Naumann's Treasures Told

As part of Sotheby's annual Old Masters sales, a collection of fine and decorative arts belonging to Otto Naumann will be put up for auction on January 25, 2007. Naumann, the preeminent dealer of Dutch Old Masters in America, is renovating his decades-old gallery in Manhattan, redefining his mission, and having something of a personal clear out, as well. Many of the works are from the gallery, but others are from his private collection and also the collections of family members. Furniture, glassware, metalwork and ceramics are all included, as well as the paintings and drawings for which he is so widely known.

Items in the sale range primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, and offer a look at some of the most emblematic designs of the Low Countries. A few of the sale highlights are below.


Lot 114: An 18th-century study of a tulip by an unknown artist, $4,000-6,000


Lot 55: Boy Asleep in his High Chair, Cornelis Bisschop, 3rd quarter of the 17th century, $30,000-50,000


Lot 131: An unusual Dutch or German green-glass roemer, late 16th century, $10,000-15,000


Lot 52: Portrait of Jacqueminjna Le Pla, Abraham Lambertsz. van den Tempel, circa 1665-1675, $60,000-80,000


www.sothebys.com

Designed for Scholars

Since its inception in 1890, The Danish Museum of Art & Design in Copenhagen has acquired some 3,000 ceramic pieces. The collection covers the 18th and 19th centuries and over 120 factories. With funding from the Oak Foundation, the museum has recently established a ceramics study center and detailed database, available by appointment to scholars.



The Study Collection


Bacchus figure and plate with stylised flowers in blue underglaze decoration, Den kgl. Porcelainsfabrik, c. 1790

www.dkim.dk

Bohemian Rhapsody

The German town of Passau, situated at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz and Danube rivers, is most widely known for its 15th century cathedral of St. Stephan. What fewer travelers find is the city's glass museum, located in the beautifully restored Hotel Wilder Mann near the old town hall.

The museum's 30,000-piece collection spans more than 300 years, making it the most extensive repository of Bohemian glass in the world.


Ruby-flashed flask with gilded depiction of the Christ Child, c. 1725


Footed vase with painted view of Dresden, Samuel Mohn, c. 1813


Portrait medallion of a young woman, Dominik Biemann, c. 1835


Historismus vases with young women in Rococo dress, c. 1858


Art Déco vase, flashed and gilded decoration, Adolf Rasche, c. 1930

www.glasmuseum.de

Slovakian Stronghold

Červený Kameň, nestled in the Carpathian Mountains northeast of Bratislava, is one of Slovakia's few surviving castles.

The original structure at Červený Kameň, or 'red rock', was begun in the 13th century by Queen Kunhuta, widow of a Czech king and daughter of Hungarian king, as part of a border-fortification project between old Hungary and the Czech kingdom. Though the castle retained its basic form of a central courtyard and corner towers, the structure changed with successive owners. When the wealthy Augsburg-based Fugger family (bankers for the Hapsburgs) purchased the castle in 1535, they had great plans to develop it as a key trading point along the Danube. Plans by Albrecht Dürer detail a massive Renaissance palace, complete with military fortifications and extensive storage vaults deep with the castle walls. However, before work commenced the castle again changed hands, this time to Mikuláš Pálffy II, in whose family it remained until 1945. The Pálffy family's 18th century Baroque renovations are what remain today.

Remarkably, Červený Kameň, along with nearby Bratislava Castle, escaped bombing in World War II and was declared a state cultural asset and opened to the public in 1949. In 1970 it was elevated to the status of national cultural monument which lead to a government-funded restoration program in 1976. Work has continued, slowly, and since the 1990s additional portions of the castle have been opened to the public.

The castle provides a particularly rare glimpse into the history of the Slovakian nobility through its beautifully restored gardens and interiors that host collections of paintings, decorative arts and firearms. Červený Kameň is maintained as part of the Slovak National Museum.

www.snm.sk
www.castles.sk/cerveny-kamen.php

Images, top to bottom:
Červený Kameň, as it looks today
A 17th century drawing of the castle by Giovanni Battista Morelli
One of the immaculately-restored corridors beneath the castle
A carved-stone stag, symbolic of the Pálffy family, stands guard above the inner bailey

Contemporary Crafts in Poland

Galeria Opera, Ujazdowski Castle
Warsaw, Poland

In 1995 Poland-native Bożena Kulczyńska opened a gallery in Warsaw devoted to the promotion of Polish crafts. Already in tune with contemporary artistans via the architecture firm of her husband Bogdan Kulczyńska, with whom the gallery is associated, Bożena has brought together a well-edited and diverse offering of uniquely Polish design. The collection includes glass, ceramics, fiber and furniture as well as more industrial elements such as lighting. Over the last decade Bożena has curated dozens of solo and group exhibitions for the artists she represents, both in her own gallery and at venues in Paris, Budapest, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Rome.

Pieces shown:
Caviar bowls, Bogdan Kosak, gilded-and-glazed porcelain
Perfume bottle, Agnieszka Borowska, hand-ground optical glass

The gallery is located within Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw's Centre for Contemporary Art. The original castle, once a summer palace for the kings and queens of Poland, suffered repeated destruction over its 500 year history and although the 17th century exterior largely survived World War II, the castle was completely rebuilt in 1988.

www.galeriaopera.com