It is natural, I suppose, to experience a little twinge of sadness on learning that the heirs to a restituted work of art have immediately put it on the market; natural, but unfair. One can know nothing of the family’s present circumstances, still less of motives or individual tastes. Indeed, they may have no personal relationship, as it were, with the object, having been separated from it two or more generations ago.
Harry Fuld (1872–1932) was perhaps lucky to die when he did, on a business trip to Switzerland. Descended from antique dealers, he had made his own fortune in what has become known as telecommunications and was a major collector of Modern and some older art. His widow and sons inherited the collections, which were confiscated and sold off by the Nazis. After the war, his heirs had only limited success in getting back what should have been theirs and it is only subsequent generations that have had their rights recognised. The two paintings that turned out to be the stars of Christie’s main London Old Master sale in December had been returned to the family earlier last year.
Peter Harry Fuld (1921–62), the younger of the two sons, was so affected by his experiences as an emigrant and refugee, which included a spell of internment on the Isle of Man, that he set up a foundation to support young emigrants in London and Germany who face racial and other discrimination. Perhaps some of the proceeds from the sale will be directed to this.
The two predella panels were painted in tempera and gold by a Sienese master, Giovanni di Paolo (about 1399–1482). A predella is a run of four or more small scenes below the main subjects of an altarpiece—in this case, an altar dedicated to St Clare, the companion of St Francis of Assisi.
Denne historien er fra February 05, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 05, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
