COLLEEN CURRAN Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND â The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has acquired a painting by German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, which was presumed lost or stolen by the Nazis and was recently returned to the original owners.
The oil painting, completed in 1916, is titled âTaunus Roadâ or âAutostrasse im Taunusâ in German.
Last year, a private collector in Germany was preparing to sell the painting at auction. But an attorney hired by some longtime VMFA benefactors, who has been on the hunt for the familyâs lost art, was able to halt the sale and return the painting to the family.
New World Wonder: How a geological oddity became an enduring symbol of the nation in American Art Christopher C. Oliver
Fig. 1.
Thomas Jefferson at Natural Bridge by Caleb Boyle (active 1800–1822), c. 1801. Oil on canvas, 92 by 60 inches.
Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, Kirby Collection of Historical Paintings.
The Natural Bridge of Virginia is a 215-foottall geological formation located in the Shenandoah Valley that is the last remnant of the roof of an ancient cavern that collapsed millions of years ago. Its impressive height and unique features inspired generations of artists who visited the site, which for many eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artists was relatively remote. Yet, its craggy, foresttopped visage made a familiar and frequent appearance in painting, prints, photography, and the decorative arts of the era. As one of the earliest painters to depict the site, Joshua Shaw, remarked upon his visit to the Natural Bridge in 1820: “It is one of those s
By LINDLEY ESTES
FOR THE FREE LANCEâSTAR
âAll the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray.â Are you California dreaming on this winterâs day? The pandemic has made escaping to warmer climes much harder, but there are plenty of adventures to be had within driving distance of Fredericksburg. So, embrace the cold and get ready to have a vacation from your quarantine routine.
No time like snow time
Just a couple of hours from Fredericksburg are two resorts with lots to do outside while well-distanced from others.
Massanutten Resort, an hour and 45 minutes due west of the city, has skiing, snowboarding, tubing and ice skating. Every member of your family will have something to do, whether itâs taking on steep slopes, tubing at a slower pace or basking in the scenery on the rink.
Fence surrounds Lee statue ahead of potential removal
Katharine DeRosa,
News Editor
The Virginia Department of General Services erected a fence around Marcus-David Peters Circle on Monday in preparation for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue.
The department stated the fencing is not intended to be permanent.
“As we await the resolution of legal challenges that have delayed the statue’s removal, DGS wants to be prepared to act quickly upon a final determination,” said Dena Potter, the department’s communications director, in an email.
The area was reclaimed this summer by protesters and became a space for demonstrations, charity and community activities such as basketball and art.
Talking antiques: The Winter Show Editorial Staff
As exhibitors prepare for the Winter Show’s first-ever virtual event, we asked them to reflect on their past years at the fair or highlight one exceptional object available this January and describe it as they might to an interested collector. Here are their stories and the works of art they chose to share.
Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts
We mounted a Charles Burchfield and William Hunt Diederich exhibition at a TEFAF fair a few years back, where a dealer visited our booth with images of what he thought might be architectural works by Diederich. The images depicted his classic flat, iron, silhouette animal forms with dozens of whimsical birds and desert plants. Everything looked “right,” but we had never seen anything by the artist on this grand scale. Our research traced the provenance to a 1920s commission for a town house in New York, and when we visited the town house we were able to identify other examples of the artist’s