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Catalogue: Illumination in Isolation
Dear Friends,
As the quarantine period is extended, this week we decided to turn your attention to another exquisite selection of pieces, our collection of candlesticks.
Candlesticks and candelabra in domestic interiors have one of the most important tasks: to bring light to tables and to the daily activities of a family home. Nowadays we light candles for an extra elegant touch, to warm up the atmosphere of a room and for special occasions.
Along with this practical purpose, these objects also carried a symbolic and magical significance, visible in Old Masters paintings, as light also has the magical effect of revealing the truth.
Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi and El Greco are some of the artists who employed the symbolic meaning of candles in art. Dutch and Northern European still life painters often inserted candles (and precious candlesticks!) in their work as a reminder of the volatility of human life and its vanity. Even contemporary art has succumbed to the symbolic power of a candle’s flames as visible in Gerhard Richter’s Candles series from the 1980s.
As always, we hope to keep you company with this small catalogue and remember that we will be happy to reply to your enquiries, sharing more details on our beautiful pieces.
But for now, sit back, let this catalogue inspire your taste and…let there be light!
The Directors and the Team at Koopman Rare Art
