TEFAF Maastricht now in September
TEFAF Maastricht has been postponed and the fair is now planned for an in-person event on September 11-19, with a preview date of September 9-10. This will be a physical and online fair.
It had already been moved from March to May earlier this year due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
Sworders makes two appointments
Essex auction house Sworders has made two appointments to its design and fine interiors departments.
Otto Billstrom takes the position of assistant cataloguer, working alongside head of design John Black.
Sale co-ordinator Charlotte Lee-Finglas joins head of fine interiors James Pickup and specialist Alexander Hallett.
Billstrom is from Sweden and after graduating worked at Stockholm’s Auktionsverk as a junior valuer before moving to the UK to work with a Petworth dealer.
Lee-Finglas previously spent five years at the London valuations firm St George Valuations and has also worked at ValueMyStuf f, Paddle8 and Barnebys.
Masterpiece living in a material world
Masterpiece London has announced its online programme featuring panel discussions, videos and podcasts each month in the lead up to its fair scheduled for June 24-29 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The programme is called Encountering Beauty through the Material World and features six different materials: marble, wood, pigments, metal, ceramics and precious stones. Speakers will be from across the art world including academics, museum professionals, artists and Masterpiece exhibitors.
Hemming-Brown at Connaught Brown
Nick Hemming- Brown is now at Connaught Brown.
Dealership Connaught Brown has hired Nick Hemming- Brown as gallery director. He was previously at Sotheby’s and prior to that he spent three years as gallery manager at Simon Dickinson.
Funding target hit for ‘Nelson’ cabinet
The medicine cabinet that was linked to Sir William Beatty, the surgeon who tended Nelson as he died at the Battle of Trafalgar, has been secured for a museum after a crowdfunding effort raised the necessary £16,000 (News, ATG No 2477).
It will go on display at a planned museum on the site of the former Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire. Dealer Charles Wallrock of Wick Antiques in Lymington, also Hampshire, who was offering the cabinet, reduced the price and reserved it to give the fundraising time.
Paris fairs postpone to the same dates
Paris events the Salon du Dessin and the Drawing Now Art Fair have agreed to postpone their events to the same dates.
The former will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the Palais Brongniart in June. Usually taking place at the end of March with around 39 exhibitors, it will instead be held from June 9-12, with a preview day scheduled for June 8. The coming edition will be accompanied by a digital version.
The Salon du Dessin will also sponsor Drawing week, an off-site event that includes private visits to around 20 museums.
Mould dealership finds French king
The portrait miniature now identified as depicting Henri III of France.
A locket discovered at a regional auction house has been identified as depicting Henri III, king of France (1551- 89), by portrait miniature consultant Emma Rutherford of the dealership Philip Mould.
She spotted the portrait miniature during the spring but was not able to see it in person because of lockdown restrictions.
Rather than the described Sir Walter Raleigh, Rutherford knew it was of the French king after research she had completed on the period that featured in the National Portrait Gallery’s 2019 show Elizabethan Treasures: Miniatures by Hilliard and Oliver.
The identity of the artist – court artist Jean Decourt (c.1530-85) – was confirmed when Mould’s team bought the item and a conservator opened the painting’s frame and found the signature Decourt along with the date 1578 on the reverse. Unusually, despite Decourt’s high profile and status at the time, no signed portrait had been unequivocally ascribed to him.
Rutherford said: “This is one of the most exciting discoveries the gallery has made and a highlight of my career as a specialist.” Mould added: “This work is a hugely significant unpublished image of a misunderstood king, and confirmation of Decourt’s immense talent. It would be wonderful if it could ‘come home’ to Paris. We have therefore given the Louvre the first opportunity to purchase it.”
A price was not given but the most recent example of a Decourt selling at auction was a small oil painting in 2016 at Christie’s which made a premium-inclusive £785,000.
Most read
The most viewed stories for week January 21-27 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 Banksy print once owned by the former Christie’s auctioneer who is depicted in it comes for sale at Forum
2 New faces in the art and antiques market in the UK and overseas
3 Apter-Fredericks sale a ‘shot in the arm’ for furniture market
4 Hokusai print, 18th century racehorse portraits and 1920s fountain pen are among five auction highlights
5 Pick of the week: Up, up and away for £3.3m Aynhoe Park auction dispersal
In Numbers
2596
The number of completed customer due diligence reports completed within the Arcarta platform by 105 art businesses during 2020, according to The Art Market Regulation Report by Arcarta. The growth in these reports is due to a more active, online art-market calendar during the pandemic, Arcarta said. Customer due diligence is a requirement under The 5th Money Laundering Directive (known as 5MLD) which came into effect on January 10.
For the full report visit arcata.com/report
(Arcarta is a specialist in art market customer due diligence and anti-fraud technology and surveyed 105 art businesses including galleries, dealers, auctioneers and art advisers in the UK)
