New research has resulted in sensational finds.
French painting expert Eric Turquin announcing the authentication of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Judith Beheading Holofernes.
Photo courtesy Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images.
Photo courtesy Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images.
Science and technological advances combined with new insights and scholarly research have resulted in some amazing art-related discoveries in 2016.
Whether its new attributions, lucky flea market finds, or a long-lost painting discovered behind a double-stretched canvas, the discoveries of 2016 have been nothing short of sensational. Here, artnet News presents 10 of the most unbelievable and unexpected finds of the year.
1. Hidden Hieronymus Bosch painting discovered in Kansas City (February)
With only two dozen completed paintings in existence, works by the 15th and 16th century Dutch painter are amongst the rarest in the world. So the excitement was considerable when an oil painting by Bosch was found in storage at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, where it was forgotten for over 80 years. The priceless painting is one of just five works by the artist that now reside in the US.
2. Caravaggio found in French attic (April)
Earlier this year, a second long-lost version of Caravaggio’s iconic Judith Beheading Holofernes was discovered in an attic in France. The painting was later controversially attributed to the legendary Renaissance painter by experts. The first version was painted in Rome and hangs in the city’s National Gallery of Ancient Art at Pallazo Barberini, but the second which was painted in Naples had been missing since the early 17th century.
3. Looted Renaissance sculptures found in Moscow (May)
A cache of nearly 60 Renaissance sculptures taken from Berlin’s Bode Museum in the aftermath of World War II were uncovered in a storage facility of Moscow’s National Pushkin Museum. According to the Bode Museum’s curator of Italian Renaissance art Neville Rowley most of the works can’t be shown because of damage, but he revealed that they will be exhibited after restoration.
Paul Gauguin, Fleurs D’Ete Dans Une Goblet (1885) in a frame. Courtesy Litchfield County Auctions.
4. Long-lost Gauguin still-life found in Connecticut (June)...MORE
A long-lost painting by Paul Gauguin was discovered by a Connecticut auction house in the home of a retired Manhattan antiques dealer, who did not know that the work was by the Impressionist master. The work was authenticated by the Paris-based Wildenstein Institute and was identified as Summer Flowers in a Goblet, which is listed in the artist’s catalogue raisonné....
