AN international spotlight is shining on County Durham as artworks hailing from the region are displayed to gallery-goers across the pond.

Paintings from The Auckland Project, Bishop Auckland, including works from Auckland Castle and the forthcoming Spanish Gallery nearby, have been displayed in two separate exhibitions in New York City.

Francisco de Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons, a series of paintings that has hung in Auckland Castle for more than 250 years, is being exhibited at the renowned Frick Collection until April 22 while an additional selection of Spanish artworks was shown at Sotheby’s auction house earlier this month.

Dr Edward Payne, head curator of Spanish Art at The Auckland Project, said: “The temporary closure of Auckland Castle has allowed us to travel Zurbarán’s masterpieces and further develop existing partnerships with US institutions.

“The exhibitions of our Spanish paintings in America have also provided a fantastic opportunity to share news of The Auckland Project’s exciting vision for Bishop Auckland, including plans underway for the Spanish Gallery.”

The Big Apple exhibitions, at The Frick Collection in particular, have generated countless column inches in worldwide publications such as The New Yorker, The Art Newspaper and Spain’s La Vanguardia.

A sold-out evening event about the exhibition, featuring Philippe de Montebello, former director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Auckland Project’s chairman, Jonathan Ruffer, was also broadcast and viewed as far afield as Colombia and Australia.

The first ever showing of Jacob and His Twelve Sons in New York builds on a year-long in-depth technical analysis of the Zurbarán paintings at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, and an exhibition at the Meadows Museum, Dallas, which closed in January.

Ian Wardropper, director of The Frick Collection, said: “The sheer visual power and rich narrative content of this series will draw visitors in and will be beautifully complemented by the Frick’s strong holdings in Spanish art.”

Elsewhere in Manhattan, a selection of Spanish art from The Auckland Project’s collection was also on display at Sotheby’s from January 26 until February 11.

Timed to coincide with Sotheby’s Masters Week, one of their busiest weeks of the year, the exhibition featured Spanish Old Master paintings acquired through the international auction house.

Jointly curated by Sotheby’s and The Auckland Project, this was the first presentation of works that will soon be displayed in the Spanish Gallery, due to open in Bishop Auckland in 2019.

James Macdonald, senior director at Sotheby’s, said: “It is a great privilege for Sotheby’s to play a small part in this inspirational project.”

Jacob and His Twelve Sons will return to England prior to Auckland Castle’s grand reopening on December 1.