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September, 2000 The Art of Drawing
A second visit to the Raphael and his Circle exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario last weekend persuaded me to write something about the art of drawing this month. ![]() Yet a survey of several art-loving friends revealed that none of them was planning to see the exhibit at all. One remarked I don't like drawings, another was disappointed that they're not paintings and a third felt she knew the work of Raphael quite well already thank you very much. This is no way to treat a once in a lifetime exhibit. Raphael, the prince of painters, has always been admired for his mastery of the art of drawing. It was during the High Renaissance that his (and other artists') drawings began to be collected by connoisseurs like Giorgio Vasari as a key to understanding the creative process. Drawing was considered to be the foundation of the visual arts. What makes the exhibit so exciting is that although we are dealing with one of the best-loved and most frequently reproduced artists of all time, we are far from being asked to look at overly familiar images. Ranging from quick sketches to large-scale works, these studies reveal the process by which Raphael created his lucid compositions and formulated the poses and expressions of individual figures. ![]() Indeed, we are not revisiting Raphael's public work at all. We are looking at his private thoughts, as it were, his first essays for the great frescoes in the Stanze of the Vatican or for one of his beloved Madonnas. The display of these drawings throws open the doors of his workshop and allow us to glance over his shoulder as he figures out the way to compose a Miraculous Draught of Fishes or Massacre of the Innocents. Drawings are one of the few ways we can rediscover the freshness and spontaneity of the old masters. There is a quality to the best drawings which cannot be duplicated by any other medium. I could swear that some of the figures in the Raphael drawings actually seem to move. ![]() We are lucky indeed that these priceless scraps of paper were collected and carefully preserved, so that five hundred years later we can feast on their haunting beauty. Drawings unlike paintings are incredibly delicate and would have completely disappeared if they had not been so carefully preserved. For. an example of the kind of damage merely exhibiting a drawing without properly protecting it can sustain see Raphael's sketch for a Last Supper in this exhibit's catalog which has faded almost to nothingness. While there are many great repositories of old master drawings in art collections around the world (the Albertina in Vienna, the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung in Basel and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin have legendary archives), all too few of these collections are accessible online. This despite the fact that the Internet is without question now the best way to exhibit these works to scholars and the general public. Where else can you put your nose right up to the image or expanded it several times its normal size to capture the fine details? That is why a number of recent developments on the web are so extraordinary. Surely, the best news is that the British Museum, one of the richest treasure troves of art and artifacts in the world, has recently put over 1,500 works online, many of them old master drawings. Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens are all here with helpful online commentaries. Next in importance, the J. Paul Getty Museum also has put a huge collection of art online, including most of their old master drawings. ![]() Excellent exhibits of drawings have been star attractions at museums this year although once again without adequate online exhibits. Only the National Gallery of Art in Washington seems to have a consistent policy and perhaps the funding to do this (note the sad case of Canada's National Gallery, which has had to cancel its planned exhibit of Old Masters Drawings). They have exhibited two other collections of drawings, Annibale Carracci, and From Schongauer to Holbein. Unfortunately, the online versions of these exhibits have been removed, so you will have to write to the National Gallery of Art and ask them to please make them available again. For all those readers whose appetite I've whetted, there is more good news. If you want to learn more about the art of drawing, I can think of no better online exhibit than the current Master drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Some of the greatest examples known of this art are on display. This website provides a curator's tour of the exhibit which uses pairs of drawings to show how style, technique and subject matter reflect both the continuity in the tradition over five centuries as well as the innovations and changes in the history of art. There is also a detailed analysis of the different drawing techniques represented. Raphael and his Circle Drawings from Her Majesty the Queen's Collection at Windsor Castle Art Gallery of Ontario: August 5 - October 15 2000 J. Paul Getty Museum: October 31 2000 - January 7 2001 Other online resources: This article is copyright 2000 by Joseph Phelan. Please do not republish any portion of this article without written permission. Joseph Phelan can be contacted at joe.phelan@verizon.net |
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Previous Features | |
August, 2000 |
Landscape II Article: Poussin and the Heroic Landscape | |
July, 2000 |
Online Art Article: Great Art Museums Online | |
June, 2000 |
Landscape I Article: Venetian Painting and the Rise of Landscape | |
May, 2000 |
Mythology in Art Article: Forbidden Visions: Mythology in Art | |
April, 2000 |
Art and Religion Article: Themes in Art: The Passion of Christ Exhibit: Christus Rex | |
March, 2000 |
Inuit Art/The National Gallery of Art in Washington Museum: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Exhibit: Inuit Art: The World Around Me | |
February, 2000 |
Poll: Who is Producing the Most Interesting Art Today? (Results) | |
January, 2000 |
Poll: Who is Producing the Most Interesting Art Today? (Part II) | |
December, 1999 |
Poll: Who is Producing the Most Interesting Art Today? (Part I) | |
November, 1999 |
The Louvre Museum Artist: Albrecht Dürer Museum: The Louvre Book: Paintings in the Louvre Print: Study of a Horse's Head, by Pisanello |
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October, 1999 |
Impressionism Artist: Claude Monet Museum: North Carolina Museum of Art Exhibit: Monet: O Mestre do Impressionismo Book: Impressionists in Winter: Effets de Neige Print: Nympheas avec Effets de Nuage, by Claude Monet |
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September, 1999 |
Optical Art Artist: M.C. Escher Museum: The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio Exhibit: Trompe l'oeil: The Art of Deception Book: M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work Print: Movement In Squares, by Bridget Riley |
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August, 1999 |
Animals in Art Artist: Antoine-Louis Barye Museum: National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming Exhibit: PBS: American Visions Book: Natural Worlds, by Robert Bateman Print: A la Bodiniere, by Théophile Steinlen |
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July, 1999 |
Surrealism Artist: Odd Nerdrum Museum: Museum of Modern Art, New York Exhibit: Virtuo Official Magritte Site Book: Mystery of Magritte CD-ROM Print: Santiago El Grande, by Salvador Dalí |
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June, 1999 |
Sculpture Artist: Audrey Flack Museum: Carol Gerten's Fine Art Exhibit: Michael Lucero: Sculpture 1976-1995 Book: Anish Kapoor Print: Cupid And Psyche, by Antonio Canova |
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May, 1999 |
Women in the Arts Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. Exhibit: Jenny Holzer: Please Change Beliefs Book: Cindy Sherman: Retrospective Print: Self-Portrait with Monkeys, by Frida Kahlo |
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April, 1999 |
The Golden Age of Illustration Artist: Maxfield Parrish Museum: Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco Exhibit: Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe online Books: Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe Print: Cinderella (Enchantment), by Maxfield Parrish |
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March, 1999 |
Vincent van Gogh Artist: Vincent van Gogh Museum: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Exhibit: The Vincent van Gogh Information Gallery Book: Van Gogh's Van Goghs Print: Terrasse de Cafe |
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February, 1999 |
Great Art Artist: Leonardo da Vinci Museum: The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia Exhibit: John Singleton Copley: Watson and the Shark Book: The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration Print: L'Astronomia, by Raphael |