Published date: 22 Feb 2013
Issue 34, Spring 2013
Editor's letter
One of the endless fascinations with art is wondering what will be sought after by generations to come. In this spring issue, there are a number of works featured that, at the time they were produced, most people wouldn't have given house room to – let alone paid good money for. Yet there have always been collectors who see something in an artwork that only becomes apparent to others in the years to come.
In March, an album of Lady Hawarden's photographs is being offered in the Historical Photographs sale. Mark Haworth-Booth, the former curator at the V&A, describes how this pioneering photographer's work was only properly rediscovered some 100 years after her death. Or take the case of Lucian Freud. On page 36, Richard Calvocoressi writes about a drawing of a dead puffin that the precocious Freud drew, aged 22, in 1944. Priced 13 guineas, it would have been only for the very brave collector. Now we see in it the forensic skill that prefigures Freud's later masterpieces.
Of course, there are some works that will always divide the world. Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl, for example. Loved and loathed in equal measure, the image of the woman with the green face is the most reproduced print of all time. In March, the original oil painting on which it is based comes for sale in Bonhams South Africa Sale. On page 42, the designer Wayne Hemingway puts the case for its appeal and Boris Gorelik tracks down the model and finds out what she thinks about her face being a global phenomenon.
There are, of course, some objects that are prized the moment they are created: the star item of New Bond Street's Fine Jewelry sale in April, for example. I defy anyone not to be dazzled by the Bulgari Blue diamond ring – a superb example of a very rare stone.
Enjoy the issue.
Lucinda Bredin
Highlighted Articles
Table of contents
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Page 17
Inside Bonhams: The real Knight rider
James Knight has had a super-charged career. But, as Andrew English discovers, the journey has been more by accident than by design
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Page 24
The big blue
That most precious of stones, the blue diamond, has always exerted a dangerous fascination. As Bonhams offers a dazzling Bulgari ring, Katherine Prior looks at why these gems generate such excitement
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Page 28
Pioneering spirit
For the past 40 years, Colin and Elizabeth Laverty led the way in acquiring contemporary Australian art. To mark the auction of part of their collection in March, John McDonald visited the Lavertys shortly before Colin's death last month
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Page 32
Strip club
In a lightbulb moment, various 60s artists stimultaneously turned to comic-strip imagery for inspiration – but only one is still alive. Adrian Dannatt assesses Mel Ramos, the Grand Old Man of Pop Art
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Page 36
Taking flight
In his early years, drawing rather than painting was Lucian Freud's preferred medium. Richard Calvocoressi looks at an exquisite work from 1944
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Page 38
Back to the source
There is an enduring fascination with the creative process – no more so than with original manuscripts. Here, four distinguished critics reflect on some of the works in the Roy Davids Sale, and what rewrites may reveal
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Page 42
Love it or loathe it
It might horrify art critics, but Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl is one of the world's most reproduced works. Now the original painting will be offered at Bonhams. Designer Wayne Hemingway admires its appeal
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Page 46
Whole new territory
Robert Devereux fell in love with Africa – and then with its art. He talks to Mark Palmer about how his life has been changed by the continent's artists. Portrait by Richard Cannon
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Page 48
Platform: What made him tick?
It all started when Christian Levett put a mark beside 'antiquities' in the catalogue list. Now he has one of the world's best private collections of classical art – and he had to build a museum to store it. Lucinda Bredin meets him to discuss his compulsive collecting
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Page 52
What the lady saw
The photographs of Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden are now instantly recognisable – but her images only came to light by accident, as Mark Haworth-Booth remembers
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Page 57
Wine: Pass on the port
Once considered a health-giving elixir, Port's popularity in Britain has been on the wane. But, as Bruce Palling is delighted to report, it is being savoured once more
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Page 58
Travel: Now and zen
Kyoto has ancient temples and cutting-edge architecture. Matthew Wilcox bows to the Venice of the east
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Page 72
My favourite room: Akram Khan
Akram Khan, who choreographed the Olympics Opening Ceremony, dips into Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and Tanks