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August 5 through October 26, 2014    El Greco (1541–1614) Vincenzo Anastagi, c. 1575 Oil on canvas 74 x 49 ⅞ inches The Frick Collection, New York Photo: Michael Bodycomb  El Greco’s Vincenzo Anastagi , acquired a century ago by Henry Clay Frick, is one of The Frick Collection’s most celebrated paintings and one of only two full-length portraits by the master. It was executed during the artist’s six-year stay in Rome, before he moved to Spain, where he spent the rest of his career. Much of the force of this work emanates from the resplendent half-armor worn by Anastagi. Rich highlights applied with broad brushstrokes accentuate the steel, its metallic sheen contrasting with the velvety texture of Anastagi’s green breeches and the dark crimson curtain.    Scipione Pulzone (c. 1540/42–98) Jacopo Boncompagni, 1574 Oil on canvas 48 x 39 ⅛ inches Private collection, courtesy of Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd. Photo: Michael Bodycomb  To mark the 400th anniversary of El Greco’s death, the Frick w

30 April – 21 September 2014 This spring, the National Gallery presents the first exhibition in Britain to explore the role of architecture in Italian Renaissance painting of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Domenico Veneziano, ‘Saint Zenobius Bishop of Florence restores to life a widow's son in Borgo degli Albizzi, Florence', about 1442-1448 © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge ' Building the Picture: Architecture in Italian Renaissance Painting ' aims to increase visitors' appreciation and understanding of some of the most beautiful and architectonic paintings by Italian masters such as Duccio , Botticelli , Crivelli and their contemporaries. Visitors will be encouraged to look in new ways at buildings depicted in paintings, and to investigate how artists invented imagined spaces that transcended the reality of bricks, mortar and marble.   With a record-breaking six million visits during 2013 , the National Gallery remains committed to researching and

An American in London: Whistler and the Thames,” opening May 3 at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, is the first major exhibition devoted to American artist James McNeill Whistler’s early period in London, and it is the largest U.S. display of his work in almost 20 years. The exhibition showcases changing views of the capital city’s iconic riverbanks and waterways, revealing how Whistler emerged as one of the most innovative and original artists of the 19th century while London evolved into a modern city. “Whistler was one of the most influential painters of his time, and now in a single show we’re able to look at the transformation of his work and the transformation of a city,” explained Julian Raby, The Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art. “This is a huge opportunity for the U.S. public to celebrate one of their greatest artistic figures.” On view through Aug. 17, the exhibition features more than 80 works from major muse

Coast Guard Boat I’ s detail and emphasis on light, embodies Edward Hopper's aesthetic from the summer of 1929, as the majority of his work from the period was in watercolor ( estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000).  Hopper preferred to use watercolor for his New England works as this medium was conducive to working  en plein air  and provided him a freedom not afforded by oil paint.  As is the case with Coast Guard Boat I,  Hopper often used water in his work as a means of introducing an element of motion into a scene that is otherwise dominated by stillness.  The beauty of  Coast Guard Boat I  lies in the contradiction between weightlessness and heft, motion and stillness. This tension is echoed by the ropes, which tether the boat to the shore. At once wanting to be of the sea yet firmly harnessed creates a sense of restlessness and even agitation to the otherwise serene, idyllic image. Milton Avery’s The Mandolin Player ( estimate: $800,000-1,200,000) is just one of the six

Christie’s spring sale of American Art on May 22 will offer total of 172 lots, with outstanding works of from a range of styles and genres, including Illustration, Modernism, Western Art, Nineteenth Century and American Impressionism.  This fantastic array of masterworks is led by Norman Rockwell’s The Rookie (Red Sox Locker Room) and Thomas Moran’s The Grand Canyon of the Colorado.   The Rookie illustration ©SEPS. Used with permission from Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, Indiana. All Rights Reserved The Rookie (Red Sox Locker Room) by Norman Rockwell, which has never been offered at auction, was painted in 1957 for the March 2 nd cover of The Saturday Evening Post and has remained in the same private collection for nearly thirty years.   It has been publicly exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston twice–once in 2005 and again in 2008–following World Series victories by the Red Sox. The work was painted in 1957 for the March 2nd cover of The Saturday Evening Post and has

  Boy Graduate Norman Rockwell, 1959, oil on canvas Two Children Praying Norman Rockwell, 1954, oil on canvas  Bridge Game - The Bid Norman Rockwell, 1948, oil on canvas After shattering attendance records with its debut in England, Norman Rockwell’s America, a comprehensive exhibition of the legendary illustrator’s 60-year career, opens at the Birmingham Museum of Art on September 16, 2012. Featuring more than 52 original paintings and all 323 vintage Saturday Evening Post covers, the exhibition visually chronicles the evolving landscape of American culture and society from 1916-1969 and is one of the largest Rockwell exhibitions to ever travel. Rockwell’s six-decade career depicts one of the most eventful periods in American history, spanning four wars, the Great Depression, the space race, and the Civil Rights Movement. Organized by the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island, the exhibition premiered to critical and popular acclaim at London’s Dulwich Pic

    The Städel Museum hosted an exhibition on Sandro Botticelli (1444/45–1510) from 13 November 2009 to 28 February 2010. Taking the artist’s monumental   Idealized Portrait of a Lady,    one of the Städel Museum collection’s highlights, as its starting point, the exhibition presented numerous works from all productive periods of this great master of the Renaissance in Italy about 500 years after his day of death (17 May 1510). The exhibition opened with portraits and allegorical paintings that illustrate the degree of sophistication with which Botticelli drew on this highly developed genre and enriched it with new impulses. While the second section centered on his famous mythological representations of goddesses and heroines of virtue, the third part iwa dedicated to his abundant religious oeuvre. With a total of more than forty works by Botticelli and his workshop, the show presented a comprehensive selection of his work surviving worldwide. Forty further exhibits, among them work