Art discovery

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Art discovery refers to the process by which researchers, art historians, collectors, dealers, and other knowledgeable individuals find artworks by prominent artists which were not previously or correctly identified.

Contents

Examples

Modern findings

In 2011 a British art dealer, Philip Mould, received major news coverage for discovering a set of paintings by Anthony van Dyck which had not been previously identified. Mould has made a number of major art discoveries, including some of Thomas Gainsborough's earliest known works, [1] the only known portrait of Arthur, Prince of Wales [2] and lost works by Anthony van Dyck and Thomas Lawrence. [3] In January 2021, Mould found a miniature portrait of French king Henri III by Jean Decourt. [4]

Mould described some of the basic concepts for art discoveries, in an article published in the Guardian;

Although [Mould] acknowledged that auctioneers do not have the benefit of cleaning and restoring works, which help to reveal true quality, he added: "As art dealers, we scour daily the world's auction catalogues for paintings that are … wrongly identified … In any week, our finds might range from a misidentified Tudor icon to a misattributed 18th-century landscape … but by a strange chance we seem to have hit a seam of Van Dycks." [3]

See also

General overviews

Related Research Articles

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Simon Rollo Gillespie is a British conservator-restorer of fine art, and an art historian. He is known particularly for his work with Early British and Tudor portraits, although his practice extends across all periods from early paintings to contemporary artworks. Gillespie has been restoring art since 1978, and he appears frequently on the BBC Four series Britain's Lost Masterpieces, having previously appeared on the BBC1 art programme Fake or Fortune.

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References

  1. Millward, David. "Rare Gainsborough uncovered by Antiques Roadshow presenter". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  2. Mould, Philip (1997-03-13). The Trail of Lot 163: In Search of Lost Art Treasures. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN   9781857025231.
  3. 1 2 Alberge, Dalya (2011-06-11). "Van Dyck paintings unearthed by saleroom sleuth". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  4. "Fake or Fortune presenter finds rare portrait by Mary, Queen of Scots court artist worth hundreds of thousands". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 2021-03-30.