This month sees the opening of an eagerly awaited exhibition at London's Royal Academy of Arts. The Real Van Gogh: the Artist and his Letters will shed new light on the life and work of the painter and is the first major Van Gogh exhibition to be hosted in the city for more than 40 years. The exhibition will show a selection of Van Gogh's letters alongside the works they make reference to and will make use of a new edition of the artist's correspondence, produced by scholars at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam over the course of the past 15 years.
It's the closest we have to an artist's commentary on the work and will offer audiences a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the most celebrated painters in modern history. The title of the show makes clear its intentions, aiming to uncover an artist too frequently fictionalised as a crazed psychotic whose tormented life produced artistic brilliance and ended in suicide. Including more than 35 original letters, 65 paintings and 30 drawings, the exhibition is already being hailed as a cultural highlight of the year. Van Gogh's work has sold for up to $82 million (Dh301m) at auction and he remains one of the most popular artists in the world - both factors that have contributed to the 40-year wait for a major Van Gogh exhibition in London.
"Paintings by Van Gogh are extremely difficult to borrow," says Ann Dumas, the show's curator. "They're very valuable. When they are in permanent collections, often those collections are reluctant to lend them because they're frequently the favourite works and people go especially to see them. There have been other Van Gogh exhibitions in other parts of the world but because of his great popularity and his greatness as an artist, it's very difficult to assemble a substantial number of his works."
Big lenders to the show include the Van Gogh Museum, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, as well as other museums and private collections worldwide. In an exhibition underwritten by pathos and humanity, highlights are set to include Self-portrait as an Artist (1888), The Yellow House (1888), Still-life: Drawing Board with Onions (1889), Vincent's Chair with His Pipe (1888), and Entrance to the Public Park in Arles (1888). Audiences will be confronted by star-laden scenes, swirling skies and brightly coloured sunflowers; all testament to Van Gogh's aesthetic appreciation. This artistic sensibility is implicit in the letters, advising his brother in one instance to "find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful".
Since his death in 1890, Van Gogh has remained something of an enigma. Part genius, part depressive, the Dutch artist was one of six children of a Protestant pastor. Following a stint working for an art-dealing firm, he signed up as a missionary before turning to painting in 1880 at the late age of 27. In the 10 years before his death, Van Gogh produced more than 800 paintings and 1,200 drawings.
The fact of his prolific creativity being reflected in a series of tempestuous relationships and eventual confinement in an asylum is well documented, but The Real Van Gogh strips away the myth and goes beyond popular histories. Van Gogh, we discover, was a frequent and eloquent correspondent and one who would include sketches of artworks in progress in his letters. The epistolary form was a comfort to him and a way of narrowing the geographical distance between his family. In a letter to his brother, Van Gogh says: "Familiar handwriting makes one feel firm ground beneath one's feet again."
Recipients included his sister and friends such as Paul Gauguin, Anton van Rappard and Emile Bernard. The bulk of letters are, however, addressed to his younger brother Theo, an art dealer who supported Van Gogh financially and emotionally throughout his career. The letters speak of art, nature and literature. Far from being the erratic ravings of a madman, the articulate correspondence is regularly punctuated by moments of real insight and clarity. In detailing and sharing his intimate thoughts and observations, Van Gogh - or his letter-writing persona - shows evidence of determination and sensitivity.
The letters bring the more familiar works to life in new ways, exploring the vibrancy and luminosity of Van Gogh's paintings and their ability to capture mood and emotion. In a letter to his sister dated 1888, Van Gogh describes both his unique vision and his acute awareness of his own difference. "Most painters," he writes, "because they're not colourists, properly speaking, don't see these colours there, and declare that a painter who sees with other eyes than theirs is mad."
Dumas says of the letters: "They really are an extraordinary insight into the way Van Gogh thought about and made his art. The thing that comes out most strikingly is that he was a very thoughtful and reflective man who studied and read a great deal about art. He thought about colour theory, technique, and philosophical ideas." She adds: "The received public myth of Van Gogh is that he was this crazy artist who cut off his ear and eventually killed himself - both of which are true - but it has coloured people's vision of him as a whole.
"You learn from the letters that he was anything but mad. He was an extremely intelligent, highly cultivated man, fluent in four languages, extraordinarily well read, and very well versed in literature and art."
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
