Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> In 2001 we issued a substantial publication entitled 2001: An Art Odyssey. This catalogue appeared in order to mark the new millennium and in the foreword I stated that it was my intention thenceforward to eschew exhibition catalogues and instead to concentrate on more focused specialist publications that address a specific problem or artist. This indeed we have done and between 2002 and 2009 have published no less than ten such publications thereby decimating a small plantation of trees but we hope to a useful purpose! Nevertheless after the success of our Spanish Still Life catalogue in 1997 1 always retained the nagging desire to address the arena of Spanish art once more albeit in a different vein. At first I considered the possibilities offered by Spanish primitives but although this idea never germinated it still remains in the hothouse of future intentions. When eighteen months ago my prominent young Spanish colleagues Nicolas Cortes and Jorge Coll both second-generation art dealers floated the idea of mounting a Spanish sculpture show my first reaction was of mild incredulity rapidly replaced by mounting curiosity. I had always had a special interest in Romanesque sculpture instilled by my mother and Professor George Zarnecki at the Courtauld Institute. I had then by a circuitous route found myself in charge of the conservation of Florentine sculpture under the aegis of Professors Berti and Procacci at the Soprintendenza in November 1966 during the epic events in Florence known as ‘The Flood’ so I thought to myself well why not.2 At the time of our discussions I was totally unaware of the National Gallery’s plans long hatching under the careful curatorship of Xavier Bray and then given special impetus by Nicholas Penny. Nor indeed was I aware of the long delayed plan at Indianapolis to hold Ronda Kasl’s long awaited exhibition. It seemed therefore that we were about to precipitate into an Hispanic maelstrom. The imminent opening of these two major museum events planned over a period of many years put immense pressure on the three of us to come up with a worthy event. (OS)