Art discovery refers to the process by which researchers, art historians, collectors, dealers, and other knowledgeable individuals find artworks by prominent artists which were not previously or correctly identified.

Examples

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Modern findings

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In 2011 a British art dealer, Philip Mould, received major news coverage for discovering a set of paintings by Anthony van Dyck which had not been previously identified. Mould has made a number of major art discoveries, including some of Thomas Gainsborough's earliest known works,[1] the only known portrait of Arthur, Prince of Wales[2] and lost works by Anthony van Dyck and Thomas Lawrence.[3] In January 2021, Mould found a miniature portrait of French king Henri III by Jean Decourt.[4]

Mould described some of the basic concepts for art discoveries, in an article published in the Guardian;

Although [Mould] acknowledged that auctioneers do not have the benefit of cleaning and restoring works, which help to reveal true quality, he added: "As art dealers, we scour daily the world's auction catalogues for paintings that are … wrongly identified … In any week, our finds might range from a misidentified Tudor icon to a misattributed 18th-century landscape … but by a strange chance we seem to have hit a seam of Van Dycks."[3]

See also

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General overviews

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References

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  1. ^ Millward, David. "Rare Gainsborough uncovered by Antiques Roadshow presenter". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  2. ^ Mould, Philip (1997-03-13). The Trail of Lot 163: In Search of Lost Art Treasures. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 9781857025231.
  3. ^ a b Alberge, Dalya (2011-06-11). "Van Dyck paintings unearthed by saleroom sleuth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  4. ^ "Fake or Fortune presenter finds rare portrait by Mary, Queen of Scots court artist worth hundreds of thousands". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2021-03-30.
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