Charles Avery (art historian)

Charles Avery (* 1940 ) is an art historian and expert on Italian sculptures from the Renaissance , Mannerism and Baroque periods .

Life

Charles Avery studied at the University of Cambridge and until 1965 at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. His teachers included Michael Jaffé (1923–1997) and Anthony Blunt . From 1965 on, Avery held the position of curator ( Deputy Keeper of Sculpture ) at the Victoria and Albert Museum under John Pope-Hennessy (1913–1994) until he was appointed director of the sculpture department ( Director of Sculpture ) of the renowned auction house Christie's in 1979 . Avery has been a freelance art historian since his resignation in 1990.

He is the author of several standard works on early modern sculpture, including three extensive monographs which, as catalog raisonné, are devoted to the respective complete works of Benvenuto Cellini , Giambologna and Gian Lorenzo Bernini . Avery was also responsible for numerous catalogs for the sculpture collections of several renowned museums and curated numerous exhibitions.

The Giambologna Fata Morgana scandal

In September 1989, Charles Avery was presented with a marble figure for assessment, which he assessed in his report for Christie's as an inferior garden sculpture of the 18th century and valued it accordingly low. He offered 5,200 in the subsequent auction dollars on the piece, however, was recently bought for the eye-serre constricting price of 1.14 million dollars from art dealers Patricia and Alex Wengraf. After a restoration, the sculpture was finally offered again as a work by Giambologna for US $ 11,200,000 and identified with a figure who had originally adorned the fountain of a villa by Bernardo Vecchietti near Fiesole . Avery himself had already published corresponding documents in 1983 which proved that Giambologna had made a sculpture on this subject (previously believed to be lost). Despite some existing doubts, the ascription of the mirage to Giambologna is largely accepted today.

The role of Avery was controversial when his bidding became known in the art world and the press, as it was suggested that he did indeed recognize the sculpture as Giambologna's work, but wanted to purchase it himself for a low price by concealing the authorship of the famous sculptor. Christie's defended the art historian and condemned any doubts about his integrity. Avery's official stance before the auction and as part of his justification after the sale that the statue was not a work of Giambologna, however, led to criticism of the professional qualification of the sculpture specialist. In March 1990, Avery finally resigned from Christie's and has not held a leadership position in any institution since then.

Works (in selection)

• Michelangelo. 2 vols., Fabbri, Milan 1968.
• Florentine Renaissance Sculpture. Murray, London 1970.
• Giambologna. Sculptor to the Medici 1529-1608. Edinburgh 1978 (with Anthony Radcliffe).
• L'opera completa del Cellini. Rizzoli, Milan 1981 (together with Susanna Barbaglia)
• Studies in European Sculpture. 2 vols., London 1981–1988.
• Giambologna. The Complete Sculpture. Phaidon, London 1987.
• Baroque Sculpture and Medals in the Art Gallery of Ontario. The Margaret and Ian Ross Collection. Cliff & Walters Litho, Toronto 1988.
• Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in the Frick Art Museum. Pittsburgh 1993.
• Donatello. An Introduction. Murray, London 1994.
• Bernini. Genius of the Baroque. Thames & Hudson, London 1997.
• The Triumph of Motion. Francesco Bertos (1678-1741) and the Art of Sculpture. Catalog raisonné. Allemand, Turin 2008.
• The School of Dolplhins . London: Thames & Hudson 2009. ISBN 0-500-23861-8

literature

• Suzanne Cassidy: Christie's Sculpture Expert Resigns After Bid on Statue. In: The New York Times , March 16, 1990.
• Michael Bury: Giambologna's Fata Morgana rediscovered. in: Apollo , 131, 1990, pp. 96-100.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Art. Das Kunstmagazin , December 1989. ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Suzanne Cassidy: Christie's Sculpture Expert Resigns After Bid on Statue. In: The New York Times , March 16, 1990 . Paolo Filo della Torre: Londra, uno sbaglio imbarazza Christie's. In: La Repubblica , March 16, 1990 . Carol Vogel: Inside Art. In: The New York Times , May 6, 1994.

Web links

• Entry in the Dictionary of Art Historians
• Interview with Charles Avery