Leonardo at the Louvre with Rembrandt
Museum guards keep watch on debarred RembrandtBad luck Rembrandt, Leonardo got here before you.” The ageing and disconsolate Rembrandt is seated on the Escalier Daru at the entrance to the Louvre accompanied by Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec and van Gogh. On stage Leonardo struts his stuff with the Mona Lisa. The Victory of Samothrace a classical […]
The Doctor Will See You Now, Vincent
“I am not, strictly speaking, mad” – Van Gogh The perceptive remark, often quoted, in his letter of 22nd. March 1889 to his brother Theo from Arles is more precisely, “As far as I can judge I’m not mad, strictly speaking”. Paul Gachet, who ran a Sanatorium and was also a painter, housed Vincent in […]
Who was Saint Dévote?
Sainte Dévote in a Monegasque Landscape the 26th. of january is the feast day of sainte dévote the patron saint of the principality of Monaco and of the Prince’s family. The saint, who died about 303 AD, is likewise, the patron saint of Corsica. She is one of a trilogy that emerges from that mist-covered […]
Conservation framing Andy Warhol Serigraphs
Prolonging the life of your silkscreen painting When you have the occasion to visit the prints and drawings section of an art museum you will be struck by the low intensity of the light used to illuminate the artworks. Compared to the rest of the collection, the scene is virtually spectral. While the oil paintings will […]
Take a drawing for a walk
“Draw something every day, no matter how little”- (Cennino Cennini) Old master drawings are works of art created on paper, parchment, and silk from the early Renaissance until about the time of JMW Turner, that is, the first half of the nineteenth century. Drawings on paper in China and Japan, and going back much earlier, […]
Speaking Bad of Artists
Why writers love criticizing painters Most of the written information and criticism of artists of the classical world, not to mention most of their works of art, have been lost. Antigonos of Karystos, a Greek writer in the 3rd century BC. in addition, Duris of Samos another contemporary writer are known to have written about […]
Monetise your Museum
By Matthew Moss, Art Monte-Carlo Making access easy to your Museum ‘Rembrandt is sure paying a high price for being famous’. The museum director, usually a well respected art scholar is, today, often flanked by a marketing director or, museum manager. He or she will, equally, answer to no one in a love of art, […]
The Life, Death and Resurrection of Pompeo Batoni
To most people, Italy does not immediately come to mind when one thinks about great eighteen-century (Settecento) European art. By now there remained few traces of its Renaissance greatness. Venice still produced important art; those internationally known, like GiovanBattista Tiepolo, Francesco Guardi, or Bernardo Bellotto were invariably making their names outside their homeland or working […]
Artists in the Kitchen
By Matthew Moss, Art Monte-Carlo Roman author, Pliny the Elder, mentions artists knew pigments, like cinnabar were very toxic Until recent times it was the practice for most artists to mix their colours by hand. When he acquired some standing, the Master would hand the operation over to a 10 or 12-year-old apprentice.Even today, a […]
Woman in a Landscape
the grand-prix de monaco heralds the moment when adventurous artists on the Riviera can venture out and, following the footsteps of their illustrious precursors, begin painting the beauties of the region en plein-air. The weather is pleasant, the sun not as harsh as it will be in the coming months and beauty spots are less […]