Philip IV in Brown and Silver
| Philip IV in Brown and Silver | |
|---|---|
National Gallery, London |
The Portrait of Philip IV or Philip IV in Brown and Silver (and occasionally referred to as Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver) is a portrait of
The date of the work is not certain – the National Gallery website gives 1631–32, whilst Carrassat gives 1635 – but it was definitely the first portrait the artist produced after his first trip to
Provenance
It was almost certainly the painting on display in the library at
Cleaning controversy
Kenneth Clark, the director of The National Gallery at the time, oversaw a cleaning and restoration of the Silver Philip in 1936, which created significant controversy.[6] Clark employed art restorer Helmut Ruhemann, whose work Clark described as "far more skillful and scientific [than other restorers]", to carry out the cleaning.[7] Clark's biographer, James Stourton, described the controversy of the "cleaning wars" at the time:
- "Part of the problem was that Academicians thought that an artist should run the gallery (as indeed had usually been the case), rather than an art historian, and they actually enjoyed spats. The painting that aroused their feelings was the Velázquez portrait of Philip [IV], the so-called 'Silver Philip', that had just received the attentions of Ruhemann. The Sir William Rothenstein wrote an express approval of 'the Silver Philip'...The matter rumbled on for over a year.[7]
Neil MacGregor, the director of The National Gallery from 1981 to 1987, acknowledged that Clark had been privately concerned about the restoration, stating that Clark was, “fearful of what might be found if the golden veils of dirt and varnish were ever to be removed”.[6] However, years after the controversy, Clark himself said, "I do not regard cleaning controversies as of any importance. They are epidemics that take place about every twenty-five years."[7]
The picture was included in an exhibition at the National Gallery in 1947 entitled "Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures" and was displayed alongside Philip IV of Spain (also called Philip IV when Elderly), another portrait of Philip IV by Velázquez.[8]
See also
Notes
- ^ MacLaren, 114
- ^ Kelly Grovier (2 November 2018). "Silver: The colour of betrayal?". BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ MacLaren, 115
- ^ MacLaren, 114–115
- ^ MacLaren, 114, 116; Reitlinger, I, 135
- ^ a b "Why is the Metropolitan Museum of Art afraid of public disclosures on its picture restorers' cleaning materials?". ArtWatchUK Online. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9780385351164. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ Ana Baeza Ruiz (1 January 2017). "The Road to Renewal: Refiguring the Art Museum in Twentieth-Century Britain" (PDF). University of Leeds. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
References
- Carrassat, P.F.R., Maestros de la pintura, Spes Editorial, S.L., 2005. ISBN 84-8332-597-7
- ISBN 0-947645-46-2
- Reitlinger, Gerald; The Economics of Taste, Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Picture Prices 1760–1960, Barrie and Rockliffe, London, 1961
Further reading
- Carr, Dawson W. and Bray, Xavier (eds.), Velázquez, 2006, National Gallery London, ISBN 1-8570-9303-8
- Velázquez , exhibition catalog of 1990 from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this painting (see index)
External links
- Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver – National Gallery webpage