August 2026: New Acquisitions

It has been a busy summer period for the gallery team at Darnley Fine Art. As well as planning for our blockbuster ‘Visions of the Orient’ exhibition, the gallery has made a number of intriguing new acquisitions. It was very difficult to whittle down a shortlist for our most striking recent additions, but the variegated nature of the below works demonstrates the breadth of Darnley Fine Art’s collection.

Clemente Pujol de Guastavino - The Honoured Guest
To celebrate the opening of our fantastic Orientalist exhibition, let’s focus on one of our show’s masterpieces - the highly narrative Honoured Guest by the Spanish artist Clemente Pujol de Guastavino. The painting depicts the Sultan welcoming an esteemed guest - perhaps a nobleman, or high-ranking military officer - to his palace for a private audience, whilst his guards stand sentry with their iconic, long-barrelled shishana guns. Although Pujol hailed from Spain, the distinct narrative is reminiscent of the treatment of subject matter by the French school and is testament to Pujol’s academic training under Jean-Léon Gérôme.

Pujol is known to have collected Middle Eastern and North African artefacts to inform his works and ensure a realistic level of detail. Such detail is readily apparent in this artwork, particularly with regard to the clothing, which is unique to each and every figure within this work. The lavish carpet is another notable feature, with its intricate pattern rendered in the most minute of detail. This level of detail lends an air of documentary realism to the work, creating a unique visual aesthetic which has undoubtedly appealed to collectors of Orientalist art across the ages.

Nicolas Mignard - Portrait of a Man
Despite its modest scale, this portrait by renowned 17th century French painter Nicolas Mignard certainly has a powerful visual aesthetic. The essence of the sitter has been captured using subtle body language - the gently tilted head and lowered eyes convey a sense of quiet intellect, refinement and reservation. Coupled with the Roman-style mantle, these visual elements characterise the sitter as a scholarly gentleman.

It is this mantle that is one of the most magnificent elements of the painting. The gold brocade is rendered in exquisite detail and indicate the wealth and social status of the sitter - his tight curled hair and precisely-trimmed moustache suggest a man who was a member of the 17th century French court, abiding by its trends in fashion. The face of the sitter is remarkably realistic and contrasts strongly with the darker background, which ensures that the mantle and brightly-coloured cool skin tones almost emerge from the canvas.

Circle of Cornelis van Haarlem - Venus and Cupid
Jumping back in time a little further than Mignard’s 17th century, we have this striking oil on canvas by an artist in the circle of Cornelis van Haarlem, depicting Venus and her cherubic son Cupid. Typically, the two classical Roman figures are depicted as representations of the pleasures and pains of love - in this scene, however, the artist has chosen to depict a more tender moment of affection between a mother and her son. The sentimental subject matter of the scene is heightened by the close nature of the composition, creating a sense of intimacy.

The dark background focuses the viewer’s gaze on the faces of Venus and Cupid, and the subtle pink shades with which their skin has been rendered. The redness of their lips and full cheeks creates a sense of youthfulness and sentimental - rather than carnal - love. The double-string pearl necklace around Venus’ neck and the sheer drapery around her shoulders is rendered magnificently and tangibly. The skill of this artist, no doubt familiar with the works of Cornelis van Haarlem, is on full display within this painting and the care it takes with depicting the most minute of details.

16th Century English School - Portrait of Robert Devereux
Remaining in the 16th century but casting our gaze towards England, we have this remarkably and historically significant portrait of the 2nd Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux. Painted by the studio of acclaimed portraitist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, this painting depicts the notorious courtier and soldier in the late 1590s, after his Knighthood and the raid on Cadiz. The painting closely resembles a version held by Anglesey Abbey and depicts Devereux in a fashionable white doublet with a ruff and lace collar, and his Knight of the Garter blue ribbon.

The painting’s high level of detail demonstrates both the artist’s masterful observational skills and the importance of fashion within Elizabethan society. Devereux’s beard is rendered magnificently, with a true tangibility to its wiry texture. His lifelike face, flushed cheeks and wrinkles around his eyes all imply that a highly trained artist from the studio of Marcus Gheeraerts was responsible for the execution of this work. Given the importance of both the sitter and the artist whose studio created this portrait, this painting is of key historical significance.

Nicola Simbari - Five O’Clock
Our final work presents a distinct deviation from the historical focus of the above works and instead offers a striking mid-20th century painting by the Italian artist Nicola Simbari. The work is dominated by a red background, against which a lady sits at a table and gazes towards a highly detailed bowl of fruit. The title - Five O’Clock - and the stillness of the scene creates the sense that the lady is awaiting the arrival of someone, or something.

Simbari’s father was an architect for the Vatican and imbued in his son a deep appreciation for classical art and architecture, a passion which is recognisable in this work. The vertical and horizontal lines of black and white are reminiscent of architectural features, whilst the intensely detailed fruit bowl is evocative of Caravaggio’s still life paintings. The vivid colours, sparse brushwork and use of palette knives are all distinctive of Simbari’s style and culminate in a visually arresting painting.

As always, this list is not definitive, and we have had to leave out many of our fantastic new acquisitions from the last few months. Subscribers to our monthly newsletter receive news of these acquisitions ahead of general release - if you would like details of our new works delivered straight to your inbox every fortnight, then please do subscribe to our mailing list. We look forward to our next highlight blog, covering the latest acquisitions from September and October.