calendario eventi  :: 

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2/5/2011

Two exhibitions

National Gallery of Art, Washington

Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection: 1525-1835
curated by Margaret Morgan Grasselli

Splendors of Italian draftsmanship from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, spanning the late Renaissance to the height of the neoclassical movement, will be showcased at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. On view in the Gallery's West Building from May 8 to November 27, 2011, Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1525–1835 will include 65 stunning Italian compositions and study sheets by the most important artists of the period, from Giulio Romano and Pellegrino Tibaldi to Canaletto, all three members of the Tiepolo family, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

In 2007, the National Gallery of Art acquired 185 German and Italian works from the Ratjen Collection—one of the finest private European holdings of old master drawings—with the help of 12 generous private donors as well as the Paul Mellon Fund and the Patrons' Permanent Fund.

"We are delighted to celebrate the second part of the Gallery's acquisition of this exceptional group of German and Italian drawings formed by the great European collector Wolfgang Ratjen," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "The Italian portion of the collection is an assemblage of works of beauty and power. Italian drawings were in fact Ratjen's first love, and he worked on this part of his collection with attentive care throughout his years as a collector."

Wolfgang Ratjen formed his Italian collection of drawings over a period of about 25 years. He grew up with two that had been acquired by his family during his youth—works by Guercino and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo—and he began collecting himself in the early-1970s. He purchased his last Italian drawing, by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, in July 1997.

Ratjen's collection of Italian drawings is best described as a group of single outstanding works, including famous artists as well as artists of lesser renown. For a select few—such as Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Guercino, and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo—he acquired multiple sheets that conveyed different facets of the artists' styles or represented a variety of media used.

Organized chronologically throughout three galleries, the exhibition will present works that span three centuries, from the last flowering of the Renaissance around 1530 to the height of neoclassicism in the early 19th century. The works represent a dynamic range of techniques, including quick pen and ink sketches, finely nuanced chalk studies, and highly finished brush drawings.

Early works of special importance include the complex mythological composition The Banquet of Acheloüs (c. 1545) by Luca Penni, a follower of Raphael who played a key role in the development of French mannerism at the School of Fontainebleau in the 1530s and 1540s; a powerfully sculptural Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (c. 1546) by the Bolognese painter Pellegrino Tibaldi; and the enchanting watercolor A Marmot with a Branch of Plums (1605) by Jacopo Ligozzi, who had once served as court artist to the Medici family in Florence.

The exhibition will reveal many of the stylistic characteristics found in the most prominent artistic centers of Italy, such as Florence, Rome, Bologna, and Naples. The ensemble of drawings by Venetian artists is the richest and most varied, ranging from a pair of color sketches for a mural by Domenico Tintoretto (1598/1605) to a playful depiction of rampaging elephants by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (c. 1791).

The most impressive and best known work in the Ratjen collection is The "Giovedì Grasso" Festival before the Ducal Palace in Venice (1763/1766) by Canaletto, an extravagantly beautiful drawing of the celebration of "Fat Thursday" on the Piazzetta in Venice. This masterpiece embodies the kind of perfect expression of a draftsman's achievement that Ratjen worked so diligently to represent in his collection, and also serves as the brilliant culmination to his own accomplishments as a collector.

Wolfgang Ratjen
Wolfgang Ratjen (1943–1997), one of the most discerning collectors of the 20th century, was born to a banking family in Berlin, but moved as an infant with his parents to Liechtenstein. While at university, his love for classical music was followed by a passion for old master drawings. That passion, he once said with his characteristic humor, was "the most wonderful disease you can imagine," and it led him to become a professional collector. Ratjen pursued art-historical knowledge as well as connoisseurship, and with remarkable objectivity refined his collection throughout his life, frequently upgrading or replacing works with better ones. After Ratjen's sudden death in 1997, the collection was cared for by the Ratjen Foundation in Liechtenstein, from which the Gallery acquired it in 2007.

Prints, Drawings, and Illustrated Books at the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery's collection of prints, drawings, and illustrated books in the department of prints and drawings consists of more than 100,000 Western European and American works on paper and vellum, dating from the 11th century to the present day. Because works on paper are highly susceptible to overexposure to light, they can be exhibited only for short periods. For that reason, the Gallery maintains a schedule of changing exhibitions drawn from its own collection or on loan from other institutions and private individuals. Drawings and prints not on view may be seen by appointment by calling (202) 842-6380.

Curator and Exhibition Catalogue
The exhibition curator is by Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator and head of the department of old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Published by the National Gallery of Art in association with Paul Holberton publishing, London, the exhibition catalogue was written by Hugo Chapman, British Museum and David Lachenmann, Stiftung Ratjen, with Grasselli's assistance. The 170-page fully illustrated hardcover catalogue includes 131 color illustrations and is available for purchase in the Gallery Shops in May.

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The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms

The astonishing dexterity and passion for detail of American printmaker John Taylor Arms (1887–1953) is revealed in the first exhibition of his works at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. On view in the West Building from May 8 to November 27, 2011, The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms features some 60 prints, drawings, and copperplates that span the artist's career, from his early New York series to his finest images of cathedrals.

The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art.

"While some American artists of the period (such as John Sloan and Edward Hopper) advocated a gritty realism and others (including John Marin and Stuart Davis) explored the possibilities offered by modernist abstraction, John Taylor Arms paid homage to the past," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, Washington. "We are delighted to present these works from our collection paired with promised gifts as well as with other works on loan."

Exhibition and Artist Background

Born in Washington, DC, Arms began his career as an architect in New York, but by 1919 he had dedicated himself solely to printmaking. He adapted the meticulous drafting skills required for his architectural practice to the execution of finely wrought prints. Arms devoted many years of European travel and study to rendering architecture and is best known for his print series based on particular places or subjects, including gargoyles, French churches, New York, England, and Italy. Organized thematically, The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms features selections from his major series of prints along with independently conceived works.

Gothic art and architecture stirred the imagination of Arms, whose earliest Gothic subjects were stone gargoyles that he admired while traveling in France. They are seen in Guardians of the Spire (1921) and A Devil of Notre Dame (1929). Not all of his prints depict Gothic subjects, but all reflect the spirit of an artist whose intense devotion to craftsmanship echoed an association with medieval artisans. Arms would often share his own creative process through technical demonstrations and lectures, and numerous works in the exhibition offer insight into his practice. Drawings and tracings are juxtaposed with associated prints that not only reveal his masterful handling of line but also document the intricate and painstaking craft Arms employed.

Arms began his New York Series in 1916, when he was still a practicing architect in the city, and he continued to work on it after his return from WW I. The series reflects his rapid development as a draftsman, moving from a loose, sketchy style to the polished refinement for which he became known. For subjects he gravitated toward structures whose style and ornamentation were expressions of Gothic revival, such as the Woolworth Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, seen in An American Cathedral (1921) and The Gates of the City (1922).

A frequent visitor to France, Arms undertook the ambitious plan to document the country's churches and cathedrals. He worked on the series for nearly 30 years, from 1924 to 1953, producing a total of 55 prints. They represent some of the largest and most dramatic images of his career, such as Lace in Stone, Rouen Cathedral (1927), as well as some of the tiniest and most intimate, as in the miniature Black and White, Trébrivan (1953).

Between 1925 and 1935, Arms made a series of etchings of subjects he observed during his trips to Italy. With its medieval buildings and variations on Gothic architecture, Venice provided ample inspiration, and Arms' enthusiasm for the city sparked some of the most successful works of his career, including Venetian Mirror (1935). The prints in the English Series were created between 1937 and 1952. They focus on rural settings and feature picturesque villages and parish churches, as in the church seen in Lavenham, England (1939).

A sailor during World War I, Arms retained a great love of the sea and ships. His suite of four etchings depicting naval warships was commissioned by the Bureau of Ships in Washington and sold on navy bases during and after World War II. Destroyers in Wet Basin (1943) features the USS Radnor, USS Quick, and USS Mervine in the construction pool of the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in South Kearny, New Jersey.

At the time of the artist's death in October 1953, the copper etching plate "La Trinité," Vendôme was a work in progress. According to Arms' records, he spent nearly 220 hours scratching the design through an acid-resistant hardground with a fine-gauge sewing needle set into a wooden handle. Although the image was catalogued as the final work in the artist's French Church Series, no prints from the plate have been discovered to date.

Arms' studio guest book is also on view. It was signed by such visitors as Helen Keller and the artists Reginald Marsh and F. Luis Mora. The book includes many drawings. Among those being shown are a cartoon figure by Robert Lawson; a sketch of George Washington pointing to John Taylor Arms by Kerr Eby; and Samuel Chamberlain's drawing of buildings and wine bottles. Prints by Chamberlain, Eby, and Gerald Geerlings, who also signed the guest book, are exhibited as well.

The Collection of John Taylor Arms at the National Gallery of Art

The Gallery's first prints and drawings by Arms came as part of founding benefactor Lessing J. Rosenwald's donation of works in 1943. Subsequent donations were made by Addie Burr Clark, John Davis Hatch, and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner. Three of Arms' greatest prints, The Gates of the City, Venetian Filigree (Ca' d'Oro Venetia), and Venetian Mirror, along with corresponding drawings, are partial and promised gifts to the Gallery from Judy and Leo Zickler. A key work, West Forty-Second Street, Night, was acquired for the Gallery by the Donald and Nancy de Laski Fund. Other gifts of prints by Arms have come as a bequest from the artist's grandson, John Taylor Arms IV; as part of the Reba and Dave Williams Collection; and as gifts and promised gifts from David F. Wright.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:
Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

Image: Canaletto
The "Giovedì Grasso" Festival before the Ducal Palace in Venice, 1763/1766
pen and brown ink with gray wash over graphite and red chalk, heightened with white gouache
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Paul Mellon Fund, 2007

Press preview Tuesday, May 3, at 9 a.m.
Open to the public from May 8, 2011

National Gallery of Art
National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW - Washington
open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1.
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public

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