The permanent collection of Old Master British paintings and sculpture (1580 to 1850), titled “History and Mystery: Discoveries in the NCMA British Collection,” is on exhibit through March 19, 2017, at the North Carolina Museum of Art.
Anchoring the exhibition is an extraordinary group of nine Elizabethan and Jacobean aristocratic portraits from about 1580 to 1620, which have been the focus of an ongoing research project involving the Conservation and Curatorial departments and students and faculty from UNC-Chapel Hill and and Duke University. Given to the Museum in 1967 by Col. James MacLamroc, four of the nine are exhibited following six years of research and conservation treatment.
British School, “Portrait of a Gentleman Wearing a Breastplate”, circa 1585–90,
oil on canvas, 46 1/2 x 33 5/8 in., Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James MacLamroc
Several teams who are conducting the collaborative research, are led by associate conservator Perry Hurt and curator of European art Dr. David Steel. At UNC–Chapel Hill, art history research is being pursued by associate professor Dr. Tatiana String and graduate students; at Duke University, analytic research is directed by adjunct associate professor Dr. Adele de Cruz and others. More than 30 scientists, art historians, and conservators from the US and UK have contributed to the research project.
In the six years since the project began, researchers have expanded their study, looking for clues to answer questions including:
Who: Who are the “sitters” portrayed in these works? Who were the artists who painted them? Who were the original and subsequent owners?
What: What may be hidden underneath the layers of paint? What materials were used to make these paintings?
When: When were these works painted?
The exhibition also provides the opportunity to reexamine familiar favorites in the collection from a new perspective and display a few “hidden treasures” rarely on public view.