In order to have taste, it is not enough to see and to know what is beautiful in a given work. One must feel beauty and be moved by it. It is not even enough to feel, to be moved in a vague way: It is essential to discern the different shades of feeling. Nothing
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Picture Cataloguing Until about 40 years ago cataloguing consisted of the compilation of information about a work of art (as opposed to the catalogue raisonne which involved bringing together all the known information about an individual artist). The process of cataloguing was never deemed to require a specific skill other than the (now rare) ability
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Introduction In contemplating an Old Master painting, the frame is generally taken for granted. It is a fait accompli, and most of us may be unaware of how powerfully the frame can influence our perception and enjoyment of the picture within. The marriage of the two may be harmonious or discordant, enhancing or depressing, or
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Paintings can suffer physical loss or damage whether on the premises or in transit. Collectors can choose to bear these risks themselves, or to pass them on to an insurer. Unlike general contents insurance where items can be repaired or replaced with relative ease, paintings are unique and therefore irreplaceable. Even where cosmetic repair is
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Collecting art dates back to classical antiquity. The Romans collected Greek sculpture and, when no original was available, commissioned copies of famous works. Paintings, too, were collected but none have survived except for Egyptian Mummy portraits and Roman wall decoration. In the Dark Ages the concept of the individual artist was lost, but not the
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In a letter to a young friend, the artist Burne Jones once drew a cartoon of himself “attempting to join the world of art” by climbing into a picture – the effort ends up disastrously, of course, when he falls right through the canvas! Spending much of my time struggling to get ‘inside’ of paintings
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By William Allen, CBE., Bickerdike Allen Partners People who go to museums, art galleries and great private homes are familiar with the frustration of the bad lighting of pictures. Often incandescent striplights are placed at the top, lighting the upper few inches of a painting, the top of its frame, and some of the wall
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To write a true history of the collecting of old masters would mean examining the history of every surviving painting and ordering it into a colossal story. It has been possible to do this for a restricted number of well-known old masters whose surviving works are limited in number.  From these individual studies certain trends
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As a restorer who makes his living cleaning and restoring old master paintings, it is my intention in these notes to explain what this work entails – what can be done to prolong the life of a work of art whilst ensuring that its appearance remains as close as possible to its original condition –
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Outside the trade and the well informed collector, old master prices remain something of a mystery. Among the most commonly asked questions of anyone involved in the art world are how can you tell what a certain painting is worth? or how can such and such painting be worth that much? These questions, along with
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