Artist identification

This lovely miniature of a young girl has the artist initials MJH

One of our members, Joy, who owns this miniature, would love to hear from

anyone who might know the name of this artist or any suggestions as to who

the artist it might be.

Please leave your comments and suggestions here on this post.

Thank you

A visit to Saint Die-Des-Vosges

Museum Pierre-Noel, Saint Die des Vosges, France

Jean-Baptiste Augustin Exhibition

17th. April - 20th. June 2010

Claude Derville Malechard, signed and dated 1801 by Jean-Baptiste Augustin (1759- 1832) from our collection

A Visit to St. Die-des-Vosges, (birth place of Jean-Baptiste Augustin) April 2010.

If we had to choose a miniaturist who stands above all others then Augustin would have to be high if not first on the list, so to visit his home town and see an Exhibition celebrating the 250 year anniversary of his birth was very exciting for us.

We were surprised to find that the town had been almost completely re-built after the war and does not give an impression of what it might have been like during Augustin’s day. One imagines it was a small sleepy backwater with tiny houses and cobbled streets. Seeing the dramatic backdrop of densely forested hills, as seen from the position of where his family house once stood, it is possible to see why he said that he got his inspiration from meditation and nature.

A lovely catalogue has been produced for the Exhibition, albeit in French, which was good practise for us!

Several miniatures in the Exhibition were lent by The Louvre Museum, Paris and The Tansey Foundation. (http://www.miniaturen-tansey.de/en/miniatures)

The story of Augustin's life was told using panels around the room with the exhibits in glass top desk- like cases in the centre. Some magnifying glasses were helpfully supplied on each case, fastened with a short lead, as a reminder to the user not to take it away! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photographs inside the Exhibition room.

Augustin came from a modest family, his grandfather being a baker and his father a glass worker. His huge talent made him very successful after his move to Paris. After considerable early success, he met and married his true love Pauline Du Cruet, 22 years his junior, who came from high society and elevated his social status. During his career, his thriving studio had over four hundred pupils, eager to learn his painting techniques. His wife, also a miniaturist, was one of his most accomplished pupils. The couple were obviously a love-match, but had no children. Augustin's ' rags to riches 'story is the stuff of Hollywood movies!

One intriguing exhibit was the preparatory drawings for his masterpiece of Marie-Therese Charlotte, the Duchess d’Angouleme. From these drawings, Augustin painted a large miniature about ten inches high, on ivory. Two copies of this painting are known to be in existence, one dated 1818 and another 1824. They represent Augustin at the height of his powers. The detail is extraordinary with his usual superb flesh tones. We show here details of the diamond tiara showing the different reflective colours in the stones, the lightness of the feather headdress and of course his wonderful technique for eyes.

Marie-Therese-Charlotte, Duchess d'Angouleme

Headdress detail

Detail of hand on breast

Detail of her dress

The colour catalogue of the Exhibition costs Euros 20, ISBN 978-2-9532029-6-0.

Ethol Court ARMS Miniaturist

The image of this miniature by Ethol Court c.1955 of Master Stephen G. F. Aubury is reproduced by kind permission of the owner.

The background colours and style of the two miniatures by this artist are very similar, but clearly she has taken more care over her portrayal of this adorable looking little boy.

We are indebted to Mr. Aubury for allowing us to use this miniature to demonstrate the superb skills of Ethol Court. If anyone else has a miniature by this artist we would like to hear from you.

This Miniature by Ethol Court of Mrs. Galburge 1956 is in the collection




Mrs. Ethol Court (1898-1965) became well known as a miniature painter in the area where she lived.  Originally from Preston, Lancashire, her family relocated to Ealing, where she met and married her husband, George.  She started painting in her early 20's.  In October 1956, her local newspaper ran an article about her, mentioning that she exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, the Royal Miniature Society and the Paris Salon.  At the time, she ran an art club from her home at 67 Tentelow Lane, Norwood Green and members attended classes on Saturday afternoons.  It is thought that the following year, the classes were held in Norwood Hall.  Perhaps you posed for her club members, attended one of her classes or even commissioned one of her distinctive miniatures?  If so, we would love to hear from you.


 Ethol was one of five children.
Her father was a foreman fitter.  Her husband, George,
was originally from Kent, where his father was a Builders Clerk and
then a Boarding House Keeper and his family too relocated to the
Ealing area.   Before the first world war, George was a photographer
for Percy Peacock, who had photographic shops in New Bond Street,
London and Folkestone, Kent.  During the war, he served in the Royal Engineers. It is not known where Ethol trained as an artist, but after more than 30 years of painting miniatures,  surprisingly, she felt that her work was not good enough!  She
only started exhibiting her work in 1953 and over the next decade or so, right up until the year she died.  A member of the West Middlesex Art Club, she taught others how to paint miniatures.
 Amongst some of her sitters in the 1950's were Allan
Holt, Mrs. Galburge, Gillian Caroll and Mr. J. E. Sobee.  We are
always interested in hearing from anyone who knew Ethol Court or who
was painted by her.

A young member of the Newman Family painted by Ethol Court. Apparently painted from a professional photograph taken by Marcus Taylor of Southall. This miniature was exhibited in the Royal Academy.

An amazingly accomplished miniature of the Newman's twin daughters, painted by their grandmother, who was a pupil of Ethol Court.  It is possibly an overpainted photograph, but the resolution is not sufficient to see for sure.  However, it still shows an incredible talent.  Note the background colours and techniques, which echo that of Ethol's.


We are indebted to the Newman Family, who were kind enough to send us these images and give their permission for them to be reproduced here.

Services for Collectors

Here we will give details of services offered to collectors by people who have contacted us. Please note we do not offer any guarantee or endorsement.

Conservator Of Portrait Miniatures. Margo Guerrero, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Email: mlgcurio@yahoo.com.

Recognising artist styles and techniques

The eye below is from this miniature by Richard Cosway 1742-1821

Statue of Richard Cosway outside the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A competition to extend the V & A Museum was held in 1891 and was won by Aston Webb, who was then awarded the contract to design the present Museum facade. The building work was completed in 1909. The facade included the famous double entrance over which a statue of Prince Albert and a bust of Queen Victoria preside. Amongst the thirty two other statues of great British artists, architects and sculptors which also adorn the front of the building is Richard Cosway (seen above) in pride of place to the left of Prince Albert. He is the only miniature painter to be represented (although he also painted in oils and produced many pencil and watercolour and chalk drawings in his long career). Amongst the other luminaries of the art world are the heavyweights Gainsborough, Hogarth and Reynolds. Cosway's statue was sculpted by Ernest Gillick (1874-1951) who was only twenty seven years old when he was awarded the contract for the statues of Richard Cosway and Joseph Mallord William Turner. Nowadays, Cosway's statue 'companions' are still household names and known worldwide, but the name of Richard Cosway is known only to only a small number of miniature afficionados.

28th May 2010.

Here is another microscope image of an eye painted by an eighteenth century artist for you to consider. Note the 'dabbing' of the blue in the white of the eye and brown dabs around the iris. The vertical lines running down the photo are the sanding marks an artist would made when preparing the ivory for painting. Any natural oils in the ivory would limit the watercolours from spreading on the ivory and sanding was necessary.

To encourage you to make a suggestion as to who you think the artist might be here is a clue.

He stands outside the Victoria and Albert Museum beside the King.

We will post the image of the miniature in a weeks time.

Well Joy, looks like you are the only one prepared to have a try and your suggestion was a good possibility. The eye is from the miniature shown above. George Engleheart

25th March 2010. Here is another eye 'under the microscope'. Please have a go and make a suggestion as to the identity of this 18th Century Miniaturist, bearing in mind what is said below about the Plimer eye. It does not matter whether you are right or wrong. if the miniature is unsigned then your opinion is just as valid as any other opinion. We have been wrong in the past, but we continue to learn all the time, which is the most important thing. This particular artist was well known for painting his sitters with large deep set eyes

Well done to Joy. Not for identifying the eye as by Andrew Plimer so much,
but for having a go. What we have to remember is that Academics, Auction Houses etc. do not always identify artists correctly and wrong attributions are not uncommon. There are several unsigned miniatures in this collection that have had numerous attributions to different artists given by different Auction houses and Academics down through the miniature's provenance. By becoming familiar with Miniaturist's brush stokes is the way to becoming more confident, a bit like recognising someone's hand writing.

15th March 2010. Good morning friends.

Here is another eye for you to look at. It is by a very famous 18th century artist.

Please have a go and suggest who it could be. The cross hatching gives a clue.

10TH. March 2010. Well, no guesses on the anonymous eye so here is the face. Yes it is William Wood

In anticipation of the Augustin Exhibition April-June this year, what

better opportunity than to show an eye from a miniature painted by

this great artist. This photograph was taken using a microscope and

this enables us to see what the artist himself never 'saw' (other than

in his mind's eye). It really brings home to the viewer the artist's

incredible skills, which were mostly 'self taught'. Schidloff reports

that Augustin considered his skills were acquired through 'nature

and meditation.' Please bear in mind that the iris in this image is

0.050" or 1.2mm diameter, the pupil is 0.020" or 0.5mm! diameter.

If any other collectors have miniatures by Augustin that they would

like to share with all of us, please email us an image and we shall be

delighted to post it (anonymously if you wish). Or if you have any

thoughts or comments on the artist's technique, please let us know.

For comparison, here is an image of an eye painted by another well known artist, showing his very distinctive technique. Does anyone recognise this 18th century artist's style? Or why not have a guess? Please comment below.

Forthcoming Exhibitions and Events

There is to be a Monographic Exhibition of works by Jean
Baptiste Jacques Augustin in his home town of Saint Die de Vosges,
France. The exhibition which will be in the Museum Pierre Noel and
runs from 17th April 2010 - 20th June 2010. It is curated by Bernd
Pappe, who has written the exhibition catalogue, which is all in
colour. Saint Die is only a small town and apparently located in very
beautiful countryside and famous for his annual meeting of
Geographers. We shall be going to this exhibition on Friday 25th April
- perhaps see you there? Roger and Carmela, Portrait Miniature Club.

10th March 2010.

Under The Magnifying Glass: Exquisite Miniatures

By Wes and Rachelle Siegrist

R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA

May 4 - July 25, 2010

GUEST APPEARANCE: 2:00 Saturday, June 12, 2010: Presentation and lecture by Wes Siegrist on the History of Miniature Art and David J. Wagner, Ph.D. on Nature in Art History immediately followed by an exhibition Gallery Walk conducted by Wes and Rachelle and book signings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist and David J. Wagner, Curator/Tour Director.

R.W. Norton Art Gallery, 4747 Creswell Avenue, Shreveport, LA 71106; (318) 865-4201; www.rwaf.org

This exhibition features 50 of the Siegrists' spectrum of miniature paintings including landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and wildlife drawn from their book Exquisite Miniatures by Wes & Rachelle Siegrist, available at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, or online at: www.artofwildlife.com/miniature_painting_books.html

The World of Nature in Miniature;

Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist

West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, LA

May 16 - July 31, 2010

GUEST APPEARANCE: 2:30-4:30 Sunday, June 13, 2010: Presentation and lecture by Wes Siegrist on the History of Miniature Art and David J. Wagner, Ph.D. on Nature in Art History immediately followed by an exhibition Gallery Walk conducted by Wes and Rachelle and book signings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist and David J. Wagner, Curator/Tour Director.

West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 N. Jefferson Avenue, Port Allen, LA 70767; (225) 336-2422; www.westbatonrougemuseum.com

Announcements

We are pleased to announce the Portrait Miniature Club has now been formed

(Association Loi No. W241001590) and is open for membership.


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