Edvard Munch, Puberty, detail, 1914-1916, Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

MADRID - The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is hosting Edvard Munch. Archetypes, the first exhibition to be held on the Norwegian artist in Madrid since 1984. Organised with the generous collaboration of the Munch-Museet in Oslo, the show brings together a selection of eighty works by the artist, who is hailed today as one of the fathers of modern art along with Cézanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin.

The latest publications and most recent exhibitions have succeeded in freeing Munch of many of the stereotypes to which he has been subjected in order to show him not only as a universal symbol of the anguish and alienation of the modern man but, above all, as a key creator in shaping contemporary artistic sensitivity. Curated by Paloma Alarcó and Jon-Ove Steinaug, Edvard Munch. Archetypes aims to follow the same path, focusing on the most unknown aspects of his creative force and ability to synthesise contemporary man’s obsessions.

Although Munch never abandoned figurative art, he broke away from the visible world and explored the hidden spiritual dimension of reality in order to immortalise the most universal themes of life, love and death through an innovative artistic language that evolved from symbolism to expressionism. 

‘Against the current of the modern style’
Closely linked to the literary and artistic circles of his day throughout his lifetime, Edvard Munch contributed with his oeuvre to the advancement of modernity that took place in all areas of European culture in the late nineteenth century, together with prominent figures such as Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, Swedish writer August Strindberg and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Much’s art stems from a particular mixture of artistic traditions, progressive literary trends and esoteric speculations – not to mention Nordic myths – with which he creates a modern mythology with a determined experimental approach ‘against the current of the modern style’, as he stated. Using archetypes, primeval images of human behaviours, Munch succeeds in establishing multiple relations between the external signs of the physical world and the most hidden spiritual dimension.

Existential obsessions such as love, desire, angst, jealously, illness or death, and moods such as melancholy, loneliness or submission are shown in his work through the bodily attitude of the figures, who are paralysed in a sort of static tension at the precise moment when their gesture expresses the feeling they are intended to represent, and also determine the setting or spatial treatment of the composition. The flat, sinuous forms, symbolic colour, expressive distortion of the body and the use of experimental engraving textures and techniques are also essential elements of his artistic vocabulary.

‘Art comes from one human being’s compulsion to communicate to another’
The painter seeks to question the spectator with these direct, dramatic and intense images which attract and hold our attention. The forms and means of the artistic language should be subordinate to its ability to communicate and it is from this desire to reach as many people as possible that another of the essential aspects of his work springs: the obsessive repetition of thematic sequences; a perpetual recycling of images, which he reworks in different media, pushing the boundaries of traditional techniques in an unorthodox manner and experimenting with them to give rise to new meanings. Indeed, repetition is one of the basic features of the concept of archetype.

A long and prolific career
The exhibition brings together a total of  eighty works – many of them never previously shown in Spain – which span the Norwegian artist’s long and prolific career. Half of the loans are from the Munch-Museet in Oslo and the rest belong to other prestigious institutions from all over the world, such as the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Tate London, the MoMA in New York and the National Gallery of Washington, as well as a few international collections such as the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, the only one in Spain to own works by Munch both in its permanent collection and on deposit from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.

The exhibition layout is based around this large repertoire of emotional archetypes (melancholy, love, death…) and the various settings in which they are depicted (the coast, the sickroom, the abyss, the forest, night, the artist’s studio), combining early works with later versions, graphic work and paintings throughout the show in order to underline the thematic and existential circularity of his oeuvre.

Melancholy:
Influenced by impressionism and, above all, the symbolism of some turn-of-thecentury artists, Munch soon eschewed the naturalist trends of his formative years and broke away from all the artistic and social conventions of his day. In addition to an early landscape painted outdoors, this section brings together key works for understanding the painter’s future evolution, such as Evening (1888), which shows his sister Laura, who later suffered from mental illness, alone and selfengrossed.

Edvard Munch, Evening, 1888. Oil on canvas, 75 x 100,5 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

From this point onwards Munch shifted towards a formal reduction of the landscape and the faces of his figures gradually lost their features. Evening. Melancholy and its successive versions and Mother and Daughter and the Solitary Ones, from different periods, are examples of the new artistic, symbolic and poetic language that heightens the emotional intensity. The impressionistic technique that is still evident in the portrait of Laura is gradually replaced by a synthetic language of undulating brushstrokes, while the clashing colours and marked two-dimensionality distance him from the objective impressions of earlier art and convey subjective concepts.

Edvard Munch, Melancholy, 1892. Oil on canvas, 64 x 96 cm, Oslo Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design © Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design /The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. Photo Jacques Lathion © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Mother and Daughter, 1897. Oil on canvas, 135 x 163 cm, Oslo Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design © Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design /The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. Photo Jacques Lathion © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Death:
‘Disease and insanity and death were the black angels that stood by my cradle’, stated Edvard Munch, who nevertheless viewed them as an allegory of creativity. The painter regarded physical and mental deterioration as a state in which the aesthetic imagination could surpass the boundaries of reason and give rise to experimentation.

‘Most of what I have done since had its genesis  in this picture’; the Sick Child and its many variations in both painting and engraving are the embodiment of the existential feeling of fear of death and show this open creative process in which each version ‘contributes something to elicit what I felt during the first impression’.

Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, 1907. Tate, presented by Thomas Olsen 1939. Photo credit: ©Tate, London 2014 © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Death in the Sickroom (1896), with its theatrical setting imbued with drama and grief, and Agony, in which he represents the physical experience of death in his sketchy technique of large, expressive patches of colour, are some of the iconic works on view in this section.

Edvard Munch, Death Struggle, 1915. Oil on canvas, 174 x 230 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Panic:
In parallel with the scientific and technological innovations of the second half of the nineteenth century, the new, crowded urban environment changed modern man’s perception of his relationship with the world. Anguish, anxiety and uncertainty suddenly replaced old ideals and convictions. Munch was terrified of crowds and found the city traumatic – a place of stress and agitation where man was subjected to many negative experiences.

The lithographic version of The Scream on view in the exhibition contains all the existential anguish of the original work, in which a beautiful leisure space is transformed into a scene of disintegration and destruction of a rational order, and the sinister figure with a skull-like head grimacing in horror desperately seeks our gaze, while covering his ears to blot out the sound of the deafening shriek that surrounds him. Other engravings and woodcuts on display in the gallery, such as Angst, Panic and Panic in Oslo, represent visual dramas with terrified figures who are swept along by the anonymous, anguished seething crowds in the city’s streets.

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982 © 2015 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence.

Woman:
Munch made women the centre of his pictorial universe. Woman (1925) represents three stages in the biological process of women’s sex life: the femme fragile, the femme fatale and the mature woman. A synthesis of his conception of women based on these two opposite archetypes would be repeated throughout his oeuvre: the idealised woman (femme fragile) and the demonised woman (femme fatale).

Edvard Munch, Woman, 1925. Oil on canvas, 155 x 230 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

The first – the ideal, chaste and delicate woman – is found in Puberty (1914–16) and Summer Night. The Voice (1894), works with which Munch succeeded in establishing an unparalleled paradigm of the awakening of sexuality in women, creating a model that would later be imitated by artists such as Schiele, Kirchner and Picasso; and the other image of the seductive, threatening and dominating women appears in works such as the Woman with Red Hair and Green Eyes. Sin (1902).

Edvard Munch, Puberty, 1914-1916. Oil on canvas, 97 x 77 cm. Oslo, Munch-museet.  Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Melodrama:
The theatre of Ibsen and Strindberg influenced the composition of some of the Norwegian artist’s paintings, as can be seen in the Green Room series. The figures appear to be on a small stage, converted into actors moving before us with distorted expressions of anxiety and pain or in an introspective attitude. The space is stifling, with a cluttered interior decorated with wallpaper and overly large furniture, accentuating the sensation of claustrophobia.

Jealousy, in its various painted or lithographic versions, brings male and female figures face-to-face with the spectator, once again showing him to be in tune with his friend Strindberg, who also dealt with the subject in his writings and in a painting; for both, the experience of love stimulates feelings of jealously, anguish, uncertainty or despair.

Edvard Munch, Jealousy, 1913. Oil on canvas, 83,5 x 130 cm. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, deposition from a private collection. Photo Credit: © Städel Museum - ARTOTHEK © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Love:
In most depictions of love in Munch’s oeuvre there is a certain delight in this dark side of feelings. Such is the case of The Kiss, of which there are several versions in this gallery, and in which the intertwined figures gradually lose their identity, from the earliest compositions in which the two figures appear kissing passionately by a window, to graphic versions showing the total symbiosis of the lovers in an abstract form.

Edvard Munch, The Kiss IV, 1902. Williamstown, Massachussetts, Sterling and Francine Clarck Institute © Sterling and Francine Clarck Institute, Williamstown, Massachussetts, USA (photo by Michael Agee) © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

The versions of Vampire display a perverse sensuality, with the naked figure embracing its victim, a man in a submissive position enveloped by her long red hair as she saps his vital energy; and the kiss turns into a bite and the symbol of possession, both physical and psychological.

Edvard Munch, Vampire in the Forest, 1916–18. Oil on canvas, 150 x 137 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Murder, 1906. Oil on canvas, 69,5 x 100 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Nocturnal scenes:
Taking as a point of departure the landscape as a reflection of emotional tension, Munch’s night scenes have an even more accentuated psychic content thanks to their full repertoire of signs such as shadows, trees and rocks, which stand between vision
and sensorial perception, between the outside and inner worlds.

The simplification of forms and intense interplay of backlighting lead spectators to focus their attention especially on the picture surface. In Under the Stars (1900–5), the lovers embrace on a dark, starry night of floating shadows; and in Winter Night (1900–1) and The Red House in the Snow (1925–26), the trees appear to emerge from the unconscious and the shadows create a sensation of concern and restlessness.

Edvard Munch, Under the Stars, 1900–5. Oil on canvas, 90 x 120 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, The Storm, 1893. Oil on canvas, 91,8 x 130,8 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Irgens Larsen and acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Funds. Digital image © 2014 The Museum of Modern Art/Scala, Florence © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Starry Night, 1922–24. Oil on canvas, 140 x 119 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Vitalism:
Edvard Munch returned to Norway in 1909 after a long voluntary exile in France and Germany. A nationalist and harmonious feeling and the wish to rethink his art gave rise to a new creative period that led him to focus on more earthly subjects and produce more heroic and vitalist works in a colourful and monumental style with new motifs such as working the land, rural scenes and the seasons.

The Apple (1921), Adam and Eve (1909) and Girls on the Pier (1933–35) are a good example of this new creative side. Many of these compositions feature the image of the tree, robust specimens that express vital force and symbolise the metabolic chain of life; a perfect blend of the role of the tree in Nordic mythology – the Vikings regarded it as the centre of the universe – and Christian tradition, in that it represents both the world before the fall and temptation.

Edvard Munch, Adam and Eve, 1909.Oil on canvas, 130 x 202 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Girls on the Pier, 1933–35. Oil on canvas, 80,5 x 69,3 cm. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Self-portrait in front of the House Wall, 1926. Oil on canvas, 91,5 x 73 cm. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Nudes:
By converting his figures into personifications of passions and feelings, Munch uses the human body to formulate these emotions and many of the nude figures found in his paintings thus bear little relation to the pictorial problem of depicting the nude. However, in the works with single figures, often based on studio models, Munch plays with the optical and tactile corporal qualities of the nude, giving priority to the sensual and convulsive beauty of the body over the emotions; this can be seen in Crying Female Nude or Kneeling Female Nude.

Edvard Munch, Kneeling Female Nude, 1919. Oil on canvas, 100,3 x 120,7 cm. Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston, Texas © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

Edvard Munch, Standing Nude Against Blue Blackground, 1925–30. Oil on canvas, 137,5 x 119 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

 Edvard Munch, The Artist and his Model, 1919–21. Oil on canvas, 128 x 153 cm. Munch-museet, Oslo. Photo © Munch Museum © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / VEGAP, Madrid, 2015

 From 6 October 2015 to 17 January 2016

Fruhstorferia anthracina

Fruhstorferia nigromuelleri

Fruhstorferia kinabalensis

Fruhstorferia flavipennis

Fruhstorferia nigromuliebris, male

Fruhstorferia nigromuliebris, female

Jacques Dubois (1694-1763), Commode en laque à décor de scènes chinoises, Epoque Louis XV. Estimation : 80 000/100 000 €. Photo Hôtel des ventes d’Avignon SVV

Commode à façade et côtés galbés en laque et bois laquéà décor de scènes chinoises dans des paysages arborés et animés. Elle ouvre par deux tiroirs sans traverse et présente sur le dessus un plateau de marbre "portor" mouluréà gorge. Très belle ornementation de bronzes ciselés dorés et redorés de style rocaille, très mouvementée, faite de courbes et contrecourbes à décor de rinceaux, motifs végétaux, chutes, filets et sabots sur les montants et les pieds. Dim.: 88x114x56 cm. Reprises à la laque et au bois laqué, altérations, petites fentes et déformation à la jointure séparant les deux tiroirs. Porte un poinçon de jurande sur le haut d'un montant arrière et l'estampille de Jacques DUBOIS.

Samedi 26 septembre à 14h15, Avignon. Hôtel des ventes d’Avignon SVV. M. Delmas, Expert.

Adam and Eve Teapot, China, Qianlong period. Estimate : 3 000 € / 4 000 €.  Photo Marques Dos Santos

globular form, decoration in gold, coral and grisaille representing Adam and Eve in paradise.

Ex Mottahedeh Collection 

Reproduced in HERVOUËT "La Porcelaine ... ", p. 258, image 11.1. Sticker from Mottahedeh Collection 'mo10'. Jorge Welsh

MARQUES DOS SANTOS , PORTO. L'Art de la Théière - Collection privée de Porcelaine Chinoise, le 26 Septembre 2015 à 15h30

Double walled Teapot, China, Kangxi period. Estimate : 3 000 € / 4 000 €.  Photo Marques Dos Santos

of glubular shape. decorated in underglaze blue with floral motifs. Double-walled, openwork of honeycombs and navettes. Jorge Welsh sticker to bottom. Dim.: 17,6cm. 

MARQUES DOS SANTOS , PORTO. L'Art de la Théière - Collection privée de Porcelaine Chinoise, le 26 Septembre 2015 à 15h30

Famille Verte Douple Spout Teapot, China, Kangxi period. Estimate : 3 000 € / 5 000 €.  Photo Marques Dos Santos

of oblong lobed shape, double spout and arch handle, decorated with chrysantemum and plum blossom motifs in polychrome famille verte enamels. Jorge Welsh sticker. Dim.: 19cm.

MARQUES DOS SANTOS , PORTO. L'Art de la Théière - Collection privée de Porcelaine Chinoise, le 26 Septembre 2015 à 15h30

Famille Verte Teapot, China, Kangxi period. Estimate : 2 500 € / 3 500 €.  Photo Marques Dos Santos.

baluster ribbed shape and arch handle, decorated in famille verte enamels with censer and flower vases reserves on a floral ground. Dim:. 20cm.

MARQUES DOS SANTOS , PORTO. L'Art de la Théière - Collection privée de Porcelaine Chinoise, le 26 Septembre 2015 à 15h30

Famille Verte Teapot, China, Kangxi period. Estimate : 2 500 € / 3 500 €.  Photo Marques Dos Santos.

of baluster lobed shape and arch handle, decorated in famille verte enamels with alternating floral reserves. Stickers to underside: Santos, London and Fayerman Collection. Dim.: 17,5cm.

MARQUES DOS SANTOS , PORTO. L'Art de la Théière - Collection privée de Porcelaine Chinoise, le 26 Septembre 2015 à 15h30

Carmen Dell’Orefice & Strands of Pearls. Photo: Sotheby's.

The timeless elegance of pearls perfectly suits this portrait of supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice. These two strands of pearls can be worn together or separate; take a cue from this photograph and even fasten the two together with a bow!

 Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004), Carmen Dell’Orefice, gelatin silver print, the Sean Byrnes collection stamp on the reverse, circa 1980, 14 3/8  by 14 1/4  in.  (36.5 by 36.2 cm.). Estimate 1,000 — 2,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: The collection of Sean Byrnes

Two Platinum, Cultured Pearl and Diamond Necklaces. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

The first strand composed of 49 cultured pearls measuring approximately 12.4 to 8.5 mm, the clasp set with round diamonds weighing approximately .50 carat, length 20 inches; the second strand composed of 45 cultured pearls measuring approximately 12.2 to 8.5 mm, the clasp set with round diamonds weighing approximately .50 carat, length 18 inches. 

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF DOLORES SHERWOOD BOSSHARD 

Sotheby's. IMPORTANT JEWELS, 24–25 September | New York - Sotheby's. FRANCESCO SCAVULLO: NO END TO BEAUTY, 16 October

Liza Minnelli & Van Cleef & Arpels Cufflinks. Photo: Sotheby's.

Who says cufflinks and dress sets should be reserved for the boys? Women too should incorporate such accessories into their collections – as Liza Minnelli does in this photograph. This reversible set will go with whatever look suits you.

Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004), Liza Minnelli, gelatin silver print, the photographer's credit stamp the reverse, 1967, printed later (Scavullo: 1948-1984, p. 157), 11 7/8  by 8 1/8  in.  (30.2 by 20.6 cm.). Estimate 1,000 — 2,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: The collection of Sean Byrnes

Pair of 18 Karat Gold, Platinum, Ruby and Sapphire Cufflinks, Van Cleef & Arpels, France. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

The reversible designs, set on one side with four cabochon rubies and on the other side with four cabochon sapphires, both cufflinks signed Van Cleef Et Arpels, both numbered 64090, with French assay and maker's marks. With signed box.

Sotheby's. IMPORTANT JEWELS, 24–25 September | New York - Sotheby's. FRANCESCO SCAVULLO: NO END TO BEAUTY, 16 October

Diana Vreeland & Verdura Cuff-Bracelets. Photo: Sotheby's.

Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004), Diana Vreeland, gelatin silver print, the photographer's credit stamp on the reverse, 1975, printed later (Scavullo: 50 Years p. 34); 9 1/2  by 9 1/2  in.  (24.1 by 24.1 cm.). Estimate 800 — 1,200 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: The collection of Sean Byrnes

Note: “Allure personified. Vreeland was always Vreeland." —Francesco Scavullo, Scavullo: Photographs 50 Years

18 Karat Gold, Colored Stone, Pearl and Diamond 'Maltese Cross' Cuff-Bracelet, Verdura. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Composed of cocholong, decorated at the front with a Maltese cross set with round diamonds weighing approximately 1.80 carats, accented by pearls, pink tourmalines and an emerald, internal circumference 6½ inches, signed Verdura. With signed box. 

Please note the pearls have not been tested for natural origin.

Sotheby's. IMPORTANT JEWELS, 24–25 September | New York - Sotheby's. FRANCESCO SCAVULLO: NO END TO BEAUTY, 16 October

Lena Horne & Aldo Cipullo Earclips. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lena Horne’s chic pixie cut is the perfect canvas with which to display these rich Aldo Cipullo designs. Reach for bold button-shaped earclips to accessorize a classic, tailored outfit.

Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004), Lena Horne, screenprint on canvas, signed and dated in ink on the reverse, 1984 (Scavullo: Woman, p. 111); 43 7/8  by 32 3/8  in.  (124.1 by 82.2 cm.). Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: The collection of Sean Byrnes

Note: This image also appears in Scavullo's Song portfolio. This canvas was executed by Andy Warhol's master printer, Rupert Jasen Smith.

Pair of 18 Karat Gold Earclips, Aldo Cipullo. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

The pyramid-shaped earclips, gross weight approximately 24 dwts, signed A. Cipullo.

Sotheby's. IMPORTANT JEWELS, 24–25 September | New York - Sotheby's. FRANCESCO SCAVULLO: NO END TO BEAUTY, 16 October

Madonna & Statement Earrings. Photo: Sotheby's.

Statement earrings are one of fall’s hottest accessories. These elongated pink sapphire designs are the perfect match for Madonna’s punk rock style in this portrait.

Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004), Madonna, chromogenic print, flush mounted, signed and dated twice in ink and with the photographer's credit stamp twice on the reverse, 1984 (Scavullo: 1948-1984, pp. 148-9); 41 1/4  by 41 1/4  in.  (104.8 by 104.8 cm.). Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: The collection of Sean Byrnes

Note: “Oh my God, it’s Baby Dietrich.” - Francesco Scavullo on Madonna, Interview Magazine

Pair of 18 Karat White Gold, Purple Sapphire and Diamond Earclips. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Of columnar design, set with ten oval-shaped purple sapphires weighing approximately 29.00 carats, framed and accented by round diamonds weighing approximately 3.25 carats, signed Fred Leighton.

Sotheby's. IMPORTANT JEWELS, 24–25 September | New York - Sotheby's. FRANCESCO SCAVULLO: NO END TO BEAUTY, 16 October

A pair of gilt copper and coral candlesticks, Trapani, 17th century. Estimate: € 20,000 / € 30,000. Photo Wannenes Art Auction.

basic triangular section with volute feet, baluster stem, bobeche engraved cylindrical, surface and 'covered with coral branches cut quill, comma, rosette, a small sphere and foglia- wear, defects, some omissions and substitutions Alt. 48 cm, larg. 14.5 cm

NoOur chandeliers are part of an important and critical selection of works on display in 2013 in Catania and Trapani on the occasion of the exhibition 'The corals Trapani seventeenth and eighteenth century' and published on its catalog (AA.VV, eds, 'The great masterpieces of coral', Milan, 2013, p. 120, pl. 54). bibliography: A. Daneu, 'The Art of Trapani coral', sl 1975 Tav. XIV (b)

WANNENES ART AUCTIONS , 16123 GENES. Furniture, Scupture and Work of Art from the Collection of Salvatore Iermano and Guiseppe Tirenna, 23 Septembre 2015 à 10h et 15h30

A copper, coral and mother of pearl capezzale, Trapani, 17th century. Estimate: € 20,000 / € 30,000. Photo Wannenes Art Auction.

octagonal frame embellished with dots and commas in coral and leaves in the middle and pearlescent 'depicted the Immacolata- wear, defects, some omissions and substitutions Alt. 23.5 cm, larg. 20 cm. 

For comparison see such an exemplary display at Palazzo Madama in Turin (29 July to 28 September 2008), the exhibition 'Red coral, precious arts Sicilian Baroque' and published in its catalog (AA.VV., Milano 2008, pl. 17, p. 46).

WANNENES ART AUCTIONS , 16123 GENES. Furniture, Scupture and Work of Art from the Collection of Salvatore Iermano and Guiseppe Tirenna, 23 Septembre 2015 à 10h et 15h30

A gilt bronze and copper, enamels, coral and wood capezzale, Trapani, 18th century. Estimate: €10,000 / € 15,000. Photo Wannenes Art Auction.

frame octagonal spiked volute opposing enamel and white coral, flowers and masks applied on the copper plate inciso the center and 'depicted Sant Antonio cherubini- wear, defects, some failures and replacements Alt. 29 cm, larg. 27 cm

WANNENES ART AUCTIONS , 16123 GENES. Furniture, Scupture and Work of Art from the Collection of Salvatore Iermano and Guiseppe Tirenna, 23 Septembre 2015 à 10h et 15h30

A coral and copper box, Trapani, 17th-18th century. Estimate: €6,000 / € 8,000. Photo Wannenes Art Auction.

rectangular section, resting on four legs, surface engraved in naturalistic motifs embellished with dots, commas and pods in coral cover by taking coral scene depicting mitologica- wear, defects Some failures and replacements Alt. 18 cm, larg. 35 cm, prof. 27 cm

WANNENES ART AUCTIONS , 16123 GENES. Furniture, Scupture and Work of Art from the Collection of Salvatore Iermano and Guiseppe Tirenna, 23 Septembre 2015 à 10h et 15h30

A pair of copper, coral and silver vases, Trapani, 17th century. Estimate: €2,500 / € 3,500. Photo Wannenes Art Auction.

circular base, rounded body and decorated with silver bands and dots and commas in coral, two volute handles, silver leaves and fruits in corallo- wear, defects, some failures and replacements Alt. 15.5 cm, larg. cm 6

WANNENES ART AUCTIONS , 16123 GENES. Furniture, Scupture and Work of Art from the Collection of Salvatore Iermano and Guiseppe Tirenna, 23 Septembre 2015 à 10h et 15h30

The Battersea shield. Iron Age, c. 350–50 BC. Found in the River Thames, London, England. © Trustees of the British Museum

LONDON.- Celts: art and identity opens at the British Museum on 24 September and draws on the latest research from Britain, Ireland and Western Europe. The exhibition tells the story of the different peoples who have used or been given the name ‘Celts’ through the stunning art objects that they made, including intricately decorated jewellery, highly stylised objects of religious devotion, and the decorative arts of the late 19th century which were inspired by the past. The exhibition then opens at the National Museum Scotland in March 2016. As part of the National Programme activity around the Celts exhibition, the British Museum and National Museums Scotland are showcasing two rare Iron Age mirrors as a Spotlight tour to partner museums across the UK.

Double-faced horned Iron Age statue, perhaps representing a god. Holzgerlingen, Germany, 4th–2nd century BC. © P Frankenstein/H Zwietasch, Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart.

Today the word ‘Celtic’ is associated with the distinctive cultures, languages, music and traditions of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. Yet the name Celts was first recorded thousands of years earlier, around 500 BC, when the ancient Greeks used it to refer to peoples living across a broad swathe of Europe north of the Alps. The Greeks saw these outsiders as barbarians, far removed from the civilised world of the Mediterranean. They left no written records of their own, but today archaeology is revealing new insights into how they lived. Modern research suggests that these were disparate groups rather than a single people, linked by their unique stylised art. This set them apart from the classical world, but their technological accomplishments stand on a par with the finest achievements of Greek and Roman artists. 

The Great Torc from Snettisham. Iron Age, about 75 BC. Found at Ken Hill, Snettisham, Norfolk, England. © Trustees of the British Museum

A stunning example in the exhibition, from National Museums Scotland, is a hoard of gold torcs found at Blair Drummond in Stirling in 2009 by a metal detectorist on his very first outing. Excavations showed they had been buried inside a timber building, probably a shrine, in an isolated, wet location. These four torcs made between 300–100 BC show widespread connections across Iron Age Europe. Two are made from spiralling gold ribbons, a style characteristic of Scotland and Ireland. Another is a style found in south-western France although analysis of the Blair Drummond gold suggests it was made locally based on French styles. The final torc is a mixture of Iron Age details with embellishments on the terminals typical of Mediterranean workshops. It shows technological skill, a familiarity with exotic styles, and connections to a craftworker or workshop with the expertise to make such an object. The Blair Drummond find brings together the local and the highly exotic in one hoard. 

The Gundestrup cauldron. Iron Age, c. 100 BC–AD 1. Found in Gundestrup, northern Jutland, Denmark. © The National Museum of Denmark.

Although Britain and Ireland were never explicitly referred to as Celtic by the Greeks and Romans, some 2,000 years ago these islands were part of a world of related art, values, languages and beliefs which stretched from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. During the Roman period and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, communities in Ireland and northern and western Britain developed distinct identities. The art and objects which they made expressed first their difference to the Romans, but later the new realities of living in a conquered land or on the edges of the Roman world. These communities were among the first in Britain to become Christian, and missionaries from the north and west helped to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons. The exhibition includes iron hand-bells used to call the faithful to prayer, elaborately illustrated gospel books telling the story of Jesus’s life, and beautifully carved stone crosses that stood as beacons of belief in the landscape. An exceptionally rare gilded bronze processional cross from Tully Lough, Ireland (AD 700-800), is displayed in Britain for the first time. Used during ceremonies and as a mobile symbol of Christianity, the design of this hand-held cross may have inspired some stone crosses, but metal examples rarely survive. Its decorative plates show the wider artistic connections of its makers: three-legged swirls and crescent shapes owe much to earlier Celtic traditions; other geometric motifs echo Roman designs, while interlace designs were popular across Europe and probably inspired by Anglo-Saxon art St John's Rinnagan crucifixion plaque, AD AD 700–800. © National Museum of Ireland.

St John's Rinnagan crucifixion plaque, AD 700–800. © National Museum of Ireland.

The name Celts had fallen out of use after the Roman period, but it was rediscovered during the Renaissance. From the sixteenth century it became increasingly used as shorthand for the pre-Roman peoples of Western Europe. In the early 1700s, the languages of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man were given the name ‘Celtic’, based on the name used by the Greeks and Romans 2000 years before. In the context of a continually shifting political and religious landscape, ‘Celtic’ acquired a new significance as the peoples of these Atlantic regions sought to affirm their difference and independence from their French and English neighbours, drawing on long histories of distinctive local identities. First used by the ancient Greeks as a way to label outsiders, the word ‘Celtic’ was now proudly embraced to express a sense of shared ancestry and heritage. 

Hunterston brooch. Silver, gold and amber Hunterston, south-west Scotland, AD 700–800. © National Museums Scotland.

Over the following centuries, the Celtic revival movement led to the creation of a re-imagined, romanticised Celtic past, expressed in art and literature such as the painting ‘The Druids: Bringing in the Mistletoe’ by George Henry and Edward Atkinson Hornel, 1890. Druids emerge from a grove of oaks where they have been ceremonially gathering mistletoe in this romantic Victorian reimagining of a scene described by Roman author Pliny the Elder. In an attempt to evoke an authentic Scottish past, the artists incorporated things that they thought of as Celtic: spiral motifs, the brilliant colours of illuminated manuscripts and a snake design inspired by Pictish stones. The painters claimed the faces were based on ancient ‘druid’ skulls. But the features of the central druid were really inspired by photographs of Native Americans. 

St Chad gospels. Vellum, AD 700–800. Used by permission of the Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral. © Trustees of the British Museum

Today, the word Celtic continues to have a powerful resonance. It calls to mind the ever shifting relationships between the different nations that make up Britain and Ireland, and their diaspora communities around the world. The idea of the Celts also confronts us with the long history of interaction between Britain and the rest of Europe.  

Romano-British bronze and enamel pan with the names of forts along Hadrian’s Wall. Staffordshire Moorlands, England, c. AD 150. Bronze, enamel. Jointly owned by the British Museum, Tullie House Museum and Stoke Potteries. © Trustees of the British Museum

Spotlight tour: Reflecting on the Celts 
From Autumn 2015 to Autumn 2016, as part of the National Programme activity around the Celts exhibition, the British Museum and National Museums Scotland are profiling two Iron Age mirrors, one discovered in England and one in Scotland, as a Spotlight tour to partner museums across the UK. 

Circular bronze shield boss with a pair of stylised birds. Dredged from the River Thames near Wandsworth, London, 300–200 BC. Drawing by Craig Williams.  © Trustees of the British Museum

Metal mirrors with a polished reflective surface on one side and swirling designs on the reverse were first made around 100 BC. They are rare objects, and were only made in Britain. Two thousand years ago, these mirrors might have held a special kind of power in a world where reflections could otherwise only be glimpsed in water. 

The two mirrors tell very different stories, revealing both similarities and local differences. The Spotlight Tour explores the relationships between communities across Britain 2,000 years ago, in a world that was being rocked by a new upheaval: the Roman conquest of southern Britain. 

Horned helmet, Iron Age, 150-50 BC. From the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge, London, England. © Trustees of the British Museum

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said “the word Celtic brings together a series of moments across the history of western Europe when particular communities made art and objects that reflect a different, non-Mediterranean, way of thinking about the world. New research is challenging our preconception of the Celts as a single people, revealing the complex story of how this name has been used and appropriated over the last 2,500 years. While the Celts are not a distinct race or genetic group that can be traced through time, the word ‘Celtic’ still resonates powerfully today, all the more so because it has been continually redefined to echo contemporary concerns over politics, religion and identity.” 

Slab of grey sandstone with a cross on one side. From Monifieth, Angus, Scotland, c. AD 800–900. © National Museums Scotland.

Decorated bronze mirror, Iron Age, 50 BC - AD 50. From Desborough, Northamptonshire, England. © Trustees of the British Museum

Holcombe mirror, Iron Age, Bronze, about AD 30 — 70, Uplyme, East Devon, England. © Trustees of the British Museum

Balmaclellan mirror, Bronze – Balmaclellan, south-west Scotland, AD 80–250© National Museums Scotland

Gordon Rintoul, National Museums Scotland Director said “Encompassing the latest research from across Europe the exhibition explores the history of the peoples who became known as Celts and examines the powerful objects created and used by them. I am delighted that this collaboration with the British Museum has allowed us to present a stronger, more rounded exhibition than either of the institutions could have achieved on their own. I am sure that audiences in Edinburgh and London will find much to engage, enthuse and inspire them.”

Iron Age pony cap, Bronze – Torrs, south-west Scotland, 300–100 BC© National Museums Scotland

Iron Age Coin, Gold – Ruscombe, Berkshire, England, 50–20 BC© The Trustees of the British Museum

Massive-style brass armlet. Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, AD 50–150. © National Museums Scotland.

Bell shrine containing an iron hand-bell thought to have belonged to St Cuilean. Glankeen, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Bell: AD 600–800, shrine: AD 1100–1200. © Trustees of the British Museum

George Henry (1858–1943) and Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864–1933), The Druids Bringing in the Mistletoe. Oil on canvas, 1890. Lent by Glasgow Life (Glasgow Museums) on behalf of Glasgow City Council.

Poster for the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts by Herbert McNair, Margaret and Frances Macdonald. Lithograph ink on paper. 1894. © The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2015.

Pewter tea set designed by Manx jeweller Archibald Knox for Liberty, London, 1903. © Trustees of the British Museum

The Riders of the Sidhe, Tempera on canvas, John Duncan, 1911, © Dundee City Council (Dundee’s Art Galleries and Museums)

‘Prince of swords’ card from the Druid Craft tarot, illustrated by Will Worthington. Tarot deck produced by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, authored by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. Image © Will Worthington.

‘Tattoo #4’ by Glenn Malone is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

A painting of Shizu, better known as Kublai Khan, as he would have appeared in the 1260s. 

ULAN BATOR (AFP).- Mongolia on Wednesday celebrated the 800th birthday of epic conqueror Kublai Khan, a source of intense pride in a country trying to highlight its own history after centuries of Russian and Chinese influence.  

A week of nationwide celebrations honouring the 13th-century ruler of the largest contiguous land empire in history culminated in Ulan Bator with costumed dancers and musicians performing beneath a giant statue of his grandfather Genghis. 

The commemorations were meant to "honour and value the contribution of Kublai Khan to Mongolian and world history", government minister S. Bayartsogt said earlier. 

"There was a time when we had to deny our history. However, the new path of democracy Mongolia chose has enabled Mongolian people to restore our history and understand it."  

The Mongol Empire reached its greatest extent after Kublai conquered China and established the Yuan dynasty in 1271. 

Its armies were known for their strategy, tactics, speed -- and brutality in the face of resistance. The siege and destruction of Baghdad in 1258 was notable for the monumental scale of the carnage. 

After spending most of the 20th century as a satellite of the Soviet Union, which rejected the public honouring of traditional leaders from the pre-Communist era, figures of the Mongol Empire are experiencing a rebirth in popularity.  

"Kublai Khan created the map of modern Asia and made China into a world power," author and Mongol history expert Jack Weatherford told AFP.  

"Today's world was shaped by Genghis Khan and his grandson Kublai Khan; they were the two most important men of the last thousand years."  

The National Museum of Mongolia has been displaying artifacts from the era of Kublai Khan and the Yuan dynasty, with ornate weapons, armour and clothing.  

"In Mongolia, Kublai is known as Kublai'The Wise'," said museum researcher Egiimaa Tseveendorj.  

"Genghis Khan is known as a military leader, but Kublai was a king who organised an enormous kingdom, not only by conquering it, but with administration, politics, trade, diplomacy, science, religion and production," she added.  

"In the period of Kublai Khan the Silk Road, which facilitated trade with the West, experienced a new era of prosperity." 

My name is Kublai 
China also claims Kublai Khan as its own, raising hackles in Mongolia, which is wary of being overshadowed by its giant southern neighbour and biggest trading partner. 

The site of medieval Xanadu, which ultimately became the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty and is now in China's Inner Mongolia region, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2012 after an application by Beijing.  

"We want to correct history," S. Chuluun, director of Mongolia's  Institute of History and Archeology, told a local newspaper.  

"It's every Mongolian's duty to inform the world that Xanadu is actually a Mongolian creation."  

China is home to twice as many ethnic Mongols as in Mongolia, and some gathered early Wednesday to pay respects at a bronze statue near the Xanadu ruins, known as Shangdu in China. 

But Kublai's legacy is more complicated in the country, where Beijing stresses ethnic unity, and there were no official celebrations. 

Nowadays Mongolia's citizens are looking for a more personal connection to the once powerful khans.  

The latest trend is to name children after past rulers and members of Genghis Khan's royal bloodline.  

"In the past this was not popular, but for the last 10 years, many Mongolian children have been given the names of past khans or queens," Egiimaa said.  

"I think after this year's celebration, Kublai's name will become very popular for new babies." 

By: Eland Mann © 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse