Marking the 400th anniversary of the birth of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682), the National Gallery exhibition, Murillo: The Self Portraits reunites the artist’s only two known self-portraits for the first time in over three hundred years. Portraits by Murillo are relatively rare – only around sixteen have been identified so far – including these two self-portraits made at very different points in his life. They are being shown together with six additional portraits, including Murillo’s first known portrait of ‘Juan Arias de Saavedra’, 1650 (Collection Duchess of Cardona), which has been restored especially for the exhibition and is being shown in public for the first time. The exhibition also includes the portrait of ‘Diego Ortiz de Zúñiga’, ca. 1655 (Private collection) which has recently been re-attributed as the lost original by Murillo following its rediscovery in Penrhyn Castle, Wales.

The world’s earliest figural tattoos have been revealed on two natural mummies in the British Museum’s collection. Dating to between 3351 to 3017 BC (95.4% probability), figural tattoos of a wild bull and a Barbary sheep were identified on the upper arm of a male mummy and linear and S-shaped motifs have been identified on the upper arm and shoulder of a female mummy; the oldest tattoos ever found on a female body. The findings will be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science on Thursday 1st March 2018. Entitled: Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world’s earliest figural tattoos. Daniel Antoine, one of the lead authors of the research paper and the British Museum’s Curator of Physical Anthropology said ‘The use of the latest scientific methods, including CT scanning, radiocarbon dating and infrared imaging, has transformed our understanding of the Gebelein mummies. Only now ar

A Pablo Picasso portrait of his muse Marie-Therese Walter with future lover Dora Maar emerging from the shadows fetched £50 million (57 million euros, $69 million) at a London sale Wednesday, a European auction record for a painting. The 1937 “Femme au Beret et a la Robe Quadrillee (Marie-Therese Walter)” beat expectations it would sell for £36 million (41 million euros, $50 million) at the sale of impressionist, surrealist and modern art at auction house Sotheby’s. It was the first time the oil on canvas had emerged on the international art market and headlined the auctioneer’s first major sale of the year, it said. The identity of the seller, and its new owner, were not released. “It’s an incredibly important museum quality picture,” James Mackie, director of the impressionist and modern art department at Sotheby’s, told AFP last week. “It comes from a key era in Picasso’s career, 1937, when he makes the great painting ‘Guernica’,” he added, referring to the masterpiece which portray

“If ever there were a reason to book a flight to south Florida, this is it,” said auctioneer Rico Baca, referencing the March 3rd auction being hosted by the company he co-owns, Palm Beach Modern Auctions. The 565-lot auction features the finest selection of modern and contemporary art, furniture, decorative accessories and jewelry PBMA has ever offered. The sale also launches the firm’s new Urban Culture division with a sensational selection led by a now-iconic red jacket James Dean wore in the 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause. The fun begins with a Palm Beach private collection of Pablo Picasso ceramics. The coveted, quirky wares were designed by Picasso during the postwar years at the Madoura pottery studio in Vallauris, France. “There are far more collectors of this pottery than there are sellers,” Baca noted. Eleven pieces have been consigned, including a Cruchon Hibou pitcher, est. $9,000-$12,000;