Paul Raison (art historian)

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Paul Raison is a leading world specialist in the field of Old Master paintings. He was for many years a Chairman of the auction house Christie's.

Contents

Early life and education

The grandson of English cricketer and New Scientist founder Max Raison, and the son of Thatcher-era Government minister The Right Hon. Sir Timothy Raison, Paul Raison was educated at Eton College and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took an M.A. Honours degree in French, Italian and the History of Art. [1] [2]

Career

Raison joined Christie’s in 1987 as a graduate trainee in the Chinese, Silver and Old Masters departments. [2] In 1988 he attained the rank of Specialist in the Old Masters Department, then under the leadership of Rubens expert Gregory Martin. [3] [4] [5] [6] Raison became Head of the Old Masters Department in Paris in 1993 and was based in France until 1996, when he moved back to the UK to assume the same role at Christie's London. In 2004, he and his New York counterpart Anthony Crichton-Stuart played an instrumental role in the acquisition of the Hall and Knight galleries by Christie's. [7] Raison was appointed Deputy Chairman of Christie's in 2012, and International Co-Chairman in 2016. [2]

Raison led the sale of Old Master Pictures in London in December 2000, which realised a total of £56.7 million, "the highest for a sale in this category at the time". [2] In 2004, he led the private treaty sale of Duccio’s Stroganoff Madonna to the Metropolitan Museum of Art [8] [9] in New York City for a record sum, then the highest price ever paid by the Met for any purchase, the second highest price ever paid for an Old Master privately and the most expensive Old Master ever sold by Christie's, breaking the record held since 1989 by the Pontormo Halberdier. [10] [11] [12] He oversaw the Old Masters auction in December 2009, which realised £68.4 million, establishing a new highest total for a sale of Old Masters and setting artist records for Rembrandt, [13] Raphael [14] [15] and Domenichino. [16] In July 2016, Raison was responsible for the rediscovery, attribution and sale of Rubens’s Lot and his Daughters, [17] [18] The Rubens is now on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [19] [20]

Raison has advised collectors and institutions in Europe, North and South America, South Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He is known for his expertise in French and Spanish art and collections, where his activity has included, respectively, the discovery of a lifetime portrait of Anton Fugger, acquired in 2002 by the Louvre, [21] and of an early work [22] by El Greco, acquired from Christie's by the Historical Museum of Crete in the artist's birthplace of Heraklion, still one of the only autograph works by El Greco in any public or private collection in Greece. [23] He regularly lectures on Old Masters in Asia. [24] In 2020, Raison left Christie's to set up his own consultancy. [25]

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References

  1. ↑ Lundy, Darryl. "Rt. Hon. Sir Timothy Hugh Francis Raison". The Peerage.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "London: Paul Raison". Christie's.
  3. ↑ Sorenson, Lee. "Martin, Gregory". Dictionary of Art Historians.
  4. ↑ 'Martin, Gregory', in Bazin, Germain, ed. Histoire de l'histoire de l'art, de Vasari à nos jours. Paris: Albin Michel, 1986 p. 515
  5. ↑ "Rubens in London: Art and Diplomacy". Brepols.
  6. ↑ Schwartz, Gary (15 January 2005). "How Sterre came home". Gary Schwartz Art Historian.
  7. ↑ Brady, Anna (3 September 2015). "Knight leaves Christie's to join dealers Moretti". Antiques Trade Gazette.
  8. ↑ ATG Reporter (1 December 2004). "Met pay $45m for Duccio's 'Stroganoff' Madonna". Antiques Trade Gazette.
  9. ↑ "Duccio di Buoninsegna: Madonna and Child". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  10. ↑ Vogel, Carol (10 November 2004). "The Met Makes Its Biggest Purchase Ever". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ "Duccio di Buoninsegna".
  12. ↑ "Art in Tuscany". Travelling in Tuscany.
  13. ↑ Vogel, Carol (8 December 2009). "An Auction Record for Rembrandt".
  14. ↑ Brown, Mark; correspondent, arts (20 October 2009). "Raphael drawing expected to break world record at auction". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ "Christie's Strangest Sales – Raphael's Muse – Art – Agenda". Phaidon.
  16. ↑ Kennedy, Maev (18 May 2010). "'Saved' Domenichino painting loaned to National Gallery". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ ‘I will always remember seeing it for the first time, hanging out of its frame, slightly lopsided but totally overwhelming’, "'My highlight of 2016' — Lot and His Daughters by Rubens – Christie's". christies.com.
  18. ↑ "52,4 miljoen euro voor schilderij van Rubens". HLN. 7 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Eaker, Adam (4 April 2017). "Human Drama and Psychological Insight: Rubens's Lot and His Daughters". The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Blogs: Now at the Met).
  20. ↑ "Peter Paul Rubens: Lot made drunk by his daughters (Genesis 19:33-34)". RKD. 12 November 2017.
  21. ↑ "Louvre Museum Official Website". cartelen.louvre.fr.
  22. ↑ Tomisti (7 January 2019). "English: El Greco, The Baptism of Christ (1567). Historical Museum of Crete, Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete, Greece" – via Wikimedia Commons.
  23. ↑ "El Greco / Historical Museum of Crete". historical-museum.gr.
  24. ↑ "专访佳士得伦敦古典大师绘画部国际联合董事长雷森 "大师经典怎么买？"". wemedia.ifeng.com.
  25. ↑ "Paul Raison Fine Art".
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