Master Drawings from New York
dal 9/12/2008 al 28/2/2009
Segnalato da
9/12/2008
Master Drawings from New York
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
On display of first-class drawings from the Trecento to the 20th century which are on loan from The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. The exhibition displays 3, large-scale architecture and decoration drawings by the Venetian artist, who pointed the way to Modern Art. Among the other attractions are works on paper by Giovanni Battista and Gian Domenico Tiepolo as well as a splendid drawing by Francesco Guardi from the late 18th century, which shows one of the last great regattas of the Serenissima.
The Pinakothek der Moderne is hosting a display of first-class drawings from the Trecento to the 20th century which are on loan from The Morgan Library & Museum, New York – one of the most acclaimed museums of its kind in the world. For the host, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, the exhibition marks yet another highlight in this celebratory year of its 250th anniversary.
It is of particular importance to the curators of the exhibition to present works that are something special for Munich, ones that are able to amaze not only the wider viewing public but even seasoned aficionados of drawings.
No other museum in the world possesses anywhere near the Morgan collection of drawings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. The exhibition will display three, large-scale architecture and decoration drawings by the Venetian artist, who pointed the way to Modern Art – one of them being the wonderful design for a grand Venetian gondola. Among the other attractions are works on paper by Giovanni Battista and Gian Domenico Tiepolo as well as a splendid drawing by Francesco Guardi from the late 18th century, which shows one of the last great regattas of the Serenissima.
Further treasures by Italian masters include works by Luca Signorelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, the Venetian Tintoretto, Veronese and the great baroque artists Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni and Stefano della Bella. Also among the exhibits is an unusually lively portrait drawing of Scipione Borghese by Gian Lorenzo Bernini – the only life sketch of the great baroque master for one of his grandiose busts.
Other schools, too, are exceptionally well represented: for instance, the Flemish school with Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens and Anthonys van Dyck or the Dutch school with Rembrandt and Jan Lievens, Adriaen van Ostade and Jacob van Ruisdael. The exhibits by old German masters from The Morgan Library & Museum are no less impressive. They include works on paper by Dürer and Altdorfer, Cranach and Breu d. J.
The New York museum has also released treasures from the French School, among them works by Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Antoine Watteau and Hubert Robert. Continuing into the 19th century, the artists represented in the exhibition range from Jacques Louis David and Ingres to Daumier and Degas. As incunabula of modern art, the rare drawings by Georges Seurat will also go on show at the Pinakothek der Moderne. So too, works by the great masters of the 20th century – Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso – alongside Jackson Pollock.
This rich collection of works on paper in The Morgan Library & Museum owes its existence to the entrepreneur and banker John Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913). From 1903 onwards, he took a keen interest in drawings and in 1909 succeeded in purchasing the grandiose collection of Charles Fairfax Murray, which in this sector forms the core of stock in the Morgan Museum to this day. After Pierpont Morgan’s death in 1913 his son, J. P. Morgan, inherited the collection. In 1924, he founded the Pierpont Morgan Library in memory of his father. In 1945, Felice Stampfle was appointed curator with sole responsibility for the drawings. In 1949, the »Association of Fellows« was founded by the then director, Frederick B. Adams, a body which has continued to support the museum ever since. It enjoys funds from such leading patrons as Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw, from whose collection principal works have been released for the Munich exhibition.
The exhibition and catalogue have been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the Deutsche Bank Stiftung.
Pinakothek der Moderne and Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Kunstareal | Barer Straße 29 | 80799 Munich