From Drawing to Painting: Poussin, Watteau, Fragonard, David, and Ingres

by Pierre Rosenberg

Overview

Unique perspectives from an acclaimed art historian on the relationship between drawing and painting

From Drawing to Painting interweaves biographical information about five renowned French artists—Nicolas Poussin, Antoine Watteau, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Jacques-Louis David, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres—with a fascinating look at dozens of their drawings and the links that they have to their paintings. This book explores drawing as a site of reflection, the space between the idea of a painted image and its realization on canvas.

How, why, and for whom did these artists draw? What value did they place on their drawings? How did their drawings get handed down to us? In what way do they enable us better to understand the artists’ intentions, their creative processes, and to penetrate their worlds? Pierre Rosenberg determines that each artist approached drawing in a distinctive way, reflecting his individual training, work habits, and personal ambitions. For example, Poussin viewed his drawings simply as working documents, Watteau preferred his drawings to his paintings, and Fragonard made a lucrative business selling his graphic work. For David and Ingres, drawing had a considerable pedagogical function, whether in copying the great works of their predecessors or in sharpening their own techniques.

From Drawing to Painting Offers an unprecedented view of the artistic process, and makes an important and beautiful addition to any art library.

Please note: All images in this ebook are presented in black and white and have been reduced in size.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691252919
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Series:	The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts , #35
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Pierre Rosenberg is honorary president of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, where he was director from 1994 to 2001. A member of the Académie Française, he has published extensively on painting and drawing of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and has organized numerous exhibitions throughout the world. His books include Only in America and Chardin.

Table of Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION ix

CHAPTER 1 Five Exceptional Artists 2

CHAPTER 2 The Drawings: Their Histories, Techniques, and Themes 26

CHAPTER 3 Practice and Idea 66

CHAPTER 4 On the Attribution and Dating of the Drawings 96

CHAPTER 5 Drawing and Money 144

CHAPTER 6 Drawing and Design 176

NOTES 211

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 234

INDEX 238

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on a series of lectures given at the National Gallery of Art in 1996, Rosenberg (director, Mus e du Louvre) here focuses on Poussin, Watteau, Fragonard, David, and Ingres, whom he considers the only artists between roughly 1630 and 1860 equally interested in drawing and painting. In doing so, the author shows that the drawings give us a better understanding of these artists' creative processes, as well as how, why, and for whom the artists drew. Beginning with a general introduction to the background and style of each artist's work, Rosenberg discusses what the drawings meant to each artist, who collected them, how drawing fit into the practice of the creation of paintings, and the tricky practice of attributing drawings. Generally, the author does a good job of relating all of this information, although for the most part, the focus is on drawing rather than painting. Most disappointing for a book so object-oriented in its discussion is the absence of color reproductions. Recommended for art libraries and academic libraries that support art history programs.--Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"[A] wonderful, charming and witty book. . . . The scholarship is personable and engaging, yet unobtrusive. A book for everyone, and a model of the unity, and expansiveness, of the art historical enterprise."

Choice

"Rosenberg poses in six chapters a series of basic questions on the nature, function, and connoisseurship of drawings. 'Basic' is, or course, a deceptive word, for the most basic questions can be the most challenging to answer. For general audiences, this book . . . is the equivalent of a tour with a patient guide through terrain that otherwise might be perceived as rarified or inhospitable. . . . For specialists, this volume of synthesis and reflection will prove a useful complement to the weighty compilations of fact and documentation in the catalogues raisonnes. . . . One can hope that younger scholars will be inspired to follow Rosenberg's example and give equal attention to drawing and painting as two sides of the same coin, as, of course, they are."—-Perrin Stein, Master Drawings

From the Publisher

Rosenberg poses in six chapters a series of basic questions on the nature, function, and connoisseurship of drawings. 'Basic' is, or course, a deceptive word, for the most basic questions can be the most challenging to answer. For general audiences, this book . . . is the equivalent of a tour with a patient guide through terrain that otherwise might be perceived as rarified or inhospitable. . . . For specialists, this volume of synthesis and reflection will prove a useful complement to the weighty compilations of fact and documentation in the catalogues raisonnes. . . . One can hope that younger scholars will be inspired to follow Rosenberg's example and give equal attention to drawing and painting as two sides of the same coin, as, of course, they are.

Master Drawings - Perrin Stein

Rosenberg poses in six chapters a series of basic questions on the nature, function, and connoisseurship of drawings. 'Basic' is, or course, a deceptive word, for the most basic questions can be the most challenging to answer. For general audiences, this book . . . is the equivalent of a tour with a patient guide through terrain that otherwise might be perceived as rarified or inhospitable. . . . For specialists, this volume of synthesis and reflection will prove a useful complement to the weighty compilations of fact and documentation in the catalogues raisonnes. . . . One can hope that younger scholars will be inspired to follow Rosenberg's example and give equal attention to drawing and painting as two sides of the same coin, as, of course, they are.
— Perrin Stein

Master Drawings