Month: June 2018

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)

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Zephyrus and Flora Venice, about 1750 Pen, brown wash and black chalk on paper 23.9 x 33 cm Tiepelo made this drawing as a study for the principal figures in the ceiling fresco he painted for the Room of Mirrors in the Palazzo Labia in Venice. He also produced a small oil sketch of the … Read more

Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693)

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Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath Dutch, about 1670-80 Pen and brown wash 20.5 x 32.5 cm   The subject is from the ‘Kings’, XVII: 10. This drawing shows the biblical story from Kings during which the Lord directs Elijah to the town gates of Zarephath where a widow has been directed to provide him … Read more

ascribed to Pietro Antonio Novelli (1729-1804)

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A Music Party Venice, about 1750 Pen and brown wash over black chalk 25 x 37.3 cm This small scale domestic scene, known as a conservation piece, was characteristic of mid 18th century art. In this example from Venice, the music party takes place during the annual carnival – the figure to the left wears … Read more

Lambert Doomer (1622/3-1700)

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Rock Dwellings at Saumur on the Loire Dutch, 1646 Pen with grey and brown washes 22.8 x 36.5 cm The inhabitants of a rock dwelling execute their daily tasks. This scene at Saumur is on of a number of drawings made in the Loire Valley by the artist en route from Nantes in 1646. Other … Read more

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793)

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A Coastal Scene Venice, the 1770s Pen and brown wash with traces of black chalk 25.1 x 36.9 cm In addition to his topographical views of Venice, Francesco Guardi also produced imaginary landscapes such as this coastal scene from the 1770s. Such drawings repeat the same range of motifs taken from the Venetian lagoon – … Read more

Pierre Étienne Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867)

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Oaks Among Boulders Barbizon, 1861 Etching Plate: 13.4 x 21 cm; paper: 30 x 40 cm; mount: 40.5 x 55.6 cm  This etching was made from Rousseau’s painting La Chene de Roches and published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Rousseau depicts the heart of the forest untouched by human intervention. Rousseau’s desire to represent nature … Read more

Jean Morin (c. 1590-1650)

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Omer Talon  Paris, early 1650s Engraving Mount: 55.7 x 40.5 cm  This portrait is based on Philippe de Champaigne’s full-length painting of Omer Talon (1595-1652) produced in 1649. Champaigne was a founder of the French Academy in the mid 17th century and is best known for his portraits of royalty and important political figures. Talon’s … Read more

Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827)

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Dressing for the Masquerade  London, 1790 Tinted etching Paper: 37.3 x 51.3 cm; mount: 51.7 x 63 cm    The most obvious differences between this print and Rowlandson’s original drawing (Inv. No. 48.9) are the colours. The print has been hand tinted and consequently each version is slightly different from the others. The general colour … Read more

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677)

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The Thames Below Westminster Pier London, about 1638 Pen and brown ink  14.6 x 40.1 cm  This is an example of Hollar’s comparatively rare drawings as opposed to his etchings of English scenery. This view is taken looking upstream. The buildings are marked as ‘Lambeth House’, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, ‘Parliament House’ … Read more

Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)

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Christ on the Cross (Christus am Kreuz) Berlin, 1919 Woodcut Plate: 51 x 43 m; mount: 73 x 59 cm  Christ is shown at his crucifixion, his head crowned by a searing sun and his body scored by the deep lines carved in the wood. Corinth uses chaotic hatched lines to emphasis Christ’s emaciated body … Read more

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677)

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Muscarum Scarabeorum Vermiumque Variae Figurae et Formae 1646 Etchings Wenclaus Hollar was born in Prague, but worked across Europe including in Stuttgart, Strasburg, Frankfurt and Cologne, where he became employed by Thomas Howard, the Earl of Arundel (1585-1646). Howard was a court member of King Charles I, and renowned for his collection of art and artefacts. King Charles … Read more

Antoon Derkzen van Angeren (1878-1961)

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Two Skulls Dutch, 1908-9 Etching 30 x 39.7 cm This etching revives the distinctive Dutch seventeenth-century painting category of vanitas still-life. One or more skulls in isolation was a tradition established by Angeren’s seventeenth-century predecessor, Hercules Seers (1589/90-1633/38).  Purchased 2001 (No. 2001.1).

Arthur Illies (1870-1952)

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Ripe Cornfield: Evening (Ahrenfeld am Abend) Hamburg, 1896 Etching on zinc 18.5 x 14.5 cm A fine impression on wove paper as issued in Pan in an edition of 1,600. This extraordinary colour etching is the product of deep biting a zinc plate and of one printing only. The colours are applied “à la poupée”. Illies, … Read more

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, after Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

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La belle Ferronnière Paris, about 1802-6 Black chalk, stump and wash Paper: 52.5 x 41.8 cm; mount: 78.5 x 57.5 cm This drawing is a copy of a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in the Louvre, Paris, thought to represent a mistress of Francis I. Ingres’s work precisely traces the subtle contours of the … Read more

Carlo Maratti (1625-1713)

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Study for the Head of St Charles Borromeo Rome, 1658-90 Red chalk heightened with white on blue paper 36.1 x 27.9 cm This drawing is a study for the head of the figure of Saint Carlo Borromeo in the High Altarpiece of the Church of  S. Carlo al Corso, Rome. This study represents Saint Carlo … Read more

Claude Lorrain (1604/5-1682)

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Sunrise Rome, 1634 Etching Paper: 12.9 x 20 cm; mount: 40.5 x 56 cm This marine scene bustles with activity as figures gesticulate, exchange glances and huddle in groups. The sun, which faintly be seen on the horizon, floods the picture with light and blurs the distant mountains. Opposite the triumphal Arch of Titus on … Read more

Jacques-Philippe Lebas (1707-1783) after Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779)

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Le Négligé Paris, 1741 Engraving Paper: 38.6 x 27.4 cm; mount: 63 x 51.5 cm Lebas’ print reproduces ‘The Morning Toilette’, painted by Chardin (1669-1779) in 1741. Many of Chardin’s pictures were of domestic interiors, scenes of childhood and maternal love, all of which were fashionable with 18th-century French audiences. Here, a young girl glances … Read more

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

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A Man with an Oar Netherlands, about 1520/21 Pen and brown ink 16 x 10.4 cm  This fine drawing is one of a number of works believed to have been made during Dürer’s trip to the Netherlands in around 1520-21. It was among those taken from the museum of the Lubomirski family, established in the … Read more

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

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The Lime Burner London, 1859, published 1871 Etching with drypoint Plate: 25 x 18 cm; mount: 55.6 x 40.5 cm This is one of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames which Whistler completed by 1861. They resulted from a campaign of drawing along the river in which the artist sought to document its everyday … Read more

Jan Both (c. 1618-1652)

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The Mule Driver Netherlands, 1630s Etching  22 x 29.5 cm The mule with a low-slung head struggling under the weight of a heavy load is a motif that frequently appears in Both’s Italianate landscape scenes. For many, the mule was an affordable means of transport and an ideal working animal, combining the endurance and sure-footedness … Read more

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881)

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The Vine London, 1852 Etching Plate: 30.5 x 21.7 cm; paper: 41.5 x 29.5 cm; mount: 55.5 x 40.4 cm  Bacchus, the Roman god of agriculture and wine, leaps from his chariot in a burst of bright light to meet his followers. Vines creep across the ground and entwine themselves around trees, while plump cherubs … Read more

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881)

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The Cypress Grove Redhill, Surrey, about 1880, completed 1883 Etching 13 x 19 cm    Set amid a mountainous nocturnal landscape, a group of nymphs mourn for the shepherd Daphnis who has been blinded by the nymph Nomia for being unfaithful. Loosely based on Virgil’s Eclogues (42-39 B.C.), this work may have been inspired by … Read more

Agostino Carracci (1557-1602)

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Ecce Homo Bologna, 1587 Etching Paper: 45 x 34.4 cm; mount: 63 x 51.5 cm  Depicting a standard cycle of the Passion of Christ, the words ‘Ecce Homo’ (‘Behold the Man’) were used by Pontius Pilate to present Christ to the jeering crowds before his crucifixion. Mary swoons in the foreground, an unusual addition to … Read more