No, this is not about our annual January joint dealer
exhibition of our master drawings but rather the title of an exhibition at the
Frick in New York. It is called “Mantegna
to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery”.
Between college and graduate school I spent a year abroad
and during part of that time I received a certificate for completing several
courses in the Fine & Decorative Arts as well as architecture. I took advantage of being in London by also
auditing courses at the Courtauld Institute for advanced learning in art
history which was founded by a philanthropic trio: the industrialist and art
collector Samuel Courtauld (1876 –1947), the diplomat and collector
Lord Lee of Fareham
(1868-1947),
and the art historian Sir Robert Witt
(1872-1952). All three of the
co-founders left their art collections to the Institute, forming the basis of
the Courtauld Collection. Witt also founded the Witt Library a treasured
photographic resource for art historians. When I studied there the collection
was housed in a Robert Adam house on Portman Square along with the art history
Institute, but in 1989 it moved to Summerset House on the Thames. The exhibition is introduced by a Canaletto panoramic view from Somerset Gardens
looking toward London Bridge, which ironically was bought in 1967 and placed in
Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
"View from Somerset Gardens" by Canaletto |
I was well aware of the Courtauld’s paintings
and have seen them in various shows at the Courtauld Gallery and in loan exhibitions. What I was not aware of was the wealth of the
drawings collection, consisting of 7,000 works on paper and in particular the
Old Master collection.
Stephanie Buck from the Courtauld and Colin
Bailey from the Frick have done a masterful job of picking works to give an
overall view of the high quality of the collection. I have seen the show three times now and
every time I go through it I find more “prime examples”. Of course, if you can cover from Leonardo to Picasso
how wrong can you go? There are also
works by Durer, Pieter Brueghel the elder, Rubens, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Bernini,
Watteau, Goya, Ingres, and Turner etc. etc. etc. It is really a jaw dropping display.
Naturally, I must choose a few to write about and
as usual I will pick on personal favorites.
But I should tell you first that I asked my wife, the curator, what her
choices would be and we often did not agree.
In a show like this there are, of course, no wrong choices but
inevitably I would pick the picture that would be called the more “popular” one
and Penelope would go for the unusual image.
Suffice it to say, the choices are mine, but on some we agreed.
One such and my overall favorite is an Albrecht
Durer (1471-1528), the only German drawing among the six drawings that date
from the 15th century. In fact, I believe that it is
the only German drawing in the show.
From World War I until relatively recently in the Anglo-Saxon countries
there was a deep prejudice against anything German. Helen Frick, Henry Clay’s daughter would not
allow any German pictures to be bought and again, until relatively recently,
the Metropolitan Museum would not allow German art to be acquired. I actually have difficulty thinking of this
dream-like girl as a Wise Virgin because she seems just an innocent taking her first tender steps
into the real world. Durer made this
drawing in 1493, when, after
finishing his studies in Nuremberg he was on his way to Colmar to meet and learn from the marvelous
painter and engraver, Martin Schongauer.
Unfortunately, Schongauer died before he got there but one can see that
the latter’s work had a great influence on the young Durer.
"Wise Virgin" by Albrecht Durer |
I am always fascinated by the reflections of
nationalism in the history of art. One such is the Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s (1589-1680)
East Façade of the Louvre, a project he did in a competition for the completion
of the Louvre for Louis XIV. The complex curves Bernini proposed come
from the Italian Baroque vocabulary he developed for the Vatican in Rome and
contrast dramatically with the iconic French straight colonnade actually built
to the winning design of the Claude Perrault (1613-1688).
"East facade of the Louvre" by Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
Finally, another personal favorite is the
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879) of “The Hypocondriac” as they call it on the label. Here we see the sick patient listening to the
pontificating doctor and not seeing the doctor’s assistant hiding behind the
latter with a huge enema, which the patient probably knows is coming. To my mind it is a slightly different
interpretation of the same subject as “The Quack Doctor” that I learned about
in Dutch 17th century painting.
But that is the fun of it. There
is no right and wrong.
"The Hypocondriac" by Honore Daumier |
You have until January 27 to see the show but
don’t delay I dare you to pick your favorites.
While I always find the brevity of my Missives frustrating this one has
been particularly so because there are so many more drawings that I would like
to mention.
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