James Ward, R.A. (1769 – 1859),
A View of Somersetshire from Fitzhead, the Seat of Lord Somerville, 1805
2024 got off to a fine start with a sale of a Profile Relief of a Roman Emperor (c. 1460-65) by Gregorio di Lorenzo to the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. This was quickly followed by another museum sale, when the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston acquired James Ward’s A view in Somersetshire from Fitzhead, the seat of Lord Somerville (1805), which draws inspiration from Rubens’s widely admired View of Het Steen in the early Morning (c. 1636).
(from left to right) Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., Going to Market, Early Morning, c. 1773;
George Stubbs, A.R.A, Mares and Foals belonging to the 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, c. 1761-62;
Sir Henry Raeburn, The Allen Brothers (Portrait of James and John Lee Allen), early 1790s
We were then extremely proud to have aided the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth with the acquisition of George Stubbs’s great masterpiece Mares and Foals belonging to the 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke (c. 1761-62), a significant addition to the gallery’s holdings of 18th Century British works. This monumental painting, which is likely the earliest in Stubbs’s celebrated series, joins Thomas Gainsborough’s Going to Market, Early Morning (c. 1773), sold by Dickinson to the museum last year. Following the acquisition, the Kimbell Museum hung the Stubbs next to the Gainsborough and Sir Henry Raeburn’s The Allen Brothers (Portrait of James and John Lee Allen) (early 1790s), creating, in the director’s own words, ‘The Dickinson Gallery’ at the museum. Long may this hang remain!
Angelica Kauffman, R.A. (1741 – 1807), Portrait of Jemima Ord (d. 1812), three-quarter-length,
in a white dress, seated playing a lyre, in a landscape, a waterfall beyond, c. 1790s
At this year’s TEFAF Maastricht, Dickinson welcomed numerous international private and institutional collectors. The most talked-about work on the stand was undoubtedly Angelica Kauffman’s Portrait of Jemima Ord (d. 1812) (c. 1790s), and it came as no surprise that this elegant and characteristic portrait was sold to the Dallas Museum of Art, where it will hang alongside examples by Kauffman’s male contemporaries. Another talking point at TEFAF was Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger’s Ressemblance Garantie (1853), a remarkable trompe l’oeil that challenged the perceived supremacy of the newly developed photographic medium, and which was acquired by a private collector.
Sir Stanley Spencer, C.B.E., R.A. (1891 – 1959), Wildflowers, 1955
In the wake of TEFAF, Dickinson enjoyed a robust spring of sales. These includes the first of two important works by Sir Stanley Spencer, Snow, Cookham Rise (1947); a second Spencer, Wildflowers (1955), also ex-Rothschild collection, sold in the autumn.
A rare and historically important pair of Tudor busts by Guido Mazzoni (c. 1496-97) was sold to a private collector, while other notable spring sales included Joos van Cleve’s Portrait of a Gentleman holding gloves, half-length (c. 1530) and an exceptional and iconic view by Canaletto, The Redentore, Venice (c. 1746).
Andrea della Robbia (1435 – 1525), The Virgin with the Blessing Child, c. 1490-95
Dickinson kicked off the summer with its inaugural exhibition of Renaissance sculpture, Forma Viva: Italian Sculpture 1400 – 1800. This show, accompanied by a scholarly catalogue written by leading experts in the field, featured important works across a range of media. Among the sales was a rare blue and white glazed terracotta roundel by Andrea della Robbia, The Virgin with the Blessing Child (c. 1490-95), which sold at the opening to a private collector.
Giovanni Boldini (1842 – 1931), Ladies of the First Empire, 1875
The gallery continued its work over the summer with preparations for the autumn season and with a further notable sale to a private collector: Titian’s Portrait of Colonel Evangelista Berardi (?) (late 1560s or early 1570s), a recently rediscovered and charismatic late portrait by the Venetian master. To conclude our second art fair of the year, the elegant and well-attended Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato in Florence – which saw the team decamp to the historic Palazzo Corsini on the banks of the Arno for nearly two weeks – Dickinson negotiated the sale to a private collector of Giovanni Boldini’s Ladies of the First Empire (1875), a small-scale, jewel-like painting inspired by the artist’s visit to Versailles and for which his companion, Berthe, served as one of the models. Most recently, we were delighted to sell to the Beefsteak Club a painting by Philippe Mercier, The Hazard Table (c. 1735-40), that original graced that walls of the Bedford Arms, the club’s original meeting place.
Philippe Mercier (1689 – 1760), The Hazard Table, c. 1735-40
Dickinson is already looking ahead to the next event on the gallery’s annual calendar, TEFAF Maastricht in March, with a number of significant highlights already scheduled to appear at the fair. We look forward to welcoming you to Jermyn Street – or to our Maastricht stand – in 2025!