A FAMILY portrait by one of the greatest of all seventeenth-century artists will be on display at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh this winter.
Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter, Clara Serena by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was probably painted about 1623, not long before the sitter’s early death at the age of 12.
The painting has never been shown in the UK.
Clara Serena was the eldest daughter of Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant, to whom he was devoted.
Little is known about her short life: she was baptised in Antwerp on 21 March 1611, and she likely died in the autumn of 1623, as one of Rubens’ friends wrote a letter of condolence on 25 October of that year.
Until 2013 Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter, Clara Serena was in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it was believed to have been by a follower of Rubens.
It was 'de-accessioned' by the Museum and subsequently sold at auction to a private collector.
Following the removal of layers of discoloured varnish and overpaint, experts are now convinced that this tender portrait, with its carefully painted head and more sketchily painted chemise and background, is indeed by Rubens.
www.nationalgalleries.org
IRISH singer Mary Coughlan returns to Scotland to play three concerts this weekend. Galway-born Coughlan is known across the world for her soul-bearing performances of torch songs, jazz ballads and blues and her ribald and often disarmingly frank interaction with her audience. She achieved overnight fame with her first album, Tired and Emotional, in 1985, and has gone on to record fifteen further albums as well as acting on stage and on screen, dramatizing her 2008 release, The House of Ill Repute, and writing a candid account of her turbulent personal life, Bloody Mary – My Story. She appears at The Accies Club, Glasgow on Friday 17th, String Jam Club, Selkirk on Saturday 18th and Backstage @ Green Hotel, Kinross on Sunday 19th. Marycoughlanmusic.com
SCOTTISH pipes and whistle virtuoso Fred Morrison begins his annual solo winter tour at the Aros Centre in Portree on the Isle of Skye on Wednesday, November 15.
The tour takes Morrison, who recently won the Interceltic Trophy in Brittany for the ninth time, to twenty venues across Scotland, from Orkney to the Borders.
Just returned from a tour of the United States, having played at major festivals across Europe throughout the Summer, Morrison will be performing on the Highland, uilleann and Reel pipes and whistle and will be previewing new pieces from his forthcoming album, due to be released in 2018.
Following the Skye date, he plays venues in Glengarry, North Uist, South Uist, Barra, Glencoe, Lochcarron, Ullapool, Dingwall, Edinburgh, Perth, Kingussie, Orkney, Wick, Strathdon, Oban, Haddington, and Bonchester. facebook.com/fredmorrisonmusic
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