Ten
years of The British Art Journal
This
special double issue of The British Art Journal celebrates
ten years of the journal’s existence (note that the
next volume, XI, will consist of three numbers as usual).
Our first numbers were supported by a few private
individuals (named below as supporters) but also by
advertisers, most of whom have remained with us ever since.
One of those with us from the start is the Mark Weiss
Gallery, which itself celebrates twenty-five years in 2010.
The intriguing and in some ways still mysterious portrtait
on the cover has been researched in depth by the Weiss
Gallery, the fruits of which have been published in a book
(available from the gallery) with contributions from art
historians (including Sir Roy Strong, Michael Wilson,
Jeremy Wood, Duncan Thomson and Tim Wilks) but also music
historians (including Benjamin Hebbert) and the
conservators who restored it. The painting was the subject
of an absorbing one-day seminar at the gallery on 25
February 2010. It is an appropriate image for our cover
because it exemplifies the theme of this special issue,
which is British art in an international context. The
artist was probably Flemish; the sitter was of French
Huguenot stock, active in the court of the Scottish Stuart
on the throne of England; the small oval painting on the
back wall is signed (and dated 1613) by its own painter,
Hendrick van Steenwyck the Younger (c1580-1649), either
Dutch or, more probably, Flemish, who was resident in
London from 1617. On the table beside the sitter is a
statuette of Antinous and a piece of paper bearing a Latin
epigram which contrives to include the notes of the
six-note scale (precursor of ‘do, re, mi’)
devised or discovered by Guido of Arezzo in the eleventh
century:
‘VT RElevet MIserum FAtum SOLitosque LAbores.’
All in all, the painting is a fine international puzzle,
and it provided ample material for a remarkably fruitful
and amiable discussion among experts assembled from Britain
and abroad, from museums, academe, the dealing world, and
the musical word (both academic and performing). The
seminar is also significant because it draws attention to
the ways in which scholarship and the commercial art world,
far from being mutually incompatible, can benefit from
co-operation. Many suspect, indeed, that the possession of
expertise in the examination of paintings is no longer the
norm in the academic world. Rather, it is to be found
within museums (in some, alas, to a decreasing extent) and
with dealers. It would be a great thing if this remarkable
seminar was the precursor of many more such collaborations,
always provided, of course, that they are conducted in the
same refreshing spirit of mutual respect and enjoyment as
this was. An exquisite recital of Lanier’s music was
shrewdly scheduled to occupy the period immediately
following – another international note – an
outstanding lunch of Italian food and French wine.
The William MB Berger Prize for British Art
History
New arrangements for the 2009 award are in place in order
to simplify the procedure. The qualifying period has been
changed. Books for the 2009 award would have been
considered if published in the period 1 September 2008-31
August 2009. Books will now be considered if published
during the period 1 September 2008-31 December 2009, for
this occasion only. In future, however, the qualifiying
period will be the calendar year 1 January-31 December, the
first time that applies being 2010.
For much of its existence the BAJ has also been aided by
the support of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, of
Denver, which together with the BAJ instituted the Berger
Prize. This special issue, with its international theme,
has also been supported by a grant from the Paul Mellon
Centre for Studies in British Art, for which we are
grateful. And finally, we offer out heartfelt thanks to our
subscribers and readers all over the world, without
whom…