Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Art & Antiques

For at least a century, two words have dominated discussions around Albrecht Dürer’s work: “modern” and “genius.” Dürer is often considered proto-modern in his approach to authenticity, art and celebrity—due to both the technical virtuosity of his work and his foresight in maintaining his market. At a time when ideas of “artistic genius” were still being formed, he was interested in understanding and promoting himself as an individual maker. He painted numerous, quite modern self-portraits, signed his engravings with his “AD” monogram, and even sued another artist who had been selling forgeries of his work (thus initiating the first trial concerning the copyright of visual art). This Dürer-specific lexicon has entered essentially all public artistic conversations—academic, journalistic, curatorial. At the turn of the 20th century, the art critic Roger Fry…

Azerbaijan, situated between the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains, spans Asia and Europe. Known as “The Land of the Holy Fire”, the landscape contains rare, fire-related phenomena, as well as the presence of the Zoroastrian religion, which originated in this region. Faig Ahmed, an artist born in 1982 and who lives and works in Baku, is known for his commanding, boundary-breaking works that merge the traditional craft of weaving with the iconography and history of carpets. Working across media including video, performance and installation, he is represented today by Sapar Contemporary Gallery in New York City. Inspired by medieval Sufi mystical poetry, Ahmed has created a series of large woven works that honor influential Azerbaijani poets and spiritual figures. Although he did not grow up in the Islamic tradition, Sufism…

AS IT TURNS OUT, the original short-lived life of a 19th-century Paris street poster is not so ephemeral after all. During famed French artist Jules Cherét’s (1836-1932) life, his vibrant large-scale lithographs that were advertising everything from hats to burlesque shows papered Paris’ buildings, only to be quickly torn down or covered with a new poster. But more than a century later, Cherét’s initially fleeting works are still being collected and preserved, and the Milwaukee Art Museum is presenting the first solo exhibition and museum catalogue of his work in the United States, “Always New: The Posters of Jules Cherét.” “By using bold and bright colors and designs, drawing inspiration from multiple artistic traditions, and innovating new techniques, Jules Cherét transformed modern lithography and established the poster as both a…

In a 1908 painting from his time in Majorca, John Singer Sargent depicted yellow pomegranates clustered on a tree. Within the leafy embrace of its branches, several fruits split open, revealing the jewel-like seeds bursting from beneath the rinds. Without any visible sky or earth, the yawning green, orange and yellow are punctuated only by pockets of ruby; you can feel the warm breeze, inhale the tangy, citrus-like scent, see nothing but the depth of the vegetation. It is abstract and vivid, loving and sensual—an exceptional montage of the energy, color and natural beauty of the island. In many ways, the painting feels like a moment of devotion to the nation that, at the moment of this work, Sargent had visited and revisited for the last three decades. Sargent had…

Magic & Mystery GERTRUDE Abercrombie (1909-1977) is having her moment as the recognition for her surrealist paintings continues to rise in the art world. On February 17, 2022, Hindman set a new world auction record for the artist when The Dinosaur, a small-scale painting of a large egg with a miniscule dinosaur standing beside it, smashed expectations to sell for $387,500 against an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. Now, this September 28, the auction house will present a single-owner sale dedicated solely to the artist’s works titled “Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer”. Building on the momentum from the record-breaking piece, which was among a series of hits for the artist over the past five years, this auction marks a shift in the artist’s presale…

THE CORD OF artistic friendship establishes ties between the past and present that can lead to thrilling surprises. For Man Ray (1890-1976), one of the 20th century’s most radical and influential artists, and the American collectors Rosalind and Melvin Jacobs, a deep, personal relationship underlies the journey of an iconic work of art, from its creation in 1924 to its record-breaking purchase 98 years later. This past May, the original print of Le Violon d’Ingres (1924) was sold at Christie’s New York for $12.4 million, the highest price ever paid for a photograph. “The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs” auction at Christie’s highlighted the couple’s commitment to supporting Surrealist artists long before they had achieved acknowledgement or financial security. In 1954, Rosalind, the boutique buyer at…