Blog BNP Paribas | The bank for a changing world » Painting

David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture

Emma Oliver — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:43:02 +0000

From 21 January to 9 April 2012, the Royal Academy of Arts will showcase, in partnership with BNP Paribas,the first major exhibition of new landscape works by David Hockney RA. Featuring vivid paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire countryside, these large-scale works have been created especially for the galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts and will be shown alongside related drawings and film. The exhibition will also reveal how Hockney has embraced new technology, including his early use of the Polaroid camera, his innovative use of the colour photocopier, and more recently his iPhone and iPad.

About David Hockney

Born in Bradford, England, David Hockney became famous in the early 1960s and one of the leaders of the pop art movement in the United Kingdom.

After emigrating to the United States in 1964, Hockney was known for his “swimming pool” paintings, then for his elaborate stage sets during the ’70s and for his photo collages during the ’80s. His easel paintings made during the 1980s show the influence that Matisse and Picasso exerted over his art.

In the last decade, Hockney has returned to painting in the open air, observing with honesty and intensity the scenery remembered from school holidays spent in East Yorkshire. He is now widely recognised as Britain’s greatest living artist.

About the Exhibition

Created especially for the exhibition, vivid, large-scale paintings inspired by the Yorkshire countryside will be displayed next to drawings by the celebrated English painter. Alongside a selection of works spanning more than fifty years, these new pieces will shed new light on Hockney’s fascination with landscapes.

The exhibition will also present a number of his works painted from the Fifties onwards. These include the photo-collages of the Eighties and Grand Canyon paintings of the late Nineties, which put the Yorkshire works in context and highlight the striking relationship between past works and his current thinking and practice.

The exhibition will include a display of his iPad drawings and a series of new films produced using 18 cameras, which will be displayed on multiple screens and which will provide a spellbinding visual journey through the eyes of David Hockney.

Designed by the curators Marco Livingstone and Édith Devaney, the exhibition “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” was organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.

For more information about this event

Kim En Joong : An Original Artist

Isabelle Palsky — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 10:23:28 +0000

BGL BNP Paribas’ Private Banking Centre “d’Villa” is hosting an exhibition of works by Kim En Joong, the internationally renowned painter, ceramist and stained-glass artist, from 16 November 2011 to 20 January 2012.

Kim En Joong was born in South Korea in 1940. He discovered calligraphy at the age of 16 and gravitated toward the graphic arts, entering the Fine Arts School of Seoul in 1959. During his studies, he attended French classes given by the Missions Etrangères de Paris missionary organisation. This experience developed his interest in Europe and France and he soon decided to study western painting.

A singular artist and a man of faith for whom painting is a sacred art, Kim En Joong is known the world over as a reformer of Christian art. Priest-artist or artist-priest, above all he is a painter of light, of the inexpressible and indivisible. His painting, in the abstract landscape tradition, lifts the veil on a world of beauty and spirituality, revealing an incandescent inspiration and beckoning believers and non-believers alike to a place where art and faith are intimately linked.

BGL BNP PARIBAS, 10A Boulevard Royal, L-2093 Luxembourg
Mondays to Fridays, 9 am to 4 pm
Guided tours on request

Fernand Léger’s Painting “Le passage à niveau” to be Restored

Thierry Lagache — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:08:56 +0000

With the support of the BNP Paribas Switzerland Foundation, the Fondation Beyeler is restoring a key painting in the collection, “Le passage à niveau “by Fernand Léger (1912). The aim of the restoration project, in addition to scholarly research, is to stabilize the work’s complex and fragile substance.

“Le passage à niveau” in the Context of Art History

A small group of early landscapes, among them Le passage à niveau, already reflected Léger’s central standing in the context of his epoch. With the Impressionists he shared an interest in the natural world which was gradually witnessing the incursion of civilization and technology. Yet by this time he had already abandoned the harmonious visual language of Impressionism and destroyed his earliest works. He felt closer to the Futurists, who translated the pulsating rhythms of modern life into rapid, vital linear staccatos. Under the impression of Cézanne as well as Picasso’s and Braque’s Cubism he developed an abstract idiom that established his highly autonomous position in the context of the Parisian avant-garde and would blaze a trail for developments in modern art.

The state of Léger’s painting “Le passage à niveau” (1912) must be described as fragile, due to the pattern of deep cracks that have developed in the paint layer and the complexity of its substance. To prevent possible damage, the painting has never been lent out since the opening of the Fondation Beyeler in 1997. The restoration work will begin with a comprehensive inspection aimed at determining the principal measures to be taken to stabilize the image.

In the course of the project, the painting will be studied and documented under various lighting conditions in order to obtain further information that is in part invisible to the naked eye. These will include oblique lighting (to bring out the surface structure of canvas and paint layer), infrared (to reveal initial drawing or alterations in the composition), ultraviolet (to detect later restoration measures), and x-ray investigation (to reveal various paint layers). A microscopic inspection and evaluation of the state of preservation with the aid of digital mapping should likewise provide important information.

Following this basic investigation, a suitable restoration plan will be drawn up and restoration measures undertaken.

By revealing Léger’s painting technique, we hope to gain a better understanding of his creative process and determine ways to stabilize the work’s fragile state, in order to enable an appropriate and long-term presentation in the context of the collection.

Rediscovery of a Venetian masterpiece

Thierry Lagache — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:13:53 +0000

It took five months to restore Veronese’s masterpiece at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, thanks to the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, Switzerland.

The “Entombment of Christ”, hung above a door, used to grace the great drawing room in the Louis XIV’s apartments at Versailles. This work by Paolo Caliari (1528-1588), known as Veronese, was probably painted in Venice in about 1575 and depicts the body of Christ being placed in the tomb with a delicately sketched landscape in the background. After being sent to Paris in 1802, the picture was passed to the city of Geneva in 1805. It was exhibited first at the City Hall before being transferred to the Museée Rath as soon as it opened in 1826.

The picture, whose poor condition was causing concern, needed restoration work which was undertaken this year with the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, Switzerland.
The work was included in a much broader study of the collections of Italian paintings at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in collaboration with Professors Mauro Natale and Frédéric Elsig of the University of Geneva.
The “Entombment of Christ” needed five months of restoration work and has been on public display since the end of September.
The results of the research will be announced on 25th November during a study day dedicated to this masterpiece. As well as a scrupulous analysis of the painting itself, the study day will also offer an opportunity to discover the rich and varied range of crafts and skills involved in caring for the collections.

The art of the contemporary tapestry

Krasimira Antimova — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:25:44 +0000

Extraordinary works of art are presented to Bulgarian audience during an exhibition in The Arsenal Museum in Sofia. The renown artist Jassenka Tucan – Vaillant introduces “The art of the contemporary tapestry” to Bulgarian audience in October 2011 with the support of BNP Paribas Bulgaria and French Institute Sofia.

Tucan-Vaillant studied at the Zagreb’s Fine Arts Academy, where she specialized in such classical techniques as sculpture but this is not the artist’s only skill. Jasenka Tucan-Vaillant is an established name in contemporary textile art and handmade paper in mixed techniques. In Aubusson, France, she dedicated herself to studying the craft of tapestry – following the steps of Miro and Dali, who frequented the same tapestry workshops in the ’30s.

The best works of the author during the last ten years are shown at the exhibition and no matter of the material which she uses – textile, paper or bronze – she changes it to something so soft and gentle that inspires calmness and tenderness.

Preserve and promote cultural heritage

Thierry Lagache — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:23:39 +0000

The BNP Paribas Foundation has been a trailblazer in actions to promote awareness of and preserve the heritage of museums. For 25 years it has been a loyal and widely recognized patron of museums, regularly funding restoration of works. The Foundation also supports the publication of museum catalogues to heighten awareness of the wealth of museum collections. These programs, which have also been de have expanded outside France to aid museums in other countries as well.

This component of BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy continues to grow with international initiatives, including direct partnerships between BNP Paribas and leading museums and the publication of works on the rich historical heritage of certain countries.

The “Lands of Lotto” project

Raffaella Violentano — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:31:55 +0000

In Rome, the “Terre di Lotto” (the Lands of Lotto) project has been launched in honour of painter Lorenzo Lotto. The idea behind the initiative is to increase awareness of and interest in the masterpieces of the Venetian artist through the creation of cultural itineraries, promotional activities for tourists, and a rich calendar of events.

“Terre di Lotto” began with an exhibition of Lotto’s works at the Scuderie del Quirinale from March until June this year, which you may remember reading about here on the blog. It was an important first step of the project. It is an initiative that is important for BNL, who lent its own painting, “Giuditta con la testa di Oloferne” to the exhibition, and sponsored the restoration of 13 of Lotto’s works. Its own collection includes close to 5,000 works, ranging from ancient Roman sculptures to modern paintings.

The original colours of the Jan van Scorel polyptych restored

Sophie Bonnaud-Le Roux — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:36:15 +0000

As a dedicated patron of the arts and well-known museum sponsor, the BNP Paribas Foundation has sponsored the restoration of a 16^th century polyptych painted by the Dutch artist Jan van Scorel.

Don’t miss the opportunity to see it at the Fondation Custodia/Institut Néerlandais, where it will be on display until 22 May 2011. A unique opportunity to admire this masterpiece before it is returned to the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai!

Originally created for the abbey in the French commune of Marchiennes, the polyptych – a painting that is divided into multiple sections, or panels – traces the life and martyrdom of St. Jacques le Majeur and St. Etienne. Bursting with colour and detail, it is emblematic of Italian Renaissance art in the Netherlands.

The restoration campaign lasted more than four years, uniting restorers, curators, art historians and scientists around the nine compositions out of the original ten that have survived, despite the polyptych’s turbulent history, until the present day. This impressive collection has finally regained its full lustre.

Tracking the restoration of a painting, in celebration of 130 years in Australia

Sarah Claughton — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:17:49 +0000

Have you ever been curious about how the restoration of a painting actually happens? The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the oldest public art gallery in Australia, has created an online diary to track the conservation treatment of Crossing of the Red Sea, a prized painting by Nicolas Poussin. The diary began in January 2011 and guides its readers step by step through the restoration process.

Crossing of the Red Sea was acquired by the gallery in 1948, and remains one of the most highly regarded works in the NGV collection. It is also considered to be one of the masterpieces of this influential 17th century painter, whose works feature clarity, logic and order.

The restoration is being sponsored by BNP Paribas and its Foundation, in celebration of the bank’s 130th year in Australia.

About the painting:
Nicolas POUSSIN
French 1594–1665, worked in Italy
The Crossing of the Red Sea c.1634
oil on canvas
155.6 x 215.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1948
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria