Il Caravaggio, Judith and Holofernes, ca 1607, photo cabinet Turquin
Kamel Mennour is not only a successful art dealer, he also is very inventive and showing “Judith and Holofernes” by Caravaggio in his small gallery of 6 rue du Pont de Lodi with “Pyramidal” by Daniel Buren is a true find. One goes downstairs, entering a dark tomblike room, and the two works of art face each other in a light conceived by Madjid Hakimi, responsible for lighting at the Paris opera. It is very dramatic and very interesting. Daniel Buren’s prisms of aluminum partly reflect the Caravaggio. I found the painting terrifying with a lack of the usual harmony in Caravaggio’s characters.
Daniel Buren, Photo-souvenir, Pyramidal, Haut relief, 2015, galerie Kamel Meneur
Eric Turquin, the expert in charge of authenticating this painting found by a local auctioneer in an attic in Toulouse in 2014, dialogues with the contemporary art galerist on the pretty brochure given to each visitor. The painting is very terrifying with the third character showing a monstrous throat.
There was a constant flow of high level experts and curators in the gallery as well as art lovers who are familiar with the premises. And you can sit down upstairs, and look at a few beautiful books on Caravaggio on the way out, to compare this new “find” and the original Holofernes… But hurry up, both works are only visible until May 4.
Detail of the Caravaggio painting: what a disturbing figure!
The painting will be shown in New York at Adam Williams Fine Art from May 10-17. The sale will take place in Toulouse on June 27 at Labarbe auctioneers.
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2 Comments on “Last chance to see the Caravaggio for sale”
Laure, Erick Turquin might be an expert on Caravaggio, but to me (I am not an expert on the matter, nor have I seen the painting in person) it looks like a good copy by someone close to him, not by the Master himself…the figures are way too static to come from his hand. If I were to bet on one of the faces coming from the Master himself, I would definitely go for Judith…we all know about the spectacle and trappings around art nowadays!!!The art of Chimera is a dangerous game…if you get a chance to go to Naples to see the present Caravaggio exhibit at the Capodimonte museum you’ll see what I mean…or maybe seeing the Caravaggios at the Galleria Borghese in Rome would do the job…but I might also be on the wrong track…time will tell.
Laure, je suis bien d’accord avec ton ami : la tête de Judith semble bien de Caravaggio… on ne s’en détache pas! en tout cas merci car grâce à toi ai pu voir cette très intéressante conversation. Frédéric