Jobarde: A Rediscovered Painting by É Douarde Manet

Jobarde: A Rediscovered Painting by É douard Manet

Kelly-McKenna Gallery, 1308 3rd Avenue, Spring Lake, NJ 07762
Dates: November 17, 2022-February 24, 2023

Kelly-McKenna Gallery is pleased to announce our inaugural exhibition ‘Jobarde: A Rediscovered Painting by Édouard Manet’ opening Thursday, November 17, 2022. Journey behind the scenes for an inside look at the multifaceted world of fine art authentication framed through the lens of a rediscovered painting by Édouard Manet – one of art history's most notorious iconoclasts.

 Presented in collaboration with the world-renown Atelier for Restoration & Research of Paintings (ARRS), our exhibition takes audiences on an art world insider's endeavor to answer the question: did the father of Modern Art, revolutionary painter Édouard Manet, really paint the horse and rider in Jobarde? Together, we will dissect the arguments presented via art historical research, technical paint analysis, and technical material analysis supporting this attribution.

Édouard Manet is a towering figure in art history, and his seismic contributions are difficult to overstate. Through his use of simple compositional structures, clear bold colors, and a distinctively broad, flat handling of paint, Manet paved the way for the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and many other modern artists by rejecting the standards of the Academy. In the course of his brief career lasting between only 1860 and 1883, Manet’s body of work reflected an astonishing variety of motifs and changes in style. Such diversity in Manet’s artwork reflects the artist's far-reaching ambitions – his methods were constantly under review in pursuit of a truly modern style of painting.  

Yet, it is this same commitment by the artist to experimentation that has proven a major stumbling block for art historical scholarship: the chronology of Manet’s life is not sufficiently documented, nor the sequence of his paintings completely clear. As a result, the potential for lost or previously unknown paintings by the artist to resurface in the modern day is a real one. But to claim attribution is easy – proving attribution requires a rigorous interdisciplinary analysis of a painting's documented history, technique, and scientific analysis of style and materials. In ‘Jobarde: A Rediscovered Painting by Édouard Manet’, we take you through each step of the fine art authentication process in order to demonstrate how one can know and can verify the authenticity of Jobarde. 

Of late, stories of questionable attribution and outright forgeries have come to dominate the public's perception of the fine art industry. Headline-grabbing disputes of the authenticity of the notorious painting Salvator Mundi – attributed by some to Leonardo da Vinci – and the unforgivable trade in fake Modern & Post-War paintings by Knoedler Gallery made famous by Netflix's documentary Made You Look impressed upon us the need for greater industry transparency. Through our inaugural exhibition, we raise questions about the art world's current accepted procedures for fine art authentication and present a newer, more comprehensive model for these investigations informed by art history, connoisseurship, and scientific analysis working in tandem to establish facts rather than opinions regarding a painting's attribution. 

Art history matters because it bears witness to important ideas about identity. The creation of a more accurate accounting of our collective history as told through art is an entirely worthwhile pursuit. Establishing best practices for fine art authentication and attribution is a small part of a much larger project of human self-understanding. 

Exhibition Details:
Opening Date: November 17, 2022

Closing Date: February 24, 2023