolaes van Haeften (1663-1715) so Johnny decided to do an exhibition in his office above the gallery with paintings by his namesake.  He owned some, borrowed others and found prints done after a number of the pictures.

At some galleries they have a theme for what they are exhibiting such as at Rafael Valls, he is showing paintings in grisailles (various shades of grey) while Deborah Gage has hit on a water theme, including lakes, rivers and waterfalls.

When I travel I always try to visit some private collectors and if possible see their collections.  I was lucky enough to make two such visits this year. A friend of mine since the 1970’s has built up a beautiful collection of paintings of nature which fill her apartment floor to ceiling.  Most are 19th century with a smattering of 18th century as well.  I particularly relate to the northern schools of Germany and Denmark, I would have liked to take some home! 

I was also privileged to see quite a number of paintings from a family collection, many were, however, out on loan to museums throughout the world.  What I did see was extremely eclectic.  I must say that I enjoy it when a collector says to me, “we buy what we like.”  Somehow, that always makes me smile.

My last afternoon in London I also managed to squeeze in an hour at the National Gallery.  It is definitely one of the greatest old master museum collections in the world.  In artists working before 1500 alone, I could find names like Giotto, Duccio, Giovanni di Paolo, Uccello,  Leonardo, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden.

There was certainly no lack of art to keep me occupied during this past week in London!

Note: Last week due to a technical glitch the video was a day late.  You can link back to it here.

Masterpiece London - 2012

At this time of year I usually go to London in order to celebrate Independence Day with our original oppressors!  I cannot remember when I was last in the U.S. for the 4th of July.  But seriously, the reason that I come is that the larger auction houses such as Christie's, Sotheby’s and Bonham’s have their old master sales and this stimulates other arts events to occur at the same time.

One of the highlights is the Masterpiece Fair which is now in its 3rd year.  It takes place on the South Grounds of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea.  No, it is not in one of the hospital wards but rather in a huge tent that seems so solid that when I went last year it had to be explained to me that it was not actually in a building with a foundation.

Masterpiece is bigger this year.  There are about 160 dealers in fields as diverse as old masters, antique furniture, ancient, medieval, Egyptian and primitive art, jewelry, motorcycles, yachts and much more. 

I happened by 3 New York dealers that I know who had not been here before.  Merrin Galleries known for their classical art and Alexander Galleries that is exhibiting Old Master Paintings.  Alexander Acevedo, proprietor of the latter said to me, “I am enjoying this so much I have met people here that I would never have seen in New York.”  That is the reason a dealer does a show and it’s the gravy if he or she makes back his/her expenses and maybe a bit more.

A big surprise was Collisart, also from New York.  They are showing, of all things, American Art before 1950, not a category you ever see at a European art fair.   Fred Hill and his daughter Daisy Hill Sanders started the company not that long ago and they have a most impressive booth.  Their star picture is a Mary Cassatt, an artist recognized even here across the pond.

Mary Cassatt painting at CollisArt

Another painting in their booth that has caught a lot of attention is a picture that from a distance looks like a van Gogh until you get closer.  I would call it an homage to van Gogh.  It is titled “Road on the Moors” and it is signed and dated Stuart Davis, 1919.

"Road on the Moors" by Stuart Davis (1919)

As you probably have realized, I love different, something that we have not seen over and over again.  Alberto di Castro and Sperone Westwater have done just that.  This old master and sculpture gallery from Rome has collaborated with a contemporary gallery from New York’s Bowery.   They showed a terra cotta relief by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi of 1681 next to an Andy Warhol painting of 1981.

Soldani & Warhol

There is also a row of sculpture busts where I had to look twice before I realized that one or the other might be created hundreds of years before or after the one next to it.  It is a most stimulating challenge for the mind... Not what is expected in a typical booth.

Maybe this surprise factor, of moving from one category of art to another, without warning actually defines this show and makes it so enjoyable to attend.  You never know what is going to be in the following booth.  If it turns out to be a Rolls Royce or motorcycles it causes at least a smile and often great interest.

I became intrigued with just such a non sequitur when I spotted a portrait of Clarence Dillon, founder of the financial firm Dillon Read.  He was also the father of C. Douglas Dillon, Ambassador to France (1953-1957) and Secretary of the Treasury (1961-1965).  In the arts, however, he was known for his relationship with the Metropolitan Museum.  He was not only a great donor he also served as an executive of the Museum for more than 50 years – including terms as President  (1970 to 1978), and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1977 to 1983).

What may not be as well known is that in 1935 Clarence Dillon bought a major vineyard in France, Domaine Clarence Dillon. Its board still includes only the heirs of Clarence and Douglas Dillon.  Their most celebrated wine is Château Haut-Brion, so naturally, their booth is devoted to the various Dillon wines with magnums of Haut-Brion on display.

Antonella Schmidt Bernheimer

Of course, there are plenty of booths that show just fine jewelry, or English furniture or old master paintings in a very normal fashion but it is the leitmotif of variety that makes it all so easy to digest.  I heard a few complaints that Masterpiece is not serious enough but serious can sometimes get boring.  As long as I see high quality in whatever the field I can be satisfied and in Masterpiece there is an awful lot that qualifies.

Masterpiece does not run all that long.  It opened with a preview last Wednesday, June 27 and runs through this coming Wednesday, July 4.

The Alcove Shows

The New Mexico Museum of Art (NMMA) was conceived of before New Mexico became a State in 1912.  One of the results of the building was to identify the Santa Fe Style but that story is for another day.

New Mexico Museum of Art

Northern New Mexico was a large draw for artists from the East who came for health reasons.  Several sanatoriums for TB patients existed and for foreign artists as well who were attracted to the striking beauty of the South West.

Edgar Lee Hewitt (1865-1946), an archeologist and anthropologist, made his mark on the National scene in his work on the Antiquities Act of 1906 but his passion for archeology led him to become the director of the School of American Archeology, today known as the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

Hewitt was clearly an ambitious man with his finger in many pies during his long career and he was determined to promote the arts in New Mexico and bring culture to the residents of the State.  Already, in 1909 he founded the Museum of New Mexico in the Palace of the Governors where he began holding art shows but realized the region needed a proper art gallery to show off the work of the local artists.

Hewitt himself was responsible for the building that was created for the art Museum.  He commissioned areas for specific purposes.  Realizing that the women in the town actually controlled what was going to go on culturally in Santa Fe he built the grandest room on the second floor just for them and called it “The Women’s Board Room.”   It was actually more of a club where the ladies could have their teas and entertain the important men of the town such as the legislators.  If it still functioned today I am sure there would be a number of lobbyists in the mix.

Women's Boardroom circa 1920

 A large part of the Museum is devoted to a church like structure that was actually a meeting hall, where to this day, lectures and concerts take place.

Most of all, however, Hewitt wanted spaces in which to exhibit the work of all ‘his artists’.  When you walk past the courtyard and into the ground floor exhibition space the first areas that you see are a series of alcoves.  In fact, since there was no permanent collection the entire ground floor consisted of alcoves.  The purpose of the alcoves was to give artists individual spaces in which they could show their art for specified periods of time.  Today, however, some of these alcoves have been converted into standard exhibition galleries where part of the permanent collection can always be on view.  Also, in recent years an addition to the building was tacked on for special exhibitions and this has taken away from the original focus on those alcoves.

As part of its celebration of the centenary of New Mexico Statehood the Art Museum is recreating these Alcove shows.  The Alcoves that still exist in the museum are reserved for one year for a selected group of artists from New Mexico.  There will be 5-week rotations allowing for 5 artists at a time, making room for a total of 45 artists who will be able to exhibit in all different media.  This is not the first time that the original purpose of the museum has been revisited.  It has been done many times before.  The big difference is that originally when Hewitt knew all the artists in town he promoted an open door policy where artists could sign up to have an alcove.  Since the Museum’s original incarnation many more artists have settled in Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico, so in recent times the shows have been curated by professional curators picking the artists and monitoring what is being exhibited in the Alcoves.   They still must be, however, New Mexico artists showing work pertinent to this part of the world and preferably created within the last 3 years.

In this centennial year and leading up to the centennial of the Museum in 1917 the return of the art gallery spaces to the original Alcove Show format is a wonderful way of acknowledging the contribution made by the current generation of artists in a historical context.

Visit to Taos Pueblo

Last weekend we had an incredible opportunity.  We were invited by Bonnie Burnham, President of the World Monuments fund (WMF) and Frank Sanchis, Director of Programs in the United States to join them in Taos, New Mexico, a 90 minute drive from Santa Fe, for a visit to the Taos Pueblo.  I have known Bonnie since the mid 1970’s when we attended the first international conference on art theft when she was working with UNESCO. 

The night before our visit there was a dinner with The Friends of Heritage Preservation (FOHP) founded in 1998 by Suzanne Deal Booth.  This group predominantly from  Texas and California were contributors to the WMF project at the Taos Pueblo.  After cocktails Frank Sanchis did a slide presentation of the  project which involves an 11 room building at the entry to the Pueblo known as Sub-House #2.   There had been a fire and the building was in danger of collapse. It was explained to us that it was close to a million dollar project of which 10% was for a company that could take measurements of the structure from all its angles using laser or lidar (light detection and ranging) technology.  This included a drone that would fly over the Pueblo taking measurements. 

The next morning we all met at the entrance to the Pueblo, about 20 of us, and were escorted into the village where a receiving line from the Tribal Council greeted us, including the governor and lieutenant governor of the village.  We all shook hands and were then led into a meeting room which was set up with architectural sketches of the project as well as a model.

Before we were sat down the Secretary of the War Chief’s office grabbed me for a brief personal chat.  He told me he was lucky enough to live in the “North” building, which I learned was the main Pueblo, the famous image of the multi storied house that has come to symbolize the Taos Pueblo.  His rooms were on the back where he could see the forests and mountains of his ancestors.  When you think about it, who would want to be on the front where you would have to watch and listen to the tourists all day long!

The Main Pueblo

In the meeting room there were homemade cookies and cakes put out for us as well as a bottle of water at each place when we sat down.  The governor said a traditional blessing in their native Tiwa language.  Then he and the lieutenant governor explained the set up of the tribe as well as describing the project in detail. He told us that the people are considered as on the top rung of the ladder with the governor and tribal council below that.  The tribal council does not change and a governor and lieutenant governor are elected from the council by the tribe for one-year terms. We then learned about some of their issues regarding the return of their native lands confiscated by the U.S. Government.  it was amazing to hear about their successes and how politically astute they were.

Afterwards, we were introduced to the foreman who spoke a little bit about the project and then he introduced his crew each by name.  This was particularly relevant as World Monuments Fund does not just put money towards a project but their goal is to teach the people how to do the restoration work themselves so that they will be able to continue on their own.

Introduction of the Workmen

Our pockets were filled with the remaining cookies and we were sent off with guides to see the preservation site in detail as well as much more of the Pueblo.

Work at Preservation Site

The work on Sub-House #2 is being done in the traditional manner with hand-made adobe bricks.  The tribe’s goal is to reproduce exactly what was there before.  Other tribes doing restoration work on their pueblo sometimes wish to have some modern conveniences such as running water and electricity but not here.  If the Taos people want these conveniences they must live beyond the walls of the village.

There were many impressive sites to see but what I found the most profound was the cemetery.  Though they still bury people there it is not large enough to accommodate all so they have started a new cemetery beyond the walls of the Pueblo.

In the center of the old cemetery are the ruins of the first church on the Pueblo called St. Jerome’s, the patron saint of the pueblo.  It was built in 1619 and destroyed at the time of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 but then rebuilt in 1706 after the Spanish returned and destroyed yet again in 1847 during the Mexican war.  Today a new Church of St. Jerome stands as a show piece in the middle of the plaza.

Ruins of St. Jerome

Church of St. Jerome

We learned much about life on the Pueblo and dependence on a stream that brought water down from Blue Lake above the village.   We learned about their politics and religions (Christian and Native).  What more can you ask than to get an insight into what amounts to a foreign society and learn of their goals and aspirations.

A Recent Acquisition

Though most collectors look for what they have seen elsewhere, particularly if it is similar to something their friend owns, I am always more interested in the unusual.  This is the case with our new acquisition of a “transition” period commode (chest of drawers).

In French 18^th century furniture we usually speak of the Louis XV style, i.e. with curved lines, or Louis XVI style, i.e. straight lines.  Though the Louis XVI style came into being in the mid 1750’s during the flourishing of the Louis XV style there was something in between and it was known as “transition” - literally a transition from the Louis XV to Louis XVI.  “Transition” has some curves, usually in the legs, and some straight lines along the sides. 

It was not all that popular nor did it last that long, about 1760-80.  During much of the 20^th century it was very much out of fashion but in recent years it has become more popular again.

There are standard heights for commodes and they usually stand at about 33 inches (84 cm) but a variation is known as “hauteur d’appui” literally leaning height.  In the case of our commode, measuring 40 inches (102cm), there is about a 7 inch difference.

How do we know whom it is by?  The best clue is that it is signed on the top of the right rear stile: ‘A. L. Gilbert’ for André-Louis Gilbert (1746-1809).  Gilbert received his designation as “Master” in 1774 but then stopped making furniture in 1789 when the French Revolution began.  He participated in the storming of the Bastille, joined the Paris police department and became a lieutenant in the Revolutionary army… now there is a mid-life crisis for you!

The piece also bears the stamp ‘JME’ for jurande des menuisiers-ébénistes (Jury of carvers and cabinetmakers).  After 1743 all French furniture makers, unless, they worked for the court, were supposed to have their pieces passed by a jury that would stamp the piece with a “JME”.  The way this worked was that the jury would appear every now and then at the door of the furniture maker and stamp the furniture available and they expected to be paid. For some reason not everything was always available for the stamp.  I wonder whether pieces that were not being offered in the shop but rather as specific commissions were not available to the jury.  Additionally, restorers of the past often eliminated these stamps through careless sanding.  In the case of our commode the stamp is still present.

It has wonderful marquetry, which relates to work done in Germany and is slightly naïve in style.  It also adds to the identification that there are comparable pieces with pictorial marquetry panels by Gilbert in the Louvre, Waddesdon Manor and the Frick Collection.

Another unusual aspect is that Gilbert’s marquetry often does not conform to the construction of the piece.  In this specific case note the center top drawer.  The usual methodology would be to have the geometric frieze be exactly the depth of the drawer but in this case the drawer extends into the top of the picture marquetry with its trees and houses.

Why not come visit and see what observations you can make on what makes this piece different and unusual?

Offering of the Angels

One recent weekend I went down to Philadelphia to visit my daughter and her family.  One day was spent watching my grandson’s Lacrosse game (my first ever) and having a boys night out at a Phillies baseball game with my son-in-law and both my east coast grandsons.

The next day my daughter drove me up to Doylestown, Pennsylvania to visit the James A. Michener Art Museum.  Yes, it is the author of all those best sellers such as, "Alaska", "Chesapeake" and "The Source".  He made quite a fortune from his books and gave a great deal of it away.  The museum, however, seems to have been the idea of the city fathers in honor of their favorite son who graduated from High School there in the 1920’s.

The reason for our visit was to see the above named exhibition,  “Offering of the Angels” and the part of the title that I left out comes after a colon, “Paintings from the Uffizi”.  We were recently at the Uffizi in Florence and that is the caliber of paintings I had hoped for.  I guess that was wishful thinking.  Obviously most of the pictures were from the museum’s reserves or as the Press Release would have it, “Secret Rooms” where the public does not go.

Sandro  Botticelli is extremely well represented in the Uffizi and they include some of the best such as “The Birth of Venus” and “Allegory of Spring”  and many others.  But the one they showed of a Madonna and Child bore a label that says, “Botticelli and a 19th century Restorer”… a first in my experience!

 On the other hand, there are some wonderful paintings such as the Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1425) of Christ Crucified and the grieving virgin with Saint John and Mary Magdalene, on parchment laid down on wood.

And the Alessandro Allori of the Grieving Madonna and Symbols of Christ’s Passion.

The exhibition is broken into religious sections such as "Old Testament/New Testament", "Infancy of Jesus/ Madonna and Child", "Miracles and Passion of Jesus", "Lamentation, Resurrection and Epiphany", "The Eucharist".   A better title than “Offering of the Angels” might have been, “Pathways through the New Testament”.

I must say I felt for the curators both the one who had to go into the Uffizi’s reserves to find the paintings and the one on the other end who had to figure out how to put them together again.  The Uffizi curator must have been torn by certainly not willing to part with their prize paintings but also by not being able to lend some of the great great religious pictures which would have been perfect for the subject matter but were on view in the main galleries.

Years ago, an exhibition from a major museum abroad would go to the National Gallery in D.C. and/or the Metropolitan.  Later on major museums in the largest cities such as LA, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia would also get important exhibitions but it is a relatively recent phenomenon that museums in less central locations would get serious loans.

I remember that when my wife, who was curator in Portland, Oregon, brought international exhibitions from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg or Brescia, Italy nobody in these locations had heard of the town but things change and today when foreign museums close for renovations they are happy to make a deal or just get more wide spread exposure as a tourist stop by lending to any responsible institution.  The story goes that the Uffizi was sold on the concept of the Michener when they heard that the Museum was half way between Philadelphia and New York.  Whatever the reason, it is nice that a regional museum can be exposed to the art of another culture.