Two Great Masterpieces Offered to the Nation
In a particularly civilized manner the Duke of Sutherland has given the nation the chance of buying two masterpieces by Titian (c. 1485 - 1576) one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance. Both come from the Bridgewater Collection of more than two dozen major pictures by Raphael, Rembrandt, Poussin, Titian and others that was formed in the late 18th century and on loan since 1945 to the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. Their Director Mr John Leighton states that it is "the most important Old Master paintings loan to any public museum in the world."

So vast now is value of great old master pictures that the Duke has decided on reviewing his family's assets that too great a proportion is represented by The Bridgewater Collection - which The Art Newspaper estimates to be worth in excess of £1 billion. This sum excludes the pair of Titians which it estimates to be worth an additional £300 million and which are now on offer to the nation for £50 million each.

In some ways the media reaction to all of this has been as been extraordinary - given especially the unfashionable mythological subjects of both pictures: barely remarked upon in the general enthusiasm that the nation should, indeed must, buy the paintings. A front page story in The Times was reinforced by an exuberant leading article declaring that "the public must rise to the challenge." Also in a leading article The Guardian stated that "this is a civilised sale, which places the rights of the British public above those of the global marketplace."

For the background we have, as always, to depend on the uniquely well-informed Art Newspaper. From this we learn that following the Duke's private warning to John Leighton of his need to sell the Bridgewater Collection, Mr Leighton immediately decided that it must be saved. A brave and right decision given strength by another of rare wisdom - that the chances of success would be immeasurably increased by joining forces with another national collection: that of the National Gallery in London, where Mr Leighton was for some years a senior curator as was its recently appointed new Director Dr Nicholas Penny.

Reflecting his "strong preference that the entire collection should remain on public view in the UK" the Duke of Sutherland decided to sell a small number of pictures leaving the choice to both Directors. They selected the pair of Titians "arguably the finest works in the Bridgewater Collection" by one of the greatest of all masters, who painted them in 1556 - 59 for one of his most important patrons King Philip II of Spain.

The British nation represented by its national galleries in London and Edinburgh have until the end of this year to agree to purchase one of the pictures Diana and Actaeon for a incredibly generous £50 million. Assuming this to be successful then the galleries have a further four years to raise another £50 million for the second Diana & Callisto. Should both sales be successfully achieved, then the balance of The Bridgewater Collection will remain on long-term long in Edinburgh - while the Titians will be shown together at each national gallery in appropriate rotation.

The decision to buy both paintings for the nation is one thing, how the money will be raised over the next five years is another. This will be a lengthy and complex process which we'll all need to follow with watchful anxiety: responding individually as generously as we can.

All in all, seldom can Diana, the Greek goddess of Chastity, have been more acutely desired. In one of Titian's painting she angrily responds to Actaeon's intrusion on her nudity and that of her attendants nymphs; and in the second as angrily denounces the pregnancy of one of them, Callisto. Two supremely ironic messages for our morally free-wheeling age.

Memorial for Victims of 7th July Bombings
London has had its share of terrorist outrages - none more shocking than that of 7th July 2005 when 52 entirely innocent civilians were killed in four separate suicide bombings.

The final design for a new permanent Memorial has just been unveiled by the Humanitarian Assistance Unit of the UK's Department for Culture. It has been working with representatives of the bereaved families on a Project Board chaired by the Royal Parks - which are charged with the Memorial's delivery.

The chosen site is on the south east corner of Hyde Park, one of its most visible public spaces, embraced by trees close to Park Lane and Lover's Walk. The memorial will comprise 52 inscribed stelae, or pillars, cast in stainless steel, three metres, approx 10 feet, tall grouped in four inter-linking clusters.

The Design Team responsible for creating this new memorial comprises engineers Ove Arup, architects Carmody Groarke, and landscape architects Colvin and Moggridge. The sculptor Antony Gormley himself hugely experienced in making public art has, in line with the client brief, acted as independent artistic advisor - generously giving his services to the project which he characteristically describes as "using the language of architecture to make order out of chaos."

Subject to the usual planning hiccups, work on the Memorial is expected to start this autumn with its official unveiling on 7th July 2009.

Dering Roll Saved & "Royal" Research Begins
In the April ArtNewsLetter (No. 153) I reported that the Dering Roll was Threatened with Export and that the UK's Culture Minister had put a temporary bar on its export until 19th July. Identified as "a priority acquisition" the British Library has succeeded in raising the necessary £192,500 to secure the Roll for the nation's collection of medieval manuscripts. Presently it is on display to the public in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery of Library Treasures.

The Dering Roll dates from 1270 - 1280 and takes its name from a former owner, the antiquary Sir Edward Dering (1598 - 1644) who was lieutenant of Dover Castle - to which the Roll relates. The parchment roll measures a mighty 2645 mm by c. 210 mm. It is painted with 324 coats of arms in 54 rows, six shields to a line, most with the knight's names written above. All these knights owed feudal service to the Constable of Dover Castle and the Roll may have been made for Stephen of Penchester, Constable from 1268 - 1299 whose own arms are prominently shown.

In 1973 the British Library took possession of nearly 2000 manuscripts presented to the British Museum in 1757 by King George II, since when they have been kept together as a single collection labelled "Royal." This forms "the largest surviving collection of medieval and Renaissance painting" owned by the Kings and Queens of England. Oddly enough this unique group has never been studied as such, nor considered for exhibition.

However, an award of £265,000 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council will now fund a "Royal" project. Some 400 illuminated manuscripts have been selected for individual study by an expert team led by Dr Scot McKendrick from the British Library and Professor John Lowden of the Courtauld Institute of Art. This work is aimed at discovering who commissioned each work, why, who was its painter or scribe, and what it might have been used for. The culmination will be a major exhibition at the British Library in 2011 - 2012.
British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB. Tel. +44 (0)20 7412 7332. (Open daily; late Tues).

New Public Art Award
Examples of Public Art, not all of the best quality, can now be found across the land. The Royal British Society of Sculptors has launched a new award FIRST@108 "designed to identify and nurture future talent in public art." Worth more than £10,000 and supported by the property development company Canary Wharf Group, this award is especially interesting in several ways. First: it is open to sculptors of any age or nationality, working in any style or media, who have yet to be recognized as "practitioners of public art."

Second and just as important, though assuredly rare, this new award is "designed to replicate the demanding procedures and detailed requirements encountered in most public art commissions."

Just as interesting surely is the chosen theme for the inaugural award: INTERACTION - which must encourage a multiplicity of interpretations. Professor Brian Falconbridge, President of the RBS, will chair the judging panel. An exhibition of the short-listed artists is planned for 21 - 30 January 2009.
Royal British Society of Sculptors, 108 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London SW7 3RA. Tel +44 (0)20 7373 5554.

Dame Myra Hess Remembered
During the Second World War, the celebrated pianist Dame Myra Hess organized daily concerts at the National Gallery in London - from where its old master paintings had been spirited away to a secret location in Wales. With London under perpetual threat of aerial attack - the National Gallery itself was hit nine times by enemy bombs - Dame Myra's idea that the concerts would offer "spiritual solace to those who were giving all to combat the evil" proved to be enormously important in maintaining public morale. Hers was a brave and constant example that entered the nation's consciousness.

From 10 October 1939 - 10 April 1946, 1,698 concerts were given attended by 824,152 people. All sorts came, said the Gallery's then Director Kenneth Clarke. "Young and old, smart and shabby, Tommies in uniform with their tin hats strapped on, old ladies with ear trumpets, musical students, civil servants, office boys, busy public men." Volunteers ran a popular canteen.

On 25 November, both Dame Myra Hess, who initiated, directed and performed in the concerts, and the composer Howard Fergusson who devised the programmes, will be remembered at the National Gallery with a special day of concerts and talks. The lunch time performers will be the pianist brothers Richard and John Contiguglia from New York who were taught by Myra Hess; and in the evening Tasmin Little, violin, will be joined by Piers Lane, piano.
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. Tel. +44 (0)20 7747 2885.

Opening up the Soane
"The best house-museum in the world - is about to get better." Writes Tim Knox, Director of Sir John Soane's Museum in London. By 2012, he and his team aim to open up for public view a number of hitherto hidden spaces including Soane's original private appartments.

Situated in three adjoining town houses designed by Sir John and by turns, astonishing, eccentric and endearing, the Soane Museum nowadays attracts more than 90,000 visitors a year and is in danger of suffering permanent damage from this success. Not only must it improve the way its buildings and collections are cared for, it must now improve its visitor facilities and disabled access, as well as display more of its treasures. "Doing nothing is not an option," says Tim Knox, "What is important is that we safeguard - and enhance - the unique atmosphere of the Soane."

Recently launched, the Opening up the Soane Restoration Appeal for £6.3 million has already attracted a £1 million donation from the Monument Trust (founded by the late Simon Sainsbury) and a grant of £125,000 from the J. Paul Getty Trust towards reinstating its historic stained glass. The Leche Trust has given £100,000 towards the recreation of Soane's display of architectural models; and an anonymous foundation £390,000 to underwrite the new visitor facilities.

These are very large sums but the support of private individuals remains essential. Details from Mike Nicholson, the Soane's Development Director. Tel. +44. (0)20 7440 4241. email: mnicholson@soane.org.uk
Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP. Tel. +44 (0)20 7405 2107. (Open Tues - Sat).

UK Museums Acknowledge Spoliation Claims
Two items in UK museum collections, both originally acquired in good faith, have been accepted as looted during the Nazi period following a ruling by the UK government's independent Spoliation Advisory Panel.

One, a Viennese porcelain plate made about 1725 - 30, was donated to the British Museum by William King in 1939; recent research there into its provenance has suggested that it once formed part of the Heinrich Rothberger Collection, dispersed at a forced sale in Vienna in 1938. His sole surviving heir has accepted an ex gratia payment of £18,000 in lieu of its restitution.

The other item, a Sevres porcelain monteith or glass cooler has been held in the collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge from where it will be returned to the claimant.

Helping Preserve the Past for the Future
This year is the 90th anniversary of the founding of the British Antique Dealers' Association - the UK's premier antiques and art trade association. Unusually and far-sightedly, some of its work is done through a Cultural and Educational Trust which, for example, supports restoration courses for intending professionals at West Dean College in Sussex. This well reflects the BADA's belief "that a good antique dealer is the custodian and preserver of the artworks" that he or she handles for the "benefit of future generations."

Members of the public can support this important work by becoming a Friend of the Trust: in which discriminating organisation I am happy to declare a personal interest. A modest annual subscription brings a newsletter detailing the projects the charity has supported, telling also of special private visits, tours, and master-classes available to members: all personally arranged by the Friends' Director Anne Green.
Friends of the BADA Trust, 20 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1BD. Tel. +44 (0)20 7581 5259. www.bada.org

Old Tungsten Light Bulbs Not to be Banned in the UK
Many private owners of antique or old chandeliers and wall sconces have been worried by the possible effects of the national push for energy efficient electric light bulbs - most of which are totally inappropriate for such items. The effects of potentially losing "old fashioned" tungsten bulbs may even have propelled some enthusiasts to start stock-piling them?

The ever nimble-footed LAPADA, TheAssociation of Art & Antiques Dealers, has used its membership of the British Art Market Federation to draw the Government's attention to the anxieties felt by specialist dealers at the prospect of the loss of the old types of electric light bulbs. The minister responsible Mr Hilary Benn has responded positively, pointing out that such bulbs are not to be banned in future, that their phasing out is voluntary not mandatory, and that retailers will still be able to sell for example, the old types of candle bulbs "where no efficient alternative currently exists."

LAPADA has just issued its latest Directory of Members in the UK and Overseas. It also publishes an immensely useful little booklet The Care of Art and Antiques which includes information about, for instance, paintings and drawings, silver, jewellery, sculpture, pottery and porcelain, glass, furniture and rugs; plus advice on valuations, security and insurance.
LAPADA, 535 King's Road, London SW10 0SZ. Tel. +44 (0)20 7823 3511.
www.lapada.co.uk

Damien Hirst Sells His Golden Calf
On the day in New York that Lehman Brothers went into administration and Merrill Lynch was taken over, Sotheby's in London sold Damien Hirst's partial collection of his own art for £70.5 million. In an irony not likely to have been lost on the artist his Golden Calf made the highest price of £10.3 million.

The final total for the two day sale was £111 million: everything reported subsequently in its customary scrupulous detail by the Antiques Trade Gazette. In advance, the Hirst sale attracted yards of press coverage including three pages in The Economist dwelling on this new kind of partnership between artist and auctioneer - to the exclusion the paper asserted of the usual [and still important] relationship between a contemporary artist and his dealers. Nonetheless one suspects that all parties will have been satisfied, in so far as prices and reputatation are ineluctably entwined with publicity.

And the Golden Calf? In Biblical terms this was the golden idol set up by grumbling Israelites impatient at the absence of Moses on Mount Sinai, where he received God's commandments inscribed on two tablets of stone. So angry was Moses when he returned, that he not only destroyed the Golden Calf but smashed the stone tablets.