Latest news with #oilpainting
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
'Lost' work by Turner bought last year for $500 sells for $2.5m
A antiques collector who paid $500 for an oil painting is celebrating after it sold for $2.5million because it turned out to be a lost work by JMW Turner. The vendor took a chance on the late-18th century unsigned landscape painting at a sale last year and paid the nominal fee for it. They had it professionally cleaned and this exposed the signature of the great English artist. The painting depicting a former hot spa in Bristol was shown to Turner scholars who agreed it was by the master. They were able to say that Turner produced the work in 1792 when he was aged 17. This was three years before what was believed to be Turner's earliest exhibited work. Its whereabouts was a mystery for 150 years until it came up for sale last year. The 23in by 2ft 5in painting was attributed to an artist follower of English landscape painter Julius Caesar Ibbetson and was bought by the anonymous vendor for the lowly sum. It was then entered for sale at London auctioneers Sothebys titled The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent's Rock, Bristol by JMW Turner and given a pre-sale estimate of $270,000 to $400,000. Four serious bidders drove the hammer price up to $2m. With auctioneer's fees added on the total price paid by the winning bidder was $2.5m. A spokesperson for Sotheby's said: 'The painting was pursued by four determined bidders, selling to a UK private collector for $2.5, nearly eight times the estimate. 'The rediscovery and auction coincided with the 250th anniversary of Turner's birth, with institutions across the United Kingdom celebrating the legacy of one of Britain's most beloved and influential artists.' Research has shown the painting was produced by Turner based on an on-the-spot drawing by him that was found in his sketchbook from the time of his tour of the West Country in 1791. The finished work was shown at the Royal Academy in 1793 where it was bought by the Rev Robert Nixon who was a friend of Turner. When he died in 1837 the painting was inherited by his son, the Rev. Dr Francis Russell Nixon who took it with him when he emigrated to Tasmania in 1842. While living there he lent the painting to two exhibitions held in Hobart in the mid-19th century. In 1862 he returned to England, bringing the Turner with him and he died in 1879. Before his death he sold the painting to art dealer Joseph Hogarth who sold it at auctioneers Christie's in London in 1864. Since then the painting had been in private hands and 'lost' to the art world until its re-emergence last year when it was bought for $500.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Lost JMW Turner painting could be bought by council at auction
The earliest-known oil painting by JMW Turner - which had been lost for 150 years - could be bought by a Monday, Bristol City Council agreed it would try to buy the work depicting the Avon Gorge - though it said no council budget would be spent on it. Instead, efforts will be made over the next two weeks to fundraise the £300,000 guide price for The Rising Squall through a public campaign. While it is not yet clear where exactly the money will come from, councillors unanimously approved efforts to purchase the artwork. The painting, thought to have been created by the "father of modern art" when he was aged just 17 in 1792, is listed for auction at Sotheby's on 2 July. It had lain in obscurity for more than a century before being rediscovered during cleaning in 2024, and shows the east bank of the River Avon before the building of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. If successful at auction, the council plans to hang the painting in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery at the top of Park Street. 'Once in a lifetime' Bristol City Council's head of culture and creative industries Philip Walker told Monday's strategy and resources policy committee meeting "it would be hard to imagine another artist or another painting that is any more relevant to the city's stories". The upcoming auction, he said, was a "once in a generation opportunity to purchase a significant work of art by such a significant great master artist", adding that while the plan was for the council to actually make the transaction - should it bid successfully - the cost would be covered through fundraising. Councillor John Goulandris described the bid as a "once in a lifetime opportunity", but pointed out there was only a "narrow window" to raise funds at a time when the council's finances were "extraordinarily tight". In response to Mr Goulandris' requests for assurance that costs would not fall to the local authority, Mr Walker said the "intention" was to raise enough money to pay for the painting. "We won't necessarily have taken all the money in but we will have cast-iron contracts or commitments through public campaigns or trusts and foundations we may approach," he said. Councillor Ellie King also asked Mr Walker about the ongoing costs of maintaining such a prestigious artwork, to which the senior officer said conservation "would become business as usual". With a "reassuring" report on the state of the painting already released by its sellers, Mr Walker added, it was not expected that the work of art would need any exceptional treatment and would not significantly increase insurance policy costs. In response to a question from council leader Tony Dyer about public access to the painting, should a successful bid be made at auction, Mr Walker said the "intention would be to put it on display as soon as possible without charging for that, particularly if we have just mounted a public fundraising campaign".
Malay Mail
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Rare Gandhi portrait with violent past could fetch £70,000 in London sale
LONDON, June 15 — A rare oil painting of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, which is believed to have been damaged by a Hindu nationalist activist, is to be auctioned in London in July. Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in India's history, led a non-violent movement against British rule and inspired similar resistance campaigns across the world. He is the subject of tens of thousands of artworks, books and films. But a 1931 painting by British-American artist Clare Leighton is believed to be the only oil portrait he sat for, according to the painter's family and Bonhams, where it will be auctioned online from July 7 to 15. 'Not only is this a rare work by Clare Leighton, who is mainly known for her wood engravings, it is also thought to be the only oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi which he sat for,' said Rhyanon Demery, Bonhams Head of Sale for Travel and Exploration. The painting is a 'likely hidden treasure', Caspar Leighton, the artist's great-nephew, told AFP. Going under the hammer for the first time next month, the painting is estimated to sell for between £50,000 (RM288,444) and £70,000. Clare Leighton met Gandhi in 1931, when he was in London for talks with the British government on India's political future. She was part of London's left-wing artistic circles and was introduced to Gandhi by her partner, journalist Henry Noel Brailsford. 'I think there was clearly a bit of artistic intellectual courtship that went on,' said Caspar, pointing out that his great-aunt and Gandhi shared a 'sense of social justice'. Painting attacked The portrait, painted at a crucial time for India's independence struggle, 'shows Gandhi at the height of his power', added Caspar. It was exhibited in London in November 1931, following which Gandhi's personal secretary, Mahadev Desai, wrote to Clare: 'It was such a pleasure to have had you here for many mornings doing Mr Gandhi's portrait.' 'Many of my friends who saw it in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness,' reads a copy of the letter attached to the painting's backing board. The painting intimately captures Gandhi's likeness but it also bears reminders of his violent death. Gandhi was shot at point-blank range in 1948 by disgruntled Hindu nationalist activist Nathuram Godse, once closely associated with the right-wing paramilitary organisation RSS. Godse and some other Hindu nationalist figures accused Gandhi of betraying Hindus by agreeing to the partition of India and the creation of Muslim-majority Pakistan. According to Leighton's family, the painting was attacked with a knife by a 'Hindu extremist' believed to be an RSS activist, in the early 1970s. Although there is no documentation of the attack, a label on the back of the painting confirms that it was restored in the United States in 1974. Under UV light, Demery pointed out the shadow of a deep gash running across Gandhi's face where the now-restored painting was damaged. 'It feels very deliberate,' she said. 'Real home' The repairs 'add to the value of the picture in a sense... to its place in history, that Gandhi was again attacked figuratively many decades after his death', said Caspar. The only other recorded public display of the painting was in 1978 at a Boston Public Library exhibition of Clare Leighton's work. After Clare's death, the artwork passed down to Caspar's father and then to him. 'There's my family's story but the story in this portrait is so much greater,' he said. 'It's a story for millions of people across the world,' he added. 'I think it'd be great if it got seen by more people. Maybe it should go back to India — maybe that's its real home.' Unlike countless depictions of the man known in India as the 'father of the nation' — in stamps, busts, paraphernalia and recreated artwork — 'this is actually from the time', said Caspar. 'This might be really the last truly significant picture of Gandhi to emerge from that time.' — AFP
Arab News
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
‘Hidden treasure': Rare Gandhi portrait up for UK sale in July
LONDON: A rare oil painting of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, which is believed to have been damaged by a Hindu nationalist activist, is to be auctioned in London in July. Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in India's history, led a non-violent movement against British rule and inspired similar resistance campaigns across the world. He is the subject of tens of thousands of artworks, books and films. But a 1931 painting by British-American artist Clare Leighton is believed to be the only oil portrait he sat for, according to the painter's family and Bonhams, where it will be auctioned online from July 7 to 15. 'Not only is this a rare work by Clare Leighton, who is mainly known for her wood engravings, it is also thought to be the only oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi which he sat for,' said Rhyanon Demery, Bonhams Head of Sale for Travel and Exploration. The painting is a 'likely hidden treasure,' Caspar Leighton, the artist's great-nephew, told AFP. Going under the hammer for the first time next month, the painting is estimated to sell for between £50,000 and £70,000 ($68,000 and $95,000). Clare Leighton met Gandhi in 1931, when he was in London for talks with the British government on India's political future. She was part of London's left-wing artistic circles and was introduced to Gandhi by her partner, journalist Henry Noel Brailsford. 'I think there was clearly a bit of artistic intellectual courtship that went on,' said Caspar, pointing out that his great-aunt and Gandhi shared a 'sense of social justice.' The portrait, painted at a crucial time for India's independence struggle, 'shows Gandhi at the height of his power,' added Caspar. It was exhibited in London in November 1931, following which Gandhi's personal secretary, Mahadev Desai, wrote to Clare: 'It was such a pleasure to have had you here for many mornings doing portrait.' 'Many of my friends who saw it in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness,' reads a copy of the letter attached to the painting's backing board. The painting intimately captures Gandhi's likeness but it also bears reminders of his violent death. Gandhi was shot at point-blank range in 1948 by disgruntled Hindu nationalist activist Nathuram Godse, once closely associated with the right-wing paramilitary organization RSS. Godse and some other Hindu nationalist figures accused Gandhi of betraying Hindus by agreeing to the partition of India and the creation of Muslim-majority Pakistan. According to Leighton's family, the painting was attacked with a knife by a 'Hindu extremist' believed to be an RSS activist, in the early 1970s. Although there is no documentation of the attack, a label on the back of the painting confirms that it was restored in the United States in 1974. Under UV light, Demery pointed out the shadow of a deep gash running across Gandhi's face where the now-restored painting was damaged. 'It feels very deliberate,' she said. The repairs 'add to the value of the picture in a sense... to its place in history, that Gandhi was again attacked figuratively many decades after his death,' said Caspar. The only other recorded public display of the painting was in 1978 at a Boston Public Library exhibition of Clare Leighton's work. After Clare's death, the artwork passed down to Caspar's father and then to him. 'There's my family's story but the story in this portrait is so much greater,' he said. 'It's a story for millions of people across the world,' he added. 'I think it'd be great if it got seen by more people. Maybe it should go back to India — maybe that's its real home.' Unlike countless depictions of the man known in India as the 'father of the nation' — in stamps, busts, paraphernalia and recreated artwork — 'this is actually from the time,' said Caspar. 'This might be really the last truly significant picture of Gandhi to emerge from that time.'
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Researchers create AI-based tool that restores age-damaged artworks in hours
The centuries can leave their mark on oil paintings as wear and tear and natural ageing produce cracks, discoloration and patches where pieces of pigment have flaked off. Repairing the damage can take conservators years, so the effort is reserved for the most valuable works, but a fresh approach promises to transform the process by restoring aged artworks in hours. The technique draws on artificial intelligence and other computer tools to create a digital reconstruction of the damaged painting. This is then printed on to a transparent polymer sheet that is carefully laid over the work. To demonstrate the technique, Alex Kachkine, a graduate researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, restored a damaged oil-on-panel work attributed to the Master of the Prado Adoration, a Dutch painter whose name has been lost, as a late 15th-century painting after Martin Schongauer. The painting is extremely detailed but visibly split into four panels, covered in fine cracks and dotted with thousands of tiny patches where paint has fallen off. 'A lot of the damage is to small, intricate features,' said Kachkine, who estimated it would have taken about 200 hours to restore the painting with traditional conservation techniques. 'It has undergone centuries of degradation.' Kachkine started with a scan of the painting to determine the size, shape and position of the damaged areas. This identified 5,612 separate sections that needed repair. A digital mask was then constructed in Adobe Photoshop. To restore missing specks of paint, spots were added and colour-matched to surrounding pigments. Damage to patterned areas was corrected by copying similar patterns from elsewhere in the painting. The missing face of an infant was copied from another work by the same artist. Once finished, the mask was printed on to a polymer sheet, varnished to prevent the ink from running and overlaid on the painting. In all, 57,314 colours were used to infill damaged areas. The corrections are designed to improve the painting, even if they are not perfectly aligned. On seeing the result, Kachkine was delighted. 'It followed years of effort to try to get the method working,' he said. 'There was a fair bit of relief that finally this method was able to reconstruct and stitch together the surviving parts of the painting.' The approach, described in Nature, can only be used on varnished paintings that are smooth enough for the sheet to lie flat on. The mask can be peeled off or removed using conservators' solvents, leaving no traces on the original artwork. Kachkine hopes the method will allow galleries to restore and display scores of damaged paintings that are not deemed valuable enough to warrant traditional restoration. But he acknowledges there are ethical issues to consider, such as whether having a film covering a painting is acceptable, whether it hampers the viewing experience, and whether particular corrections, such as copied features, are appropriate. In an accompanying article, Prof Hartmut Kutzke at the University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, said the approach provided a way to restore damaged paintings faster and more cheaply than was possible with conventional techniques. 'The method is likely to be most applicable to paintings of relatively low value that would otherwise be housed behind closed doors, and might not be suitable for famous, valuable artworks,' he said. 'However, it could widen public access to art, bringing damaged paintings out of storage and in front of a new audience.'
