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Master Drawings

Master Drawings is the leading international periodical for the study of drawings from the fourteent Master Drawings Association, Inc.

is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the State of New York on March 16, 1962, for the purpose of disseminating knowledge in the field of Western draftsmanship since the Renaissance. Its mission is fulfilled mainly through the publication of the subscription-based, academic quarterly Master Drawings, which was launched in 1963. The founding Editor was the late Felice Stampfle, Curator o

f Drawings and Prints at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; the first Associate Editors were the late Jacob Bean, Curator of Drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, who is Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Master Drawings aspires to be the leading international periodical for the study of drawings from the fourteenth century to the present day in Europe and the Americas. Edited to the highest academic standards, it seeks to present the best and most important new research in a clear, elegant, and accessible format. The journal is primarily concerned with the publication of newly discovered material, significant reattributions, and fresh interpretations. Each issue, extensively illustrated with high-quality color and black-and-white images, consists of approximately 144 pages of articles, notes, exhibition and book reviews, as well as trade advertising. Other features, such as interviews with living artists and essays about historical collectors or collections, are intended to foster a sense of continuity between the pre-modern and modern eras. The journal’s target readership is a diverse and interrelated constituency of international curators, academics, students, collectors, and dealers. The language of the quarterly is English, but submissions are encouraged from a broad range of specialists throughout the world, mainly Europe and the Americas. may hold events that advance its mission and promote contact and collaboration within all sectors of the international drawings community. In light of changing research patterns in a digital age, the Board of Directors is committed to maintaining an online presence for the journal in order to increase its accessibility by making past content available through internet archiving programs.

09/07/2025

“Rome - A Cardinal’s Dream,” at the Christ Church Picture Gallery at the University of Oxford, seeks to visualize what might have inspired Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s aesthetic and artistic ambition. While Wolsey designed his college in Oxford, Raphael and Michelangelo left their marks on Rome. Wolsey never visited the city, but as a member of the papal court he admired Rome’s power and understood how it was expressed in its art and buildings. With Roman drawings of that time this exhibition, on view until October 20, creates a visual foil for a Roman Cardinal.

(Image: Giorgio Vasari, “Pope Leo X in procession, Passing through the Piazza della Signoria in Florence,” pen and brown wash over indications in rough black chalk, squared for enlargement in black chalk, Christ Church Picture Gallery, University of Oxford)

09/06/2025

The question of assessing quality is an essential, but infrequently discussed, topic in the field of drawings. To gain insights on how to approach this complicated endeavor join experts from our institutional partner, the Morgan Library & Museum, for the seminar “On Quality in Drawings, 1400 – 1900.” The seminar takes place on Monday, November 10 from 10:00am-4:00pm.

Led by John Marciari, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Department Head, Drawings and Prints, the forum aims to engage participants with the tools for evaluating the quality of a drawing, with attributed and unattributed examples by Italian, Northern European, French, and British artists. Marciari will be joined by Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator, and Sarah Mallory, Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator. Through lively discussion, group work, and focused case studies, participants will emerge with a better sense of how to evaluate the quality of a drawing and the importance of such judgments in scholarship and curatorial work.

This seminar is open to graduate students of the history of art. The application deadline is September 30. Applications should be submitted electronically with the subject header “Quality in Drawings Seminar” to [email protected] and should include a one paragraph statement with name and email; academic institution and class year; field of study; and interest in drawings/relevance of the seminar to one’s research.
Participants will be notified by October 10.

(Image: Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), “Landscape with St. Theodore Overcoming the Dragon,” pen and brown ink, over black chalk, on paper, The Morgan Library & Museum)

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09/05/2025

“The Features of Genius,” at the International Perfume Museum in Grasse, showcases drawings from the Louvre by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, his son, Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, and his sister-in-law, Marguerite Gérard.

Although Paris was Fragonard’s primary residence, he visited his hometown Grasse regularly. His wife, Marie-Anne Gérard, was also notably from a family of perfumers from the Provençal town. The exhibition features a selection of more than sixty drawings by Fragonard, never before exhibited in Grasse and rarely shown elsewhere. While his influence as a painter is well-recognized, Fragonard’s impact also extended to the decorative arts, particularly the world of perfumery, a field in which Grasse occupies a central place. To illustrate this connection, the exhibition, on view until October 26, presents a series of eighteenth-century porcelain perfume bottles on loan from the Givaudan company.

(Image: Fragonard, Jean-Honoré, “Ma Chemise Brûle (My Shirt is Burning),” brown wash over black chalk drawing, Louvre Museum, Paris)

09/03/2025

“Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault,” at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, BC, Canada, a travelling exhibition that offers a rare glimpse into the hidden art treasures of the National Gallery of Canada. On view through October 13, the exhibition features over 130 works on paper and canvas by 84 artists, including Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Marc Chagall, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Wassily Kandinsky. “Gathered Leaves” offers a compelling look at the diverse roles drawing has played across time, geography, and artistic movements.

(Image: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, “Head of Giulio Contarini, after a Bust by Alessandro Vittoria,” red chalk heightened with white chalk on blue laid paper, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa)

09/02/2025

Get re-energized by diving into the latest issue of MASTER DRAWINGS (Vol. 63, no. 3). An eclectic group of articles features artists Lorenz Lechler, Pietro Perugino, Pieter Holsteyn II, Giuseppe Valeriani, and Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The issue also contains incisive reviews of recent exhibitions devoted to the drawings of Käthe Kollwitz, Picasso, and Walton Ford.

This quarter opens with a fascinating analysis of a rare and monumental design for a sacrament house attributed to the Late-Gothic German architect Lorenz Lechler followed by an insightful essay on a new addition to the corpus of drawings by Pietro Perugino: a preparatory study for two figures in the middle section of the “Baptism of Christ” in the Sistine Chapel.

The 2025 Ricciardi Prize winner presents research into a watercolor rendering of three insects, including an iridescent beetle, assigning the drawing to the seventeenth-century Dutch natural history artist Pieter Holsteyn II. An article attributing three drawings to the eighteenth-century vedutista Giuseppe Valeriani demonstrates that they are preparatory for an important series of etched views of Venice.

In the final essay, an exquisite pastel by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (featured on our cover) is brought to light. It had never been reproduced and its whereabouts had remained a mystery since the late 19th century.

Four exhibition and catalogue reviews complete this diverse issue:
• “Italian Renaissance Drawings from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen” is deftly explored.
• A poignant overview of MoMA’s exhibition and catalogue “Käthe Kollwitz” is presented.
• “Picasso: Drawing Without End” at the Centre Pompidou is examined in one of our most in-depth reviews.
• A thoughtful analysis is presented of the exhibition “Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio” at The Morgan Library & Museum.

Subscribe now and peruse online before receiving your mailed journal. Access to our platform is FREE with your individual subscription. https://masterdrawings.org/subscribe/

(Cover image: Jean-Baptiste Greuze, “Study for the Head of the Young Bride,”, Musée Angladon, Avignon)

09/01/2025

Join the curators behind the years-long traveling exhibition “Reimagining Revolution, Reform, and Restoration,” for enlightening presentations and a panel discussion about the French drawings from the Horvitz Collection. Organized by our partner, The Drawing Foundation, in partnership with the Crocker Art Museum, it takes place on Saturday, September 13 at 2pm at the museum in Sacramento.

Sarah Farkas, the Crocker’s Associate Curator of Art, will be joined by curators who worked closely on the different iterations of the exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, NC and the Art Institute of Chicago. Attendees are encouraged to view the Crocker’s exhibition “Reform to Restoration: French Art from Louis XVI to Louis XVII from the Horvitz Collection” which closes on Sunday, September 14. The event is free for Crocker members and free with admission for nonmembers. Advance registration is suggested. Go to https://www.crockerart.org/events/3922/reform-to-restoration-panel

(Image: Joseph-Marie Vien, “Love Giving the Prize,” pen with black ink and brush with brown wash on off-white laid paper, The Horvitz Collection, Wilmington)

08/31/2025

“American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection,” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., features works on paper dating from 1800 to 1991 reflecting watercolor’s journey from practical use to recognized fine art in America. Showing diverse artistic styles, this installation, on view until February 1, 2026, is organized into four groupings: sights associated with the Washington, DC, area; the rivers, waterfalls, and ocean views of New England; Western views of Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the California coast; and studies of plants and the natural world.

(Image: Winslow Homer, “Hudson River, Logging, 1891-1892,” watercolor over graphite on wove paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

08/27/2025

“Damien Hirst Drawings,” at the Albertina Modern in Vienna, showcases the artist’s creative processes from early sketches to conceptual designs. On view until October 12, the images, many of which were produced in preparation for Hirst’s pioneering works, are shown together with a selection of related sculptures and paintings.

A major highlight of the exhibition is Hirst’s ambitious project “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable,” which blurs the line between reality and fiction while questioning the credibility of art and historical narratives. Additionally, the exhibition features Hirst’s “Making Beautiful Drawings” installation. This unique work employs a custom-built drawing machine that creates artworks using a spinning disc onto which colors are applied. Visitors to the museum have the opportunity to create their own works of art and experience the artistic process firsthand.
(Image: Damien Hirst, “Untitled (Tiger Shark in Tank),” pencil on paper, photographed by Stephen White © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved/ Bildrecht, Vienna 2025)

08/25/2025

“Emily Sargent: Portrait of a Family,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, spotlights watercolors by John Singer Sargent’s younger sister. Intended as a complement to the summer’s earlier exhibition “Sargent and Paris,” this celebrates the recent gift—from the artists’ heirs—of 26 Emily Sargent watercolors, making their debut appearance.

The exhibit takes a close look at the siblings’ art, as well as work by their mother Mary Newbold Sargent. It explores how paths diverged for daughter and son, revealing the challenges women artists faced in the late 19th century. You can see these beautiful watercolors until March 8, 2026,

(Image: Emily Sargent, “Garden Scene with Building, Villa Varramista,” watercolor, graphite, and wax resist on paper, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

08/23/2025

“The Viennese Bohème: Works from the Hagen Society,” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna, is the first exhibition of portraits and caricatures from a donation of 800 drawings given to the museum by a group of Viennese artists including Josef Engelhardt, Adolf Böhm, Rudolf Bacher, Johann Victor Krämer, and Carl Müller. The works, on view until October 12, include images of Viennese characters, dream-landscapes, and drawings that foreshadow “the Secession,” an art movement closely associated with Art Nouveau.

(Image: Carl Müller, “Inside the forest, December 1896,” watercolor, opaque paints, Albertina Museum, Vienna)
# viennesebohème

08/18/2025

“Werner Tübke: Metamorphoses,” at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, spotlights a collection of forty-six drawings and watercolors by the twentieth-century artist, spanning all his creative phases. Tübke is considered one of the main representatives of the so-called First Leipzig School, a1960s art movement developed within the Leipzig art scene. His work, on view until September 28, often contains multi-layered compositions, and is characterized by imaginative fantasy.

(Image: Werner Tübke, Burial in the wintery Tien Shan Mountains, watercolor over graphite,
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2024)

08/12/2025

“Raphael to Cozens: Drawings from the Richard Payne Knight Bequest,” at the British Museum in London, marks the first time that a representative selection of this important gift of over a thousand drawings has been displayed since its arrival at the institution in 1824. The exhibition, on view until September 14, explores the breadth of Payne Knight's intellectual interests through some of the most celebrated works from the bequest. Drawings by Renaissance and Baroque painters like Raphael, Michelangelo and Claude Lorrain are shown alongside work by the patron’s contemporaries, including Thomas Gainsborough, and John Robert Cozens. Together the drawings reveal Payne Knight's enthusiasm for landscapes and for the romance of the classical past, as well as his admiration for the verve and spontaneity of the artists whose works he bought.

(Image: Raphael, “Drapery Study and Three Hands,” pen and brown ink, British Museum, London)

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