The Week - UK (2021-02-13)

32 ARTS

Art

AtanauctioninNewYorklast

month,aportraitbySandro

Botticelli(c.1445- 1510 )became

“thesecondmostexpensive”

Renaissancepaintingeversold,

saidAlastairSookeinTheDaily

Telegraph.Itspricetagof$92.2m

hasbeenexceededonlybythe

$450mpaidforLeonardoda

Vinci’sSalvatorMundiin 2017 ;

andwhilethismaybeahugesum

to“splurge”onapainting(and

onewhichisonly23inx15½inat

that),itsbuyer,reportedlyaprivate

Russiancollector,canbeconfident

ofthework’sart-historical

importance.Theportrait,Young

ManHoldingaRoundel(c.1475)

depictsalong-hairedyouthin

three-quarterprofileholdinga

small,“decorativemedallion”

bearingtheimageofasaint

copiedfroma1 4 thcenturySienese

altarpiece.Itisa“particularly

gorgeousexample”of Botticelli’s

art,whichpresentsitssubject ina

strikingly“modern,illusionistic”

stylecompletelydifferentfromthe

“archaic” rendering oftheroundel

(arthistoriansareunsureas to

whetherit wasalater addition

to the work oradeliberate

juxtaposition that showedoff

Botticelli’smastery ofartformsoldand new). Itisone ofonly

adozenorsoportraitsbytheFlorentine artist, butthisscarcity

belies their significance:Botticelliwasatrailblazingpainter who

“revolutionisedportraiture”, abandoningtraditionalconventions

• notablytheestablishedcustomfordepictingsittersinprofile–
  andpaved the way forthe artisticgloriesof theHighRenaissance.

Botticelli–anicknamemeaning“little barrel”,apparently

because his ratherroundolder brother wasknownasBotticello,

“thebarrel” –wasbornin Florenceandspentmostofhislife

there. Thesonofatanner,hewasapprenticedtoFraLippo Lippi,

saidAngelicaVillainArtnews.

ItwastheMedici,Florence’sde

factorulers,whowould“mint”

hisreputation,bygivinghim

“high-profilecommissions”.

Theseincludedportraitsofthe

family,sometimesexecutedin

unconventionalandinventive

ways.Anexampleofthisisthe

AdorationoftheMagi(1475-6),

oneofhis“earliestmasterworks”,

inwhichtheartistbasesthefaces

ofthewisemenonMedicifamily

members,andevenincorporatesa

self-portraitintothecomposition.

Yetportraiturewasonlyone

elementofhisart.Withworks

suchasthetimelessBirthofVenus

(c. 148 5),Bott icelliwasamongthe

first–andcertainlymostinfluential

–paint ersofhistimetodepict

scenesfromGreekandRoman

mythologyonthesamescaleas

biblicalsubjectmatter.Thiswould

becomeacharacteristicfeature of

Renaissanceart.

Botticelliwasheavilyinfluencedby

contemporarythinkerswholooked

backtoclassicalcivilisationin

order toshedlight ontheir own,

saidKatieWhiteon Artnet.

Nowhere isthistendencymore

evidentthanin hismasterpiece,thePrimavera(c.1480).

The painting, anallegorical representationofspring,contains

“myriadreferences” toantiquityand someremarkablydetailed

observations ofthenaturalworld:it features depictions ofa

“whopping” 5 00 plantspecies.Botticelli’sreputation suffered

followingtheoustingof the Mediciin 149 4, saidAngelica Villa.

His work faded intorelative obscurity after hisdeath,andit was

onlyinthe19thcenturythathisimporta ncewastrulyrecognised.

Itisnowacknowl edged that hispaintingsetapr ecedentfor“a

newera ofartisticachievement”;indeed, itisquitepossiblethat

“Westernart historywouldn’t have been thesame”withouthim.

Artist of the week: Botticelli

News from the art world

Thatcher’s lavishunveiling

The row over Margaret Thatcher’s statue

rumbles on, said Neil Johnston in The

Times. The 10ft-high, £300,000 bronze work

by the sculptor Douglas Jennings was

originally commissioned for Parliament

Square, but it was rejected by Westminster

Council on the grounds of “monument

saturation”. It was then offered to

Grantham, the Lincolnshire town where

Thatcher grew up–aplan finally approved

in 2019 after years of dispute (police

advised that it would need to be “elevated”

to deter vandals). Now plans foragrand

unveiling ceremony have promptedafierce

“backlash” from locals. The Tory-run South

Kesteven District Council has approvedalavish unveiling

ceremony on the grounds that it would “attract international

attention”, withabudget of £100,000. One particularly

controversial aspect is an “optional extra” of £35,040 forasound

system and stage lighting. One opponent called it an “insult” to

struggling local residents, and 2,000 people pledged to join an

“egg-throwing contest” timed to coincide with the ceremony.

Churchill forsale

Angelina Jolie is to sell Winston Churchill’s

“only wartime painting”, said Craig

Simpson in The Daily Telegraph. The

Second World War PM wasaprolific

amateur artist who created “more than 500

works”; but perhaps unsurprisingly, he

found time to paint only one–aMoroccan

landscape he gave to his “friend and ally”,

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt –

during the conflict itself. Subsequently sold

on by Roosevelt’s son, the work changed

hands several times before being bought

by Jolie and her then-husband, Brad Pitt.

The couple separated in 2016 and have

since divided up their art collection.

Jolie now plans to sell the painting for what could bea“record

sum”. EntitledTower of the Koutoubia Mosque,the work

depicts sunset over Marrakesh, and was painted by Churchill

in the aftermath of the 1943 Casablanca conference–apivotal

summit atwhichtheAllied powers resolved to demand the

“unconditional surrender” of their Axis enemies. The work

is expected to fetch as much as £2.5m.

Churchill’s only wartime painting

Portrait ofaYoung Man HoldingaRoundel: sold for $92.2m

THE WEEK 13 February 2021

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OURTESY OF SOTHEBY’S; CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD