Nothing causes more excitement in the art world than when a work previously thought to have been lost miraculously resurfaces. Recently, this was the case with Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (c.1490)—a work due to be sold at auction in November 2017. Now, it has been announced that another ‘lost masterpiece’ is to be sold—Margaret Collyer’s Lord Of The Isles (1901). Margaret Collyer was an animal painter active around the turn of the 20th century....
Yellow has been one of the major colour trends of 2017—Emma Stone’s sunshine yellow dress in the Oscar-winning La La Land led to yellow dresses popping up everywhere, from high street shops to the red carpet. While the popularity of the colour has somewhat been revived in recent times, the hue itself isn’t new. Alongside red, yellow is one of the oldest colours in art history. Yellow is present in some of the oldest paintings dating...
Salvator Mundi (c.1490) by Leonardo da Vinci was the greatest art rediscovery of the 21st century. It is the only piece of known work created by the artist currently in private hands and will be presented for sale at a Christie’s auction in New York on 15 November 2017. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is one of the most famous artists of all time. While there are only a very small number of his works that...
Throughout history, the colour red has had two opposing connotations; good and bad, love and anger. Either way it is certainly the colour of passion and strong emotion, and is one of the oldest colours used in art. Unlike the colour blue, red pigment exists in abundance in nature—from human and animal blood to red dirt and metals. Ochre, a clay coloured red by iron oxide, was ground up and used as body paint and...
What does the colour blue remind you of? The hue has been an important part of art and paintings for centuries; Arts & Collections takes a look at its history. Go back far enough into art history and you will find that the colour blue—as we know it today—simply did not exist. The ancient Greeks didn’t seem to have a word for it, combining it instead with what we would think of as several different...
An exhibition showcasing Nathalie Du Pasquier’s work opens next week in London. The collection has transformed the Camden Arts Centre gallery as the painter and designer extends beyond the canvas and into the realms of three-dimensional art. The space not only displays her work, but also acts as an immersive installation with brightly coloured modular designs and geometric shapes that will span the venue’s walls. Nathalie Du Pasquier gained fame as a designer when she...
Women are depicted in five of the 10 most expensive paintings in history, yet none were painted by female artists. It’s hard to find a comprehensive list of influential artists throughout time that contains even a single woman. Commonly seen as muses rather than artists, women have often been overlooked and undervalued throughout history. Read Arts & Collections’ list of women artists who have inspired generations and sold countless works from the Renaissance to the...
The sale of Banksy’s Civilian Drone Strike (2017) has raised £205k for groups against arms trade. The piece was sold at auction by Art the Arms Fair—an exhibition opposing an arms fair that took place in East London. Within the first week of Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in ExCeL London, more than 100 protesters were reportedly arrested. The money from the sale of Banksy’s Civilian Drone Strike will be split between...
Arts & Collections catches up with Joe Webb to get an insight into his creative mind. Contemporary art can take many forms. Some artists choose to embark on the traditional route of taking paintbrush to canvas; others have moved on to new media, using Photoshop and graphics tablets to create their images. Joe Webb started out as a graphic designer, but in an act of rebellion against the machine, he started creating collages—cutting and gluing...
An announcement has been made for the official opening date for Louvre Abu Dhabi. The museum is set to be the first of its kind in the Arab world and its unique architecture sets it above from the rest. On 11 November 2017, the public will be able to enter the new universal museum that will exhibit human stories from across civilisations and cultures. There will be a great festival of opening celebrations that includes...
