Christie’s on Poussin’s Ordination.

Richard Knight and Paul Raison of Christie's Old Masters and 19th Century Art department talk in this video about Poussin's Ordination, soon to be sold by the auction house. They're obviously very much in awe of the painting; Knight calls it the most important painting he's dealt with in his career. Nice to hear the speakers on the allusion to the philosophers' grove in the background- the figures reclining on the grass.

I wonder, and I stress this is just me thinking aloud, not Christie's, whether Knight's comment about Rome being Poussin's adopted home hints at a possible buyer in Italy. On second thoughts, this is just me being paranoid about the painting leaving the UK.  

All will be revealed in a few weeks.Cross our fingers. 

Comments

[Francis DeStefano]

David,

Thanks for an excellent video.

Frank

[H Niyazi]

Cheers for that David.

Thanks to your efforts, I am warming to Poussin. Before reading more about him on your site he was chiefly 'that guy that hated Caravaggio!'- which did not make me as fond of the idea of looking into him!

Still, the scholarly undercurrent of the Academic painters is something I will always be naturally drawn to, regardless of the artists anti-tenebristic rantings :)

For those that enjoy art videos, apart from my site of course, I recommend the V&A site as well as the NGA Washington - both have great audio and video resources. The Frick collections audio podcasts are also very intersting.

Kind Regards
H

[Art History Today]

H- I've said a few things about Poussin/Caravaggio in the interview which I'll e.mail in a few days.

Thanks for the other vides sites. I am using more videos (mainly You Tube) in teaching practice these days.

Frank- What I like about the video is the way it captures the beautiful gradation of colour across the picture. Because of the bad situation in the NG, you don't get that effect at all- the room is dark.

Best- David