Art
Old Boys
David Ekserdjian
Art — Commerce — Scholarship: A Win- dow onto the Art World — Colnagbi 1760-1984 (Colnaghi till 15 December) Q chools invariably endeavour to impress L./prospective parents by singing the praises of their most illustrious Old Boys. The success stories of the past, it is implied, guarantee the quality of present and future generations. Now Colnaghi's have applied the same principle to dealing. A number of outstanding Old Boys, no doubt affectionately known as 'Old Nags', have been lured back to the old premises to add a bit of lustre. The Headmaster and Common Room have linked forces with a distinguished body of academics to write them up — all the best schools are proud Of their 'special relationship' with the univer- sities. The Old Nags are craftily combined, with the best of the current crop 01 hopefuls, but there is always the risk that the New Boys will not come up to scratch. Inevitably the really famous Old BOYS are far too grand to turn out, although the Vermeer from Berlin was at the AcadenlY when this exhibition opened. Instead We have to make do with photographs in the catalogue, but Bellini's Frick `St Francs and Titian's 'Europa' from the Gardner In Boston, both former charges of that re' vered beak 'Tactile Values' Berenson, a!,e breathtaking demonstrations of Colnaghl s class. To be fair, the pictures on show, albeit not in that league, are very good. Among the Italian Renaissance offerings' the Beccafumi 'Venus' from Birmingliatt draped in startling pinks and yellows, I' outstanding. There is also a Veronese 'Dead Christ', its composition based Schiavone, but its colours — a salmon-PP' halo against a green curtain — all his Own: A second Veronese, a substantial `Resurt, rection' that normally hides in the Wes', minster Hospital Chapel, might look sue perb if cleaned. It was bought throughthd active interest of Canon Christopher Hit:, yard, a man whose reading of the D17, Bones Lesson from Ezekiel was at least a' memorable as most Veroneses. The 17th century fares even better, ancI the range broadens. There is a ravishol: Sacchi from Cardiff, and no less than frs, ex-Spencer early Van Dyck `APost,IcA from that new home of art, Switzerlann. the large Claude of the 'Adoration of s, Golden Calf' reveals the flair of Manche y ter's Clifford Period (or should one Clifford's Manchester Period?). Best of a. there is the star of the show, a Gabrieit Metsu all but worthy of Vermeer. , represents that favourite Vermeer trio nle lady, her maid, and a letter, and if "I narrative is just slightly obvious, then the brilliant colour and the treatment of light, dissolving into little dots of gold, are both worthy of the master. The only regret is that its pendant failed to join it on the journey from the Beit Collection in County Wicklow. After this, the 18th century is less impressive, but a good Panini from Kansas City, a couple of Gainsborough landscapes, and an attractive Boucher modele from the Fitzwilliam are not to be sniffed at.
Do the New Boys indicate that the old Place is still maintaining the same high standards? Basically, the answer is yes, although you hardly have to be a crusty old killjoy to lament the fact that standards have dropped all round. Great pictures tend to vanish into museums, and the trade IS obliged to lower its sights, or at least alter the focus of its attention. The Italian Renaissance is becoming less and less easy, and the chaps (Neroccio, Luini) are mostly Second Eleven material at best. Big names, if at all, are represented by pictures that are scarcely their masterpieces. The Tintoretto, of an Angel telling St Cather- ine of her impending martyrdom, is fasci- nating for the way its compositional scheme is based on that of Renaissance Annunciations, and it even caught Van byck's attention, but it will never feature in Your Hundred Best Tintorettos.
With the 17th century matters again inlprove. There is an exquisite early Claude caprice of the Forum and Col- °,sseum bathed in the warm pink light of a Komar] sunset. The Murillo 'St Catherine' for once outclasses its precursor in the exhibition, a bozzetto recently sold to Los ingeles, and a large Caravaggesque
Manetti reveals just what an exciting if u,ashy painter he can be. From the north a
i licked of a man having his beard 'ieked by his dog and a Van Der Heyden of the Groote Kerk at Veere are both excel- lent. But the pick of the current pops is arguably the Carlo Dolci. Often unpalat- able, he here creates a wonderfully exotic and fantastical scene. St Nicholas is depicted flying off with a Christian kanYmede, holding him by the hair, and t‘l 'ins depriving a heathen King of what 1111ght be described as his Turkish Delight. )1°1ei's faultless enamelled technique is 10 vingly lavished on every particular; on the architecture and the carpets, but espe- ciallyg and on the turbanned, moustachioed, a creuoddly undusky Ottomans. Colnaghi c,,serve to do well with this picture, be- cause their Painting in Florence 1600-1700 eaxhibition, of which Dolci was a star, was n i„ exemplary instance of the trade promot- i:% serious scholarship. If the 18th century
a lessfin _ •
e, It nevertheless holds its own better than the earlier periods, and there is acusplendid Sebastiano Ricci, ip which Ind helps Mars off with his cloak in reaam:_ J, uess for Venus, and an extraordinary Captive Wright of Derby, based on the j rave from Sterne's 'Sentimental ()Limey,. Seen as a whole, the exhibition is a great
deal better than most, and is of refreshing- ly manageable proportions. A scoffer might assert that it is held together by a spurious connection, but who cares if the quality is this high? The substantial cata- logue (£12) is sold on behalf of the Dulwich Picture Gallery Appeal Fund, presumably to pay for a burglar-proof roof rather than a new Rembrandt.
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