Vasari Art Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jan 23, 2026 visibility 2 link 10 artists, 1 gallery

‘Rubens with jokes’: UK exhibitions place Beryl Cook in the art historical canon

Two concurrent exhibitions in Plymouth, England, are re-evaluating the work of the late British artist Beryl Cook, long dismissed by critics for her popular, humorous paintings of plump, joyful people. The Box gallery presents "Beryl Cook: Pride and Joy" (until 31 May), which places Cook within the Western art canon by tracing her influences from Peter Paul Rubens and Pieter Brueghel the Younger to Stanley Spencer and Edward Burra. The show features over 80 paintings, sculptures, textiles, and a personal archive, and is curated by Terah Walkup. A parallel exhibition at Karst gallery, "Discord and Harmony" (until 18 April), pairs Cook's legacy with contemporary artists like Olivia Sterling, Rhys Coren, and Flo Brooks, who similarly champion overlooked communities.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 1 link 1 artist

Live conservation reveals hidden surprises of unfinished Spencer painting

A new exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, titled *Revealing Genius, Conserving Art: Stanley Spencer’s Final Masterpiece*, features the unfinished painting *Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta* (c. 1950s). The large canvas, which Spencer worked on for over a decade and left incomplete at his death in 1959, has been lowered from its high hanging position so that conservation student Olivia Leake of the Courtauld Institute can study it up close. Using UV light and paint analysis, Leake has discovered that Spencer used extremely thin paint layers, made multiple changes to underdrawings (contradicting his own statements), and overpainted a green water area with blue. She is also investigating a possible mold stain in the top left corner.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 2 link 2 artists

Live conservation reveals hidden surprises of unfinished Spencer painting

A new exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, titled *Revealing Genius, Conserving Art: Stanley Spencer’s Final Masterpiece*, offers visitors a rare chance to watch conservator Olivia Leake work on Spencer’s unfinished painting *Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta*. The large canvas, which Spencer labored over for over a decade but left incomplete at his death in 1959, has been lowered from its usual high hanging for live conservation. Using UV light and paint analysis, Leake has discovered surprising details: extremely thin paint layers, a green water area later overpainted in blue, and multiple changes to underdrawings—contradicting anecdotes that Spencer never altered his initial drawings.

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museum exhibitions schedule Nov 14, 2025 visibility 1 link 3 artists

Studio Museum reopens, the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, Stanley Spencer in Suffolk—podcast

The Studio Museum in Harlem has opened its first-ever purpose-built space, designed by Adjaye Associates, with director Thelma Golden leading the institution into a new era. In Egypt, the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) has finally opened in Cairo. Meanwhile, the exhibition "Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk" is on view at Gainsborough's House in Sudbury, featuring the painting "Tree and Chicken Coops, Wangford" (1925) by Stanley Spencer, with co-curator Amy Lim discussing the work.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 23, 2025 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

christies modern british and irish evening auction in london nets 23 m marking 20 percent increase on 2024s sale 1234758580

Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art evening sale in London on Wednesday achieved £17.3 million ($23 million), a 20 percent increase over the equivalent sale in 2024. The top lot was Barbara Hepworth’s *The Family of Man (Figure 9, The Bride)* (1970), which sold for £3.9 million ($5.2 million). The sale had a 90 percent sell-through rate by value and 81 percent by lot, with 39 percent of works exceeding their high estimates, though the total fell short of the £22.6 million high estimate. Other notable results included Hepworth’s *Vertical Wood Form* (1968) at £1.4 million, Stanley Spencer’s *The Meeting* (1933) at the same price, and Bridget Riley’s *Dendera* (1983-2002) at £1.2 million.

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