NEW YORK – Velázquez’s portraits of a young girl (ca. 1640) and of Cardinal Camillo Astalli-Pamphili (ca. 1650), both from the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City, were recently examined and treated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The removal of extremely discolored varnish layers that had masked these paintings revealed Velázquez’s remarkable technique and subtle sense of color in ways that had not been seen in more than a century.
LONDON – Claudio Rasano has won the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2016 for his portrait of a Johannesburg schoolboy. The prestigious £15,000 award was presented to the Swiss-Italian photographer at an awards ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery on Nov. 15.
The winning portrait, part of Rasano’s series Similar Uniforms: We Refuse to Compare, was taken in February 2016, in Johannesburg, South Africa and focuses on issues of preserving individuality in the context of school uniforms. The photograph was shot in daylight, outdoors and in front of a plain white paper background. The sitter for this particular inkjet print is 18-year-old Katlehong Matsenen.
“Children themselves have been known to rebel against uniforms, especially as they approach the awkward age characterized by the need to fit in and the desire to stand out, all at the same time. Some experts too have spoken against school uniforms on the grounds that they suppress individuality and diversity,” said Rasano.
Claudio Rasano was born in 1970 in Basel, Switzerland. His work has been included in numerous international exhibitions and previously featured in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize in 2011 and 2013. Rasano’s awards include the short list for the Athens Photo Festival, 2016; Bieler Fototage 2015; Leica Oskar Branack Prize 2015 and a finalist in the Photography Masters Cup 2015.
Second prize has been awarded to Joni Sternbach’s large-format tintype portrait of surfers Thea Adler and Maxwell Schultz (below).New York native Sternbach is a Visiting Artist at Cooper Union School of Art, faculty member at the International Center of Photography and the Penumbra Foundation in New York, where she teaches wet plate collodion. She uses early photographic processes to create contemporary landscapes and environmental portraits, centering on man’s relationship to water. Her series Surfland, features large-format tintype portraits of surfers. Her prize-winning portrait was taken in February 2016 at Davenport Landing, Santa Cruz, California.
The winning portraits will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2016 exhibition through February 26. The annual exhibition showcases new work that has been submitted by some of the most exciting contemporary photographers.
The prize-winning photographs and those selected for inclusion in the exhibition were chosen from 4,303 submissions entered by 1842 photographers from 61 countries.
MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran Auctioneers will present a special auction session of important Chinese objects from the estate of Andrew F. Chandler and an important collection from Ventura, California. Consisting of only nine lots, the offerings include Chinese objects ranging in age from the Ming to the Qing dynasties. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.com. Bidders wishing to participate in this action are required to submit a deposit prior to submitting bids.
PASADENA, Calif. – Not since Roger Kislingbury’s first book, Saloons, Bars and Cigar Stores, has there been published a more comprehensive collection of vintage photographs depicting the American saloon with all of its appointments.
NEW ORLEANS – Neal Auction Co. will be offering the Gaspar Cusachs Collection of Important Historic Louisiana Material Culture, including the important Jordan B. Noble infantry snare drum and the Andrew Jackson presentation flag celebrating the victory at the Battle of New Orleans on Dec. 2 during its three-day annual Louisiana Purchase Auction™. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – On Saturday, Nov. 19, over 100 rare celebrity documents, jewelry, art and screen-worn memorabilia will be sold at auction without reserve by GWS Auctions. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
DALLAS – An important, private Texas collection of snuff boxes revealed a $62,500 Christian Maas Swedish gold and enameled box in Heritage Auctions’ $1 million Oct. 18 Fine Silver & Vertu Auction in Dallas. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – On Sunday, Dec. 4, Rago Arts and Auction Center will hold its most important auction of jewelry to date. This sale features an extraordinary selection of gemstones, including a brooch/pendant with an unenhanced Columbian emerald of approximately 29 carats and a Belle Epoch platinum necklace with an old pear shaped diamond weighing over 28 carats, both gems certified and both estimated at $750,000-$950,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
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NEW YORK – It is rare that one individual is so accomplished in his or her field of endeavor that that person’s name is recognized globally. But so it is for Neil Leifer and his world of sports photography. On Dec. 2–3, Guernsey’s will be presenting Leifer’s personal collection of his own photographic prints and a broad array of noteworthy prints he has received over his lifetime from other highly regarded photographers from all fields of photography. The approximately 700-lot event (of which 96 percent will be sold without minimum reserve) will be held live at New York City’s Bohemian National Hall and available to absentee and Internet bidders through LiveAuctioneers.com.