Our new work in The Conversation: Authorship or attribution, that is the dilemma of the art world

When is the attribution of a work of art one hundred percent certain?

After our last publication in book format about the Saint Agnes that we attributed to Zurbarán, we received a series of questions that made us realize how unclear society in general is about the difference between attribution and authorship of a work. That is why we have written this article in which we answer the question: What does it mean to attribute a work of art?

To read the full article, click here.

Dr. Ximo Company, emeritus director of CAEM and the young Picasso

The recent publication of Dr. Company has aroused academic interest in the little-explored stage of this artist’s youth. It is a critical reflection on Picasso’s first formative stage, still a child-adolescent between 10 and 12 years of age. In this book the artist’s skill in drawing and his surprising level of analytical dissection of the elements that make up the structures of his drawings become evident, a prelude to what will be his cubist facet exploited already in his artistic maturity. A prolific artist since his almost unknown stage in A Coruña, which this publication echoes, helping to understand the creative beginnings of one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century.

The book presents four drawings related to this creative universe of Picasso, studied at the Center d’Art d’Època Moderna of the University of Lleida by Dr. Ximo Company between 2015 and 2016, and which until now had not been presented to the public, arousing academic interest around the implicit critical reflection towards the rights of attributionism of the works of art of recent artists. In short, a topic that has been of academic interest and has been published in Spanish and English in scientific journals such as The Conversation.

To read the full article, click here.

“Yo soy Goya…” and the portrait of Juana Galarza de Goicoechea, in the Lonja of Zaragoza

At CAEM we are committed to the search for truth in each work of art. And sometimes, as it happened with this portrait of Juana Galarza de Goicoechea, the path we follow leads us to the hands of great authors. In this case, the lines of this small drawing led us to Goya. The study of the artwork lasted more than three years, and culminated in the publication in book format of the investigation with all the details discovered in the piece.

Now, a year later, we are pleased to see that it has been included in the exhibition “Yo soy Goya. La Zaragoza que viví, 1746-1775”, curated by Domingo Buesa. It will be there from March 30 to July 25, 2023.

To learn more about the exhibition, click here.

The Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna (CAEM) of the Universitat de Lleida attributes an artwork to Zurbarán

CAEM researchers attribute to the Extremaduran master a splendid Saint Agnes, that once belonged to the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection.

It is an oil on canvas measuring 140.7 x 105.6 cm in which Saint Agnes is represented, with a lamb in her arms, her most distinctive attribute. This artwork had captivated numerous art historians for more than a century and a half, who rightly considered it “one of the most beautiful saints executed by Zurbarán”.

The artwork, from the collection of the Duke of Béjar, was acquired in 1957 by Baron H. H. Thyssen-Bornemisza, until, in 1984, it was sold to an anonymous collector. From then on, it is known that it passed through several more owners, always acquired as a Francisco de Zurbarán of undeniable quality. However, in 2010 his paternity was questioned. It was then attributed, in a barely convincing way, to the little-known “Master of San Hermenegildo”: a minor master, of whom only one work is known for sure, of much lower artistic quality than this Saint Agnes.

After being acquired by its current owner, finally in 2020, the work ended up at the CAEM, where it has been studied with absolute scientific rigor. It has been analyzed live, in great detail, and with a transversal perspective, in which the researchers of the centre participated, as well as other renowned specialists. The result has been overwhelming: after more than two years of research and with the precise application of various multi-band and chemical analyses, the CAEM research group concludes that this magnificent Santa Inés is an indisputable work by Zurbarán. Surely this is one of the few works that has been made entirely by his hand, fully coinciding with the opinion held for more than a century and a half by the best art historians in the country.

The result of this exhaustive investigation has been published with abundant and precise illustrations in a bilingual Spanish-English version.

New exhibition dedicated to Sorolla: “Cazando impresiones”

An exhibition dedicated to the small format of the artist, which can be enjoyed until March 5th.

Almost two hundred artworks have been selected to show the public this intimate facet of the artist. The exhibition, curated by Blanca Pons Sorolla and María López, shows in these small but big artworks the audacity and mastery of the Valencian artist.

To learn more about the exhibition, click here.

New intervention of the CAEM in The Conversation: Was Sorolla born or made?

In the midst of celebrating Sorolla’s year, we thus join the revisions and reflections on his creative personality.

The myth of artistic genius is, in this case, the theme that underlies the argument of Jésica Martí and Ma. Antonia Argelich based on the early work of the Valencian painter. A fascinating concept, that of genius, which we usually let dazzle us at the risk of underestimating the artist’s painstaking self-training process.

To read the full article, click here.

The CAEM researcher, Jésica Martí, teaches a course at the Professional Association of Art Historians (Asociación Profesional de Historiadores del Arte, APROHA)

The CAEM collaborates with APROHA, helping specific training in diagnostic techniques for artworks from their materiality.

Its purpose is to introduce art historians to the profile and activity of the expert in works of art, for which it is considered essential today to be able to make an approximation and argumentation at a material level, beyond what it is purely aesthetic.

This is a course in which artworks are approached from an organoleptic perspective crossed with the latest technology of scientific analysis. A course to learn how to interpret non-invasive diagnostic techniques, especially multiband analysis, in which the Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna specializes.

The course lasts 20 hours, will be held on March 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and will serve to introduce art historians to the profile and activity of the qualified expert in analysis and valuation of works of art.

For more information, click here

The spectacular results of the study of the mural paintings of the Tournament-battle by Pisanello, in open access

After two years of study, and another two of dissemination in the academic field, the CAEM Center d’Art d’Època Moderna of the University of Lleida makes accessible the results of the study and restoration of Pisanello’s wall paintings in the Ducal Palace of Mantua to all interested public.

This is a joint project between the CAEM of the University of Lleida and the LANIAC of the University of Verona, which included the researchers Miquel Àngel Herrero Cortell and Marta Raïch from the University of Lleida, who travelled to Mantua in 2018 to plan and execute, together with Paola Artoni and Paolo Bertelli, what seemed like a truly complex challenge: to technically analyze the vestiges of a large mural painting 9.5 meters long, tangled in its conception, unfinished in its realization, and deteriorated in its state of conservation. As if this were not enough, this mural is 4.4 meters high, and had to be analyzed without interfering with the activity of the museum that contains it.

The most spectacular result is undoubtedly the reconstruction of the set of contours and drawings, even in cases where they had been partially lost. In this sense, the superimposition of photographs that capture different ranges of the visible spectrum (VIS-IR-UVL) allowed us to obtain a kind of large complete tracing of the figures on the wall, in which missing parts were completed, allowing an immediate holistic perception of the composition. These maps of images, together with other results obtained, such as pigment identification, are freely accessible now at the Repository of the University of Lleida, thanks to the digital publication of the Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna.

To read the full article click here

New CAEM publication on Picasso’s first drawings in La Coruña (1891-1895)

Picasso. Sus primeros dibujos. La génesis del artista más excepcional del siglo XX (2022), is the work of Professor Ximo Company with several researchers and scientific advisers. Bilingual edition (Spanish/English).

It is a book that allows us to understand the definition of Picasso’s first strokes and delve into the plastic and aesthetic enjoyment of those very fresh drawings. In the end, these drawings have led to the birth of the greatest genius of the 20th century, and also to find out how Picasso’s cubism has been built (https://theconversation.com/el-picasso-preadolescente-ya-era-cubista-186157).

The Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna (CAEM) of the University of Lleida once again focuses on the study of an artwork by Joaquín Sorolla

The CAEM researchers and other experts consider in contrast that it is a substantial self-portrait of Sorolla.

sorolla_autorretrato

The piece was already known as “Study of a man’s bust”, a work from a private collection. In 1974 it was certified by Francisco Pons-Sorolla. Autorshsip ratified by Blanca Pons-Sorolla in 2014 (great-granddaughter of the author of the piece). She is also an expert in Sorolla’s painting, and provided the artwork with a catalogue number. The study has been carried out at the Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna of the University of Lleida, by the researchers Jésica Martí and Dr. Ximo Company, director of the centre, over six months. Above all, they have focused on the study of the portrayed figure, proposing the hypothesis that it may be a youthful self-portrait of Sorolla himself, made during his apprenticeship in Rome.

The portrait is an oil on a tablet glued to a thicker board. It depicts a young man with a scant bead, in profile, bent over himself drawing. This small format was used by the Valencian master to make notes of colour and intimate painting, such as a self-portrait. The artwork has been compared with various self-portraits and youth photographs by Joaquín Sorolla. In the opinion of the CAEM researchers, the piece is similar to other youth portraits made by Sorolla, in which he portrays himself on several occasions seen from behind, or even showing his own deformed reflection see through a concave mirror. Moreover, other factors support the hypothesis: the similarity of the profile with photographs of Sorolla himself, for example; or the technical study of the work, in which an intimate style is observed in the brushstroke, in addition to the use of the small format (the format used by the Valencian master to make notes of colour and his most personal painting).

All these arguments suggest that, indeed, it could be one of the artist’s first self-portraits. Furthermore, thanks to the non-invasive analytical techniques carried out at the CAEM (ultraviolet photography and digital microphotography), it has been possible to study the creative process followed by Sorolla in the execution of the work, thus providing valuable information on the modus operandi of the author during this period. Besides, during the study process, we have worked side by side with the restoration team of the center. The cleaning of the piece has been essential to better reveal the similarity of the features of the character portrayed with those of the artist himself, also helping to recover an inscription that had been veiled over the years, which reads the dedication to an enigmatic Esteban: “To my friend Esteban”, in addition to the signature of the author himself: “J. Sorolla”.

The study, that counts with numerous and precise illustrations, has been published in Spanish, but it also contains an English version.

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