THE SIR DENIS MAHON FOUNDATION was created by Sir Denis in his lifetime.
It aims to continue his philanthropic work, his art historical research and his passionate promotion of young scholars.
It promotes his art collection and lifelong work and studies to the general public, organises exhibitions, supports museums, and also endows three annual prizes for young scholars and artists, the Sir Denis Mahon Essay Prize, the Mahon Award, a drawing prize at The Royal Drawing School, and the Sir Denis Mahon Sculptural Project Grant in collaboration with City & Guilds of London Art School.
SPOTLIGHT
There was a presentation recently at the National Gallery in London for the George Beaumont Patrons, at the Julia and Hans Raising Gallery, Room 32, exploring the remarkable legacy of Sir Denis Mahon (1910-2011).
Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, Curator of Later Italian, Spanish and French Paintings, guided the Patrons through the gallery and shared fascinating insights into Mahon’s extraordinary contribution to the National Gallery. His generosity, scholarship and passion for Italian Baroque painting have left an indelible mark on the National Gallery’s Collection.
Suzanne Marriott represented the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation and met with Meredith Loper, recipient of the Sir Denis Mahon Essay Prize 2022, now Legacy and Appeals Manager at the National Gallery, London.
The wonderful 1996 photograph of Sir Denis Mahon shows him in Room 32, sitting in front of Guido Reni’s The Adoration of the Shepherds (dated approx. 1640).
The picture shown behind Suzanne and Meredith shows Guido Reni’s Rape of Europe, one of the many masterpieces gifted by Sir Denis to the National Gallery, London.
Title: Denis Mahon e la riscoperta della pittura emiliana del Seicento
Author: Valentina Balzarotti
Series: Alti Studi sull’Età e la Cultura del Barocco
Editor: Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura
Year: 2026
Pages: 508 pp.
Isbn: 9788899808655
A new Book has just been published:
Denis Mahon e la riscoperta della pittura emiliana del Seicento – “Denis Mahon and the Rediscovery of seventeenth-century Emilian Painting” by Valentina Balzarotti – Editor: Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura
This is a truly remarkable work by the young scholar Valentina Balzarotti, bringing to light many aspects of Emilian art and of Denis Mahon’s scholarly career that were previously unknown to researchers, particularly as many of those who might have known them are no longer alive. The publication therefore serves as an important act of preservation, safeguarding an exceptionally rich and unique body of cultural knowledge for future generations.
The book traces the gradual rediscovery of seventeenth-century Emilian painting through the work of the British connoisseur and collector Denis Mahon (1910–2010). Drawing on a selection of previously unpublished letters, it reconstructs three decades of Mahon’s activity, from the 1930s to the late 1950s.
His correspondence with scholars such as Otto Kurz and Hylton Thomas sheds light on his intellectual formation, his early research on Guercino, and the development of his seminal book Studies in Seicento Art and Theory, published in 1947. The letters from the 1950s, meanwhile, reveal Mahon’s growing network of dealers, collectors, and museum curators worldwide, as well as his increasing authority as a scholar and his crucial contribution to the organisation of some of the most important post-war exhibitions of Italian art.
The correspondence with his mother Lay Alice Mahon also reveals the human element of this grand art historian that only a few people who were very close to him had the privilege to witness.
RESIDENT ARTIST
LEONARDO PASSERI
THE MOTHER OF MOTHER NATURE
80 cm × 120 cm
Acrylic on panel
The Origin Within Form: Leonardo Passeri’s “The Mother of Mother Nature”
The Mother of Mother Nature, Leonardo Passeri presents an archetypal figure suspended between organic origin and geometric order, where the human presence becomes a symbolic threshold between nature and constructed space. Built across two panels, the work generates a subtle three-dimensional tension, expanding perception and inviting the viewer into a structured, contemplative field.
SUPPORT
In the picture: a graphic composition by the artist Leonardo Passeri (born 1982) showing a detail of “Saint Roch giving Alms” by Annibale Carracci (1587-1595) in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany.
Please consider making a one-off donation to The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation and its activities.
We are a registered charity and all donations, of whatever size, would directly support our educational and exhibition programmes.
See here.
PAST EVENTS
TIME {?} AND ETERNAL LIFE
5 October – 20 December 2020
The exhibition spans over five millennia, exploring the concept of time and of Eternal life from Antiquity to the Modern Era. This immense period is divided into three chapters, each a chronological step forward.
WILLIAM BLAKE AT FLAT TIME HOUSE
30 January - 8 March 2020
Organised by Flat Time House in partnership with the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation, and curated by Chris McCabe and Magnus Rena, the exhibition gave a unique opportunity to view Blake’s work in the domestic environment of John Latham’s home.
LUCRETIA CANTATA AT THE BOWES MUSEUM
13 November 2019
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation was delighted to support The Bowes Museum on the occasion of their exhibition, The Power and the Virtue : Guido Reni’s Death of Lucretia (26 October 2019 – 20 January 2020), which highlights the theme of female beauty in Reni’s painting, particularly the depiction of devotional and legendary heroines such as Cleopatra, Saint Catherine, Saint Mary Magdalene, and specifically the suicide of Lucretia Romana.
VISIONARIES AND THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
28 June - 14 July 2019
Through the work of several artists, the exhibition suggests that visionary qualities are not exclusive to one period or personality, but they are enduring characteristics of artistic creativity.
VISIONS & VISIONARIES
11 December 2018 - 30 April 2019
They made the “visionary” into a poetic manifesto, the germ of an idea that is still relevant in the contemporary world with artists such as Geoffrey Fletcher, John Latham, Grayson Perry, or in art movements like Technomedioevo.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO STUDY DAY
14 June 2018
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation and Museum of the Order of St John hosted a study day to explore The Language and Meaning of Time in Art & Science. The study day took place following a recent exhibition.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO: AGE OF FUTURE RELOADED
1 March - 16 June 2018
What would the past have been like in the Middle Ages if the future had happened before?
BICE VISCONTI: THE REASSEMBLED PAPERS: DRAWINGS AND SKETCHBOOKS FROM THE GREAT WAR
1 October – 20 November 2017
The exhibition was held during the events in remembrance of the Great War and presented part of the graphic corpus of works by the artist, Bice Visconti (1883-1962), who enrolled as a volunteer in the Italian Red Cross in 1915, working in a field hospital where she recorded moments in the lives of soldiers and medical personnel.
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS
3 October 2016 – 31 January 2017
This exhibition put a spotlight on the fabrics used during Caravaggio’s time, with a focus on Caravaggio’s painting, The Cardsharps (1594), which was loaned to the museum by the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation. It also provided the opportunity to view ancient textiles and religious vestments from the collections of the Diocese of Novara and the Rubelli Museum in Venice.
OUR SHOP
