The Essence of Line
French Drawings from Ingres to Degas
Published on 15. July 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
408 pages
978-0-271-02692-3 (ISBN)
Description
Many patrons of the arts in nineteenth-century America built collections of paintings and sculpture imported primarily from England or Italy. Collectors in Baltimore-William Walters, George Lucas, the famous Cone sisters, among others-stand out in this milieu for having developed a strikingly different aesthetic for their homes and newly founded public institutions. These collectors looked to France for models of culture and, acting upon a remarkable understanding of the educational needs and working methods of artists, assembled extensive collections of drawings by French masters, from David to Daumier, Degas, and Cezanne.
The Essence of Line offers the first comprehensive discussion of the formation of these collections and their significance for the history of French art. The book begins with essays by Jay M. Fisher, William R. Johnston, and Cheryl K. Snay that trace the history of collecting in Baltimore and afford new insights into the acquisition, display, and interpretation of drawings. In her essay, conservator Kimberly Schenck bridges the worlds of the collector and of the artist by examining the production and the use of drawing materials in an epoch of radical changes as much in technique as style. This book also provides a fully illustrated, scholarly catalogue for one hundred of the most important of the nineteenth-century French drawings now held by The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum, and the Peabody Art Collection.
Published on the occasion of an exhibition jointly organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Museum, this book presents a brilliant panorama of sketches, watercolors, and presentation drawings, many of them little known outside a small circle of experts. It is correlated with an online archive of the entire corpus of nineteenth-century French drawings in the holdings of these Baltimore museums.
This volume has been published in conjunction with the exhibition The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas, organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walter Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, and held at:
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 19 June-11 September 2005
The Walters Art Museum 19 June-4 September 2005
Birmingham Museum of Art, 19 February-14 May 2006
Tacoma Art Museum, 9 June-17 September 2006.
The Essence of Line offers the first comprehensive discussion of the formation of these collections and their significance for the history of French art. The book begins with essays by Jay M. Fisher, William R. Johnston, and Cheryl K. Snay that trace the history of collecting in Baltimore and afford new insights into the acquisition, display, and interpretation of drawings. In her essay, conservator Kimberly Schenck bridges the worlds of the collector and of the artist by examining the production and the use of drawing materials in an epoch of radical changes as much in technique as style. This book also provides a fully illustrated, scholarly catalogue for one hundred of the most important of the nineteenth-century French drawings now held by The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum, and the Peabody Art Collection.
Published on the occasion of an exhibition jointly organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Museum, this book presents a brilliant panorama of sketches, watercolors, and presentation drawings, many of them little known outside a small circle of experts. It is correlated with an online archive of the entire corpus of nineteenth-century French drawings in the holdings of these Baltimore museums.
This volume has been published in conjunction with the exhibition The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas, organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walter Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, and held at:
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 19 June-11 September 2005
The Walters Art Museum 19 June-4 September 2005
Birmingham Museum of Art, 19 February-14 May 2006
Tacoma Art Museum, 9 June-17 September 2006.
Reviews / Votes
"Very full and solid, this work will be a valuable contribution to nineteenth-century studies and an essential reference for art libraries."-Colta Ives, Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art "This book catalogues and analyzes a rich ensemble of nineteenth-century French drawings, which raise important issues of collecting, connoisseurship, and taste."
-Alan Chong, Curator, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum "This is more than an excellent guide to The Essence of Line. . . . The items are preceded by well-written, well-documented scholarly essays accompanied by illustrations and footnotes."
-E. E. Hirshler Choice "With its beautiful illustrations, its handsome design and layout, and its scholarly approach, this catalog and the Web site that accompanies it exemplify the wonderful things museums can do when focusing on their own collections."
-Petra ten-Doesschate Chu Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
University Park
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
195 Halftones, color
Dimensions
Height: 308 mm
Width: 257 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
2413 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-271-02692-3 (9780271026923)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jay M. Fisher is Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Baltimore Museum of Art.
William R. Johnston is Associate Director and Curator of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art at The Walters Art Museum.
Kimberly Schenck is Conservator at The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Cheryl K. Snay is Research Associate, Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at The Baltimore Museum of Art.
William R. Johnston is Associate Director and Curator of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art at The Walters Art Museum.
Kimberly Schenck is Conservator at The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Cheryl K. Snay is Research Associate, Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at The Baltimore Museum of Art.