1786- the year of a lost Turner Watercolor

1796 was an incredibly interesting year.

It was the year American painter, Asher Durand, was born in New Jersey. Durand (not Duran Duran… ‘90s music lovers!) would go on to become one of the major proponents of the Hudson River school style of painting, celebrating, realism in landscape art, and its connection to the divine.

It was the year Catherine the Great died after decades ruling Russia and expanding the Russian empire.

It was also the year than a twenty-one year old English painter, J. M. W. Turner, painted this watercolor. It was forgotten about for years in the attic of a rural country estate in England, Kinsham Court.

Turner watercolor, Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire, courtesy of Minster Auctions

It’s going on auction in March, so if you have some spare milk money, ( the estimate is running between £30,000 to £60,000), and love Turner, then this is your chance to pick up what could be a relative bargain.

The fifth Earl of Essex hired Turner to paint Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire after he inherited it. Herefordshire, famous for its beautiful countryside and its Hereford cows, is in the West Midlands. Hampton Court then became the property of the Arkwright family at the start of the 19th century.

After a hundred years or so, John Arkwright sold Hampton Court and then relocated to Kinsham Court. Most likely the Turner sketch made the trip along with everything else. It was discovered by Arkwright’s descendants in the attic amongst a bunch of watercolors that had been up there for decades. That makes me feel not-so-bad about not having been in my attic for months, while at the same time making me realize I should go up there and check out what’s hanging around…even though I am 100% certain I will not find a long lost Turner watercolor.

Now, while the watercolor wasn’t signed, one of Minster’s experts, James Pearn, is positive that it’s a Turner, because of the stylistic elements that Turner was known for, including the way he laid down his brushstrokes.

Patterdale, With Ullswater beyond, Turner, courtesy of Sotheby’s

It’s interesting to note that just a few days ago on January 31, at auction at Sotheby’s, two different watercolors by Turner found new owners. One, Loch Lomond, West Scotland, sold right within its estimate range of $50-$80 grand at just under $61,000 while the second piece, Patterdale with Ullswater beyond, generated a bit more interest and sold over the estimate, bringing down the gavel at a little over $95,000. In light of these numbers, Minster’s auction estimate ( 38 to 72 thousand USD) isn’t too far off what the market seems to be willing to pay. We’ll see what happens in the first of minsters three annual fine art auctions in March.

Meanwhile, go check your attics, people!

This weeks free classes: from Irving Penn to Massaccio

Happy Sunday morning to everybody!

I hope this weekly hello finds you happy and enjoying a beautiful sunny, albeit hot and soupy, day.

I am doing a few programs this week that I’d like to share with you via zoom . They are all free and open to everyone.

The first one is tomorrow morning with Peninsula public library at 11 AM and will be focusing on important Jewish artists of the 20th century

Irving Penn Self portrait; Photo courtesy Irving Penn Foundation

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ZOOM: Jewish Artists in the Contemporary Art World

Join Prof Val Franco, for a look at some of the tremendous Jewish artists of the twentieth century. The history behind their lives and work, and a comparison of their various styles. We’ll be focusing on artists whose work has pushed the boundaries while also bringing important issues to the forefront of popular culture. 

Registration is not required.

Click the link below to join the Zoom Meeting:

Meeting ID: 721 207 3003

Passcode: PenPubLib

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My second class this week is Tuesday night at 7 pm with the Crestwood Library – again via zoom, free and open to everyone. We’ll be doing slow looking, focusing on a few select masterpieces and discussing the works as a group. 

San Giovenale Triptych, Masaccio, 1422

Virtual -Tuesday, June 27, 2023. 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Event Details

Join Prof. Val Franco as we find a new way to view art. By taking our time and getting to the heart of a painting or sculpture, we can get in touch with what the artist was trying to share with us about the world around them and their subject. By looking at a few select masterpieces from Renaissance art and the Impressionist period, we’ll discuss all the elements that make an artwork great as well look at paintings in a slow, meaningful way.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://ypl-org.zoom.us/j/87381066479?pwd=UFhTL2FEMGFSQ282R0Y3ZzYwTGdiZz09

Meeting ID: 873 8106 6479
Passcode: 443085

Contact Info

Name:  Z BairdEmail: z@ypl.orgPresenter: Val Franco

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The third one of the week is our regular Wednesday night Art zoom, sponsored by me,ProfValFranco, for free at 7 pm on Wednesday. We’ll be looking at Renaissance artist Massaccio and discussing the important aspects of dimensional painting and how Masaccio’s practice changed painting forever.

Masaccio self portrait from Brancusi Chapel Fresco

The lecture is free and open to everyone everywhere, and starts at 7 pm. Zoom is my standard Art zoom : Topic: ProfValFranco’s Armchair Art

Zoom 
Meeting ID: 878 0879 9248
Passcode: 683628

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Finally, back by popular demand, we are doing our monthly museum visits in person! The next trip is Monday, July 10 in New York and you can send an email for further info if you are interested!

This week’s art & film posts will go up in a few days and will focus on the art collection of Catherine the Great & the incredible film Eadweard about the man behind the beginnings of the modern moving image!

Looking forward to seeing you this week.

Regards

ProfValFranco

Man’s best friend…and woman’s, too!

Good morning & a happy Wednesday to you all! I hope you’re enjoying the lovely summer weather. It will be 80 degrees today!

My lil pup..

Its been a rough week for my little chihuahua and so here’s 2 images to consider: Ertè & Mae West …

Mae West & her Borzoi pups

Until next week’s newsletter & , our April 18   in person Art history class…

Regards, Val 

From Billionaires, Scottish Dukes, Rothschilds, Dutch Masters & American Watercolorists: My Rembrandt & Jerry Pinkney

Hello All & a happy December to you! 

Thanks to all for a great discussion this past Friday on the intriguing documentary MY REMBRANDT. This film, with its incredible insider access to some of the most glorious Rembrandt paintings in the world, explores why people are so fascinated with the Dutch Golden Age painter, centuries after he created incredible, world-changing images. The inner machinations behind the joint Louvre-Rijksmuseum $160 million purchase of a pair of portraits from current Baron de Rothschild were especially fascinating. 

The life size portraits that Rothschild had on either side of his bed for years were created in 1634 and depict Amsterdam trader Marten Soolmans and his wife Oopjen Coppit. 

Notice the texture, palette, expression & emotion…when compared to Rembrandt’s portrait of her husband, she seems to have a bit more spirit and brightness in her image. Was Rembrandt a bit more taken by her personality, or does this reflect the difference in purpose of representation between the pair of portraits: the husband, serious, a force to be reckoned with in his contemporary society; the wife, embodying the hallmarks of a good Dutch wife of her class?

Consider this: If you owned a Rembrandt as part of your massive collection of centuries of art from the Old Masters through to the twentieth century, would you lend it (or any of your collection, for that matter) out to museums around the world, or would you keep them in your residence for your personal, private enjoyment?

The film explores this question in presenting various private collectors and public institutions, including American collector Thomas Scott Kaplan, who owns the largest privately held collections of Rembrandts (15) and Dutch masterworks ( 250) in the world; and Richard Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch, whose his 80,000 acres of ancestral lands in Scottland houses a massive collection of Old World masterpieces, including Rembrandt’s Old Woman Reading from 1665.

Kaplan believes it is his responsibility to lend these masterworks out to public institutions so they can be enjoyed by the world at large, while The Duke, like other Uber wealthy collectors, keeps various works by the Old Masters in his private residence for his enjoyment only.

Portrait of Opjen Coppit, 1634 by Rembrandt courtesy of the Rijksmuseum 

It’s an interesting question to consider, and I’m quite sure, a much better one to actually have irl.

Next week we’ll discuss the work of Jerry Pinckney and his beautiful, striking important water colors on view at the Katonah Museum in New York.

Go, She Cried, from Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, 1996, by Jerry Pinkney. Watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper. 12 3/8 in. x 20 3/8 in.

We’ll also look at the work of the incredible Winslow Homer and his use of various media in creating his awe inspiring images of America and her various, glorious landscapes.

Nor’easter, Winslow Homer, 1895/1881 courtesy of the Met

Charles Schultz was right!

Puppy perspective on the world-

My introduction for Chinatown last night at the Rubin

So, last night, Friday, December 28, 2012, I was honored to introduce the last film of 2012 for Cabaret Cinema, a fantastic cinema series at Manhattan’s Rubin Museum of Art.   The place was hopping, the restaurant was full, the bar was packed, the music series ended and Tim spoke about the upcoming winter series and then introduced me. The house  was  packed and the  film that I was asked to introduce was Roman Polanski’s masterpiece, Chinatown.  The theme of the series was Happiness, and so my task was to introduce the film and discuss my own personal take on happiness.  For those of you who didn’t make it down last night, I thought you would find it interesting.   

 

Happiness

Thank you Tim and Mishel for having me here tonight.  I am so happy to be here, at one of my absolute favorite museums introducing one of my favorite films of all time.  

I’m so happy to be here….I’m so happy…We say that all that time – I’m so happy…but really, how do we measure happiness? How happy are we really?

 

It’s such an elusive thing – happiness.  I lecture on film and teach all over the world, and that makes me happy.  Movies and all the things that they encompass, make me happy: title sequences, scripts, cinematography, special effects, lighting, acting, editing, and the story arc, character development and symbolism of a well-made film – all make me happy.  Even the audience reaction to a film, a communal experience like we are going to have here tonight -makes me happy.

 Teaching film, writing about film and watching film – makes me happy.  A film, like  Roman Polanski’s 1974 gem, Chinatown, considered by many to be possibly the best film ever made, nominated for 11 Oscars, winner of only 1 (best original screenplay) makes me happy, although only 1 Oscar win did NOT make Bob Evans, one of the producers of Chinatown, happy.  Gritty private eyes in the Los Angeles of 1937, crosses and double crosses, scams, dames and broads in a city where anything can happen and thousands of gallons of water evaporate into thin air – that’s a film that makes me very happy.

But what is happiness in general? Overall, day to day, how do people define what makes them happy?

Over the past month, in anticipation of this event, I’ve asked my college students and lecture audiences that question  and the answers were so varied – from the obvious – like money, success, love,  health and family, to the obscure – running a 4 minute mile, being able to memorize Shakespeare’s “To Be or Not to be“.  Some people were happy as long as their children and spouses were happy, while others wanted independence and to be alone, in order to be happy. Some wanted food: A night of peace and quiet watching TV on the couch with a beer and a pizza ; or a sublime smoked salmon at the café here.  Others wanted less food and to lose weight in order to be happy.

Answers encompassed the comedic, the serious, the Zen, and even the nihilistic.  One woman very simply said, when I asked what would make her happy:  Nothing.

Happiness is at once so personal and intimate, and yet it can be so public. So general and yet so specific.    How else to explain the simple feeling you get when you walk out the door in the early  morning to see the golden pink hues of the perfect sunrise: the  whole world is still and it’s as if that palette was painted for just for you.  Or the way you smile when your footsteps leave your mark on an endless expanse of beautiful beach next to a sparkling blue ocean. Or the way a cab pulls up just for you as soon as it starts to rain in the middle of rush hour.   

For some, happiness comes in ripping open the paper wrapping on a box of hand-made dark chocolates, while for others it’s holding their newborn baby for the first time.  There are those that connect  happiness to the attainment of  material goods, to possessions, to objects, to things…while for others, there is a sense of well-being, of happiness in doing for others, in small acts of kindness and charitable good works in order to make someone else’s life better.

The question “what is happiness?”  is akin to the question “what is the universe” or “why do I love you”.   So nebulous, and yet, if we really, truly think about it, we can begin to find an answer.      

Happiness can be profound or simple, a common experience or a unique one, an individual moment or one that is shared simultaneously by many. 

So if trying to define what makes us happy is so elusive, maybe using the artist’s trick of negative space and defining what doesn’t make us happy is simpler. Again, as with happiness,  there is the simple and common-  The empty box of chocolate, the cab that pulls away  as the rain starts just before you can get in;  as well as  the devastating and profound- the death of your father, the hurricane-filled sky ripping away your shoreline and your home.

So, let’s get back to happiness and what makes us happy.

For me, beyond film and teaching, it’s that simple, small sense of contentment that comes with my first sip of cold water after my morning run.  It’s the sight of twinkling holiday lights that make this city and my neighborhood so joyous and warm in the dark winter.

 It’s knowing that no matter how bad things may get (remember that father that’s no longer alive, and that hurricane that devastated homes); we must always try to get back up one more time than we are pushed down.  So for me, happiness isn’t a simple anecdote about running into a long lost elementary school class mate years later and 3000 miles away from home in a small Italian cave that only the locals  know about, although that did happen, and it did make me very happy.  Happiness for me,  is in the doing, in the being and in the living every moment of life, as fully as you can – whether its eating that box of chocolates, that entire box of yummy, creamy, heavenly chocolates with a few friends and a great bottle of wine…or helping to build back  someone’s house after a storm. 

As the year draws closer to an end, I want you to think your New Year’s  resolutions a little differently: don’t think about what you are or are not going to do: but think about what does and doesn’t make you happy, and strive to do those things and be that person.  Attain your own happiness – taste that incredible sip of dark, rich coffee with cream, make yourself go to see that art exhibit that always intrigued you (maybe you can explore the 6^th floor’s exhibit on modern art from India) & really look at each stunning  work of art.  

Believe in yourself.

Push yourself.

Laugh more.  

Learn more.  

Be happy.