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International news in brief — August 2010

Spanish Armada to adorn House of Lords, Staying power of sticky rice, Long-lost treasures discovered in Naples bank vault, and more

By The Art Newspaper. Web only
Published online: 25 August 2010

Spanish Armada to adorn House of Lords

A series of six huge paintings depicting the Spanish Armada will be hung in the House of Lords, more than 150 years after they were planned. They represent replacements for a set of 1595 tapestries, possibly the finest in Britain, which were destroyed when the Palace of Westminster was burnt down in 1834. After the new palace was completed, the intention was to replace the tapestries with painted copies based on 1739 engravings, but only one was completed by British artist Richard Burchett in the early 1860s. The remaining five, all 14ft long, were recently painted on canvas by a team under British artist Anthony Oakshett. In September they will be hung in the Prince’s Chamber. The £420,000 cost was met by Mark Pigott, a US truck manufacturer who has lived in Britain since the 1980s. Pigott recently bought the Twisden portrait of Elizabeth I (sold at Christie’s in 2006 and then with dealer Philip Mould), which is temporarily on loan to the House of Lords. M.B.

Staying power of sticky rice

While the Romans added volcanic ash to their lime mortar, scientists have discovered the secret ingredient ancient Chinese builders added to their mortar mixture to give it its superior strength—sticky rice. A team from China analysed mortar samples from ancient structures and determined that they contained amylopectin, an organic substance commonly found in sticky rice soup. They also found the inorganic compound calcium carbonate, making the Chinese one of the first civilisations to widely use composite mortar. The aim of the study was to find suitable materials to use in the restoration of ancient masonry structures. According to the study, rice is not only a suitable additive, it improves the mortar’s mechanical strength and physical properties. E.S.

Long-lost treasures discovered in Naples bank vault

A cache of long-lost treasures has been rediscovered by the director of the Naples historical archives, Diego Guida. The cache includes a large embossed silver crown from the 18th century, crosses, monstrances set with precious stones, amphorae, silver and gold incense burners, precious baptismal bowls and many more treasures deposited in the vaults of the Bank of Naples. Guida located them by consulting old city plans. The cache had been hidden away in the vaults for decades, and the objects were originally donated by the nobility to the religious institutes that looked after the “children of shame” who were abandoned at the Ruota (a wooden rotating drum). “When the religious institutes were closed down in the 19th century everything was placed in the bank’s deposits,” says Guida. He became fascinated with the stories of abandoned children taken in by the religious institutes (the first were founded in 1318), and unearthed documents relating to the rich donations made to the institutes in exchange for the care of their illegitimate children. The objects are currently on display in the rooms of the Bank of Naples, and will be transferred to the museum of Castel Nuovo (better known as Maschio Angioino) at the end of the summer, where they will be permanently housed. Tina Lepri

New cultural complex in Modena to house photo, video and film collection

A leading Italian bank foundation has revealed plans for a major new €50m cultural centre to be housed in a former hospital in the northern city of Modena. Andrea Landi, president of La Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, told our sister paper Il Giornale dell’Arte that a photography centre will form part of the new complex which is set to open in 2015 on the central Sant’Agostino ancient hospital site. “The venue will house our photography, video and film collection launched in 2007. We currently own 437 works by 82 Italian and international artists [including Franco Vaccari, Luigi Ghirri and Olivo Barbieri],” says Landi. The new venue will also house the prestigious Estense Library, which was established in Modena in the 17th century, as well as the municipal Luigi Poletti library of art and architecture, both of which are currently housed in the Palazzo dei Musei. Gae Aulenti, the Italian architect responsible for converting Paris’s Gare d'Orsay from a railway station to a museum (1982-85), has been selected to oversee the renovation. Rooms on the Sant’Agostino site have already been transformed into large-scale exhibition areas for one-off cultural events. A.M.

New gallery for Byzantine art at Athens museum

The Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens has opened a gallery of its post-Byzantine collections entitled “From Byzantium to the Modern Era”. Funded by the European Union and the Greek ministry of culture, the 1,400 sq. m exhibition is divided into four sections: secular life; the temples of the new religion; Christianisation of the ancient temples; old forms, new symbols. The latter section includes a table support dating from the fourth century, discovered on the Greek island of Aegina, and a third-century fragment from a marble, columnar sarcophagus found in Smyrna, Turkey. “It has been suggested that this fragment belongs with four others exhibited in the Byzantine Museum and another nine in the British Museum,” states the museum website. “We want to show these items in a new context and not just present them as an aesthetic phenomenon,” said curator Nikolas Konstantios. “We have tried to create stories around the objects.” The permanent display of the museum’s early Christian and Byzantine collections opened in 2004 as part of the refurbishment (both permanent collection projects cost around €7m). The collection consists of more than 30,000 artefacts dating from the third to 20th century. G.H.

Colonnade linking Berlin’s Museum Island galleries reopens

The Prussian Cultural Foundation celebrated the decade-long, €20m restoration and modernisation of Berlin’s Museum Island, by reopening the neo-classical Kolonnadenhof, a colonnade and garden linking the Alte Nationalgalerie, Neues Museum and the river Spree. Complete with a fountain, lawn and sculptures, the three-year long restoration and landscaping project was completed by architects Levin Monsigny. Despite tight budgets the Prussian Cultural Foundation is increasing its efforts to extend the Bode Museum by asking students of the Potsdam School of Architecture to present their ideas for an extension opposite the museum of art and archaeology. The new plan for a an extension is part of an older plan proposed by the then general director of the Berlin State Museums, Klaus-Peter Schuster, to unite the Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister (Old Masters Collection) currently on display in a purpose-built museum in the Kulturforum near the Tiergarten. Government funding seems less than likely for this ambitious idea after the postponement until 2014 of Berlin’s other big museum and heritage project, the Humboldt-Forum, which includes a partial reconstruction of the 19th century royal palace, the Berlin Schloss. R.P.

Lousiana Museum gives away Danish art on long-term loan

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk is loaning parts of its collection to other Danish museums. Around 100 works will go on long-term loan. The idea is to deposit modern and contemporary Danish works of art in museums where they better fit in. Louisiana founder Knud Jensen started his collection with contemporary Danish art, but later shifted the focus towards international art. He said in a statement: “The comprehensive collection of Danish art has not really had its deserved attention over the last few years.” The idea is that by giving those works on long-term loan to museums that can show them as part of their own displays, the works will become more accessible. The Danish National Gallery is to receive two works by Albert Mertz, one by Paul Gadegaard and one by Vilhelm Lundstrøm. The ARoS museum in Århus will get works by Henry Heerup and Carl-Henning Pedersen, and the Else Alfelts Museum in Herning is to receive five works by Pedersen. The Louisiana museum is located just outside Copenhagen and is run by a private foundation. Its international collection includes works by Pipilotti Rist, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter and others. C.Bf.

Designers chose for Oslo arts complex

The international competition to build Norway’s new national museum of art, architecture and design in Oslo has been won by the architects Kleihues + Schuwerk. The museum complex, set to open in 2017, will be next to a former 19th century railway station, which is now the Nobel Peace Centre, a conversion by David Adjaye Architects who worked with the artist Chris Ofili. The Berlin and Naples-based architects’ design was praised by the 11-member jury for its simplicity and restraint. Kleihues + Schuwerk’s low-slug, rectilinear proposal, called the Forum Artis, would not dominate the old station next door on Vestbanen square, part of Oslo’s waterfront. Architects JaJa and Henning Larsen (both Copenhagen) came second and third in the competition. In addition to the new national museum, Oslo’s waterfront is being regenerated by an opera house, which opened in 2008. The new Munch Museum designed by Herreros Arquitectos of Spain and a new Astrup Fearnley Museum designed by Renzo Piano will join them by 2014 and 2012 respectively. C.Bf.

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