Museum Exhibitions | February
What to see this month
Tudor Mystery: A Master Painter Revealed
This coming month, Compton Verney is calling all art detectives! Opening on the 4th of February, Tudor Mystery explores the distinctive style of an artist whose name has been long lost, The Master of the Countess of Warwick. Bringing together recent research on this artist, the exhibition touches on how historians have been tracing the artist and how they have found one individual who fits his profile.
Sir Roy Strong was the first scholar to group together works by ‘the Master’, and in his book The English Icon (1969) – published when he was Director of the National Portrait Gallery – listed eight works of comparable quality from the 1560s. Strong named the unknown artist after one of their surviving works, a portrait of Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick at Woburn Abbey, c. 1569. This portrait will be on display during the exhibition, as well as many other works attributed to 'the Master'.
At Philip Mould & Company, we had the pleasure to handle one of this artist’s works, the Portrait of Mary Tichborn, and are thrilled to be partnering up with Compton Verney for this exhibition.
Where: Compton Verney Art Gallery, Compton Verney.
When: From 4 February until 7 May 2023.
Tickets: Visit the Compton Verney website to purchase your tickets.
From 10 February until 4 June
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has put together the largest exhibition ever held of the 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). There are only 35 paintings known by Vermeer, most of which will be on display at the Rijksmuseum, including Vermeer's most famous work of all, Girl With a Pearl Earring from the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague. Young Woman Seated at a Virginal is on loan from London's National Gallery; the Louvre in Paris has lent The Lacemaker; and the National Gallery of Ireland sent Woman Writing a Letter With Her Maid.
In preparation for the exhibition, specialists from the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis Museum are using advanced scanning technologies to study Vermeer's works and have revealed some crucial new discoveries on paintings such as the world-famous Milkmaid (1657-58). The artist himself painted over two objects on this canvas: a jug holder and a fire basket, a discovery that offers insights into Vermeer’s painting process.
The paintings on display can also be viewed in detail online with a guided tour by Stephen Fry (in English) or Joy Delima (in Dutch). Click here to start the 'Closer to Vermeer' tour.
Where: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
When: From 10 February until 4 June 2023.
Tickets: Visit the Rijksmuseum website to purchase your tickets.
The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Peter Doig
From 10 February until 29 May
This month, The Courtauld Gallery is presenting an exhibition of new and recent works by Peter Doig (b.1959, Edinburh), one of the most renowned figurative painters working today.
Since he relocated to London in 2021, Doig has been developing paintings started in a variety of places including Trinidad, where he had been living since 2002. These works will be displayed at the Courtauld alongside various paintings produced especially for this exhibition, which touch on Doig's experience of transition during the past two decades.
The works will be presented in the light of those by earlier artists from The Courtauld’s collection, such as Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Pissarro and Van Gogh, who have been important for Doig. Click here to find out more about Doig's connection to the works of these Impressionist and Post-Impressionist heroes.
Where: The Courtauld Gallery, London.
When: From 10 February until 29 May 2023.
Tickets: Visit The Courtauld's website to purchase your tickets.
