September 2009 | Photography by Langdon Clay | “Eyre Hall…all through its venerable existence but another name for everything elegant, graceful and delightful in Old Virginia life.” Fanny Fielding’s nostalgic reminiscence of Eyre Hall during the ownership of John Eyre depicts a place we would recognize today.1 Still to be found are “the timely-clipped hedges of box and dwarf-cedar,” “the …
An appreciation of Henry Ossawa Tanner
September 2009 | Within nine years of moving abroad, Henry Ossawa Tanner, America’s first major African American artist, had become an international success. By 1900 he ranked among the leading American artists in Paris and was widely considered the premier biblical painter of his day. Exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salon, he was attracting even greater critical acclaim than Thomas …
Great Estates: Ash Lawn-Highland in Charlottesville, Virginia
The onset of crisp autumn air can only mean one thing: apple season is finally here, making it a great time to head to the Piedmont region of Virginia, where dozens of varieties of apples are ripe for the picking. And while you’re there, why not take in a helping of Virginia’s history? You can do both on Carters Mountain …
Queries: Dressed portraits by Mary Way
Portrait miniatures, dressed fashion plates, and fabric pictures have been found in France, Italy, and England with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century examples also appearing in the United States. Dressed prints—the embellishment of fashion illustrations with fabrics to make them appear dressed—have been dated to the 1690s. The American artist Mary Way specialized in creating dressed portrait miniatures in the late eighteenth …
This Week’s Top Lots: September 14 – 18
* The first of several Asian art auctions kicked off this week with the Arthur M. Sackler collection sale at Christie’s New York on September 14, which totaled $3.2 million with 111 of 115 lots sold. The top lot was a 12th-11th century BC bronze ritual vessel that sold for $362,500 (estimate $20,000-30,000). Other top lots were a Qing Dynasty …
William Blake at the Morgan Library
For the first time in nearly a decade the Morgan Library has organized an exhibition devoted solely to the perpetually inspired British romantic watercolor painter, poet, and engraver William Blake. William Blake’s World: “A New Heaven Is Begun,” which is on view through January 3, 2010, brings together more than 100 examples of Blake’s own illuminated texts, engravings, and poetry …
Guest Blog: Art Inconnu
TheMagazineAntiques.com is very pleased to inaugurate a new bi-monthly series that features guest bloggers on topics related to art, antiques, archives, collecting, design, and more. Today we’ve invited Thomas of Art Inconnu—a blog devoted to forgotten and underappreciated artists—to share a selection of modern female painters included on his website. Here are his picks: Suzanne Lalique (French, 1898-1989) Best remembered …
Collecting Notes: 20th century lighting design
Although Louis Comfort Tiffany stills commands the lion’s share of the market for 20th-century lighting design, many collectors have eschewed these opulent art lamps for mass-produced lightning by international, often anonymous designers—embracing the functional as well as the aesthetic value of their designs. Several dealers have carved a niche in this specialized field, and I recently visited a few New …
This Week’s Top Lots: September 7 – 11
* The top lot of the September 9 sale of British pottery and porcelain at Bonhams New Bond Street was an 18th-century Worcester “Grubb” plate that sold for £20,400 (estimate £4,000-5,000). Other top lots were a signed 1821 creamware stallion that sold for £18,000 (estimate £8,000-12,000), and a mid-18th century Bow duck tureen (estimate £8,000-10,000) and a Worcester teapot (estimate …
Great Estates: Homewood Museum in Baltimore, Maryland
Homewood Museum, a National Historic Landmark on the campus of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the country’s finest Federal period houses. Based on a Palladian five part plan, it was built beginning in the summer of 1800, when Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the wealthiest men in …