Floris Claesz Van Dijk. Still Life with Cheeses, Bong and Good Will Hunting DVD, 1615 (?) (from onfamiliarthings.blogspot.com)

Van Dyck’s subtle scrutiny of the human psyche [Souren Melikian, International Herald Tribune]

Van Dyck’s Prettied Up Merchants, Bankers Star in Paris Show of Portraits

Commentary on the life and career of Anthony van Dyck, favorite painter of the British and Flemish aristocracy during the early 17th century, who is being honored with a first-time retrospective of his work, now being shown at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris.

 On Familiar Things: Rediscover Classical Painting

An recent OMNP discovery-this lighthearted website is the brainchild of Jan Peeters and Hermann Wundrum, two art history professors with a penchant for the eloquent as well as the absurd. Pithy reflections on altered images like the one above, "Still Life with Cheeses, Bong and DVD, 1615, have produced commentary such as this by Peeters: "Not even the great Pieter Claesz, in his seminal Still Life with Peacock Pie, Bong, and St. Elmo’s Fire DVD (1627) captured damask with such verve."

 The Smartest Guy in the Art Gallery? [Karen Donovan,Portfolio.com]

Shady dealers selling forgeries to unsuspecting collectors is typical enough. But shady collectors claiming forgery as a method of extortion?  Karen Donovan reports on a recent case of the tables being turned.

Partying for Charity [Allison Schrager, More Intelligent Life]

Need a break from the recession blues? As a Young Fellow of the Frick Museum, you can pretend that it never happened, at one of their extravagant annual parties. But is this a superficial remnant of a boom era recently deceased? Allison Schrager discusses her recent foray into this "community through philanthropy."

With a little over a month one month to go, the deadline for Britain for preempting the sale of this prized Titian is beginning to loom larger. Even with a recent donation of $15 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund , less than half of the required funds has been raised to meet the Duke of Sutherland’s discount price of 50 million pounds by the end of the year.

U.K. Campaign to Buy Titian Gets $15 Million Boost [Farah Nayeri, Bloomberg]

It is hard to imagine a rosy scenario for a fund that is tens of millions of dollars away from reaching its goal in the midst of a global economic recession. Nevertheless, is there any doubt over the future of this painting? That in dire straits, the campaign will get an 11^th hour push, as seen recently with the save of a treasured Ruben’s sketch? Or that the Duke will feel the public pressure to lower his asking price? Art world notable and the media alike seem to be encouraging whatever means to an end. Renowned Contemporary artists Tracy Emin and Bridget Riley  have made public pleas to save the painting, echoing the sentiments of many others-recently a letter calling for the save of the works was submitted to the UK Times, containing the signatures of luminaries like Lucien Freud, Peter Blake, and Anthony Caro.

Titian Masterwork Is U.K. National Gallery’s Best Painting [Martin Gayford, Bloomberg]

Emin Delivers Petition to the PM [ART INFO]

Leading artists urge nation to join fight to save Titian works [Times Online]

Click MORE for a look at the recent dissent from Britain’s mission for the Titian

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Unearthed Masterpieces

Old Masters treasures from sunken Russian ship to be salvaged [Russia IC] [Dutch News.nl]

Lets hope that the paintings from this sunken, 237 year-old ship were WELL packaged

 Trove of Raeburn drawings discovered in England [ART INFO]

Lost Caravaggio Goes on Display in Scotland [ART INFO]

Click MORE for a remembrance of a distinguished dealer, and the latest floundering of the market

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Digital mockups of paintings from "Ideal (Dis)placements..," at the Pulitzer Museum in St. Louis

Pairing Old Masters with contemporary works of art is a concept that has been a focus of OMNP’s. Can Old Masters and their influence be reevaluated against derivatives of them from today? Is this just an intellectual parlor show, or does such dialogue create new considerations for each respective work/artist?

The answers to these questions will probably unfold in the future. What has been pleasant to see in some exhibitions this year however, is that Old Master works have proven to mesh well  in minimalist environments designed for Contemporary art. Their ornate aesthetics and lush color seems to become amplified against the ethereal backdrop of the "white cube." OMNP has previously covered instances of this curatorial design in NYC this year,  at gallery exhibitions for Francisco Goya and Kim Keever. Recently, the Pulitzer Museum of St. Louis has taken this concept a step further, with "Ideal (Dis-)Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer," now on view until June 20, 2009.

An interesting irony mentioned by the show evolves from the building’s cutting edge design, (by architect Tadao Ando)which prioritizes a focus on natural light. Curators for this show decided to forgo using any source of artificial light to present the paintings (click MORE for a the curator’s explanation behind this process) In doing so, this uber-modern environment  provides a more accurate recreation of the setting in which these works were originally shown.

Click MORE for videos, reviews, and additional information regarding "Ideal (Dis)Placements

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Old Master enthusiasts in the NYC area might have found themselves a tad crestfallen in regards to the exhibition of Michelangelo drawings up at Syracuse University this fall.

A preparatory sketch for the Sistine Chapel frescoes, now on view in NYC, offers a glimpse into the blueprint of the one of the most magnanimous paintings in the history of art.

A trip that far up North would have been a stretch, even for the most virtuous of Renaissance masters. Fret not, however, as SU has done many of us a solid by staging the exhibition at its residence on the Upper East Side. 14 precious works by the master are on display, over half of which are making their US debut.

Drawings shows can be dull. But these are drawings by Michelangelo. Therefore, you might want to make this more than just a priority if you have some free time in NYC during the next couple of months.

“Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth” Opens at Palitz Gallery [Art Daily]

Rare Michelangelo Show Comes to N.Y. With Financier’s Funding [Lindsay Pollock, Bloomberg]

“Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth,” exhibition website [Syracuse University]

 Joseph I. Lubin House homepage [Syracuse University]

More discussion on Michelangelo:

How Every Painter paints himself: Michelangelo [Art Scholar]

An insightful investigation of the master’s oeuvre reveals self-portraits in many works, namely in the Last Judgement frescoe. Michelangelo’s hidden face in the torso of St. Peter underscores the anthrocentric principles of the Renaissance, whereupon, in the words of Art Scholar, “only self-knowledge is true knowledge and that reality is inside our minds, not out.” The unique worldview of a human being is proof that ”each of us is in the image of God…a mirror of the cosmos.”