Velázquez at the Grand Palais in Paris from March 15 to July 13, 2015

For me, exhibitions devoted to the paintings of the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez always evoke a sense of wonder and possibility. Velázquez' paintings hold me spellbound. I will be in Verona, Italy in May and will find my way to Paris for sure. Perhaps a rendezvous with the esteemed restorer from the Van Gogh Museum - René Boitelle?

An exhibition produced jointly by the RMN-Grand Palais and the Musée du Louvre, in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Curator : Guillaume Kientz, curator in the Department of paintings, Musée du Louvre
Exhibition design : Maciej Fiszer

Diego Velázquez
Portrait of Pope Innocent X56"x47" oil on canvas c1650
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome

25 March 2015 to 13 July 2015

Open : Sundays and Mondays from 10 am to 8 pm,

Wednesdays to Saturdays from 9 am to 10 pm

Closed on Tuesdays

Closed 1st May

Closed at 6pm on 25th and 26th March

Access : metro line 1 and 13 « Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau » or line 9 « Franklin D. Roosevelt »

Attributed to Diego Velázquez
Man With a Wine Glass
Toledo Museum of Art

DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, FROM 15 MARCH TO 13 JULY 2015 AT THE GRAND PALAIS.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Discovers A New Velázquez In Its Own Collection: Is the Painting a Self Portrait?

Portrait of A Man (Self Portrait?)
Velázquez
oil on canvas circa 1634-35
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
photo by Angel Franco/ New York Times


Portrait of A Man (Self Portrait?) detail
Velázquez
oil on canvas circa 1634-35
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Years of discolored varnish and overpainting have a revealed a fresh new face in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 17th Century Spanish Collection. Carol Vogel has an informative article in today's New York Times: An Old Master Emerges From Grime
Vogel interviewed Keith Christiansen, the Met’s newly appointed chairman of European paintings:“It’s bugged me for 25 years. The quality has always been there. And I had a hard time believing that a work of quality was the product of a generic workshop.”

Keith Christiansen had Velázquez expert Jonathan Brown look at the restored painting. Vogel reports his response: "“One glance was all it took,” Mr. Brown said, adding later, “The picture had been under my nose all my life. It’s a fantastic discovery. It suddenly emerges Cinderella-like.”

Who is this man who has emerged from the smudges and grime of centuries? Is it a long lost self portrait of the master himself? Look at the images and you decide. Update: Tyler Green from Modern Art Notes has provided a twtpoll. Vote here: Is the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 'new' Velazquez a self-portrait?


Velázquez
The Surrender of Breda (Las Lanzas) detail
1634-35
Oil on canvas, 307 x 367 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


Velázquez
Las Meninas or The Family of Philip IV (detail)
1656-57
Oil on canvas, 318 x 276 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
From the Prado's site:"On the left in the painting, dark and calm, the painter himself can be seen standing with brush and palette in front of a tall canvas."


The Metropolitan Displays Restorers Tools
photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

More at:
Met Press Room: Painting in Metropolitan Museum's Collection Reattributed to Spanish Master Velázquez
An Old Master Emerges From Grime
Self Portraits From the Uffizi
Velazquez: The Technique of Genius by Jonathan Brown

A fun read:
The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber