From the vaults

WAM unveils 700 years of master drawings

by Leon Nigrosh

MASTER DRAWINGS: 700 YEARS OF INSPIRATION At the Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, through June 21.

EUROPEAN COLOR PRINTS: 1500-1900 At the Worcester Art Museum through June 14.

To celebrate its 100th year, the Worcester Art Museum has gone into the cellar, uncorked its all-but-hidden trove of pristine drawings, and splashed 100 of them over the walls of the Hiatt Gallery. In reality this exhibition has been in the works since 1990 when the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a sizable grant, allowing WAM to thoroughly inspect, catalogue, and conserve its large and unique collection of drawings.

Because of their susceptibility to light and temperature, drawings cannot be displayed for long periods of time. This exhibit provides a rare opportunity to view 100 of the best and most-expressive examples from the WAM collection.

Curator David Acton was involved in researching and evaluating the museum's heretofore incompletely documented holdings. Early on, his most surprising discovery was that WAM's drawing collection consisted not of the 700 or so objects thought to exist -- but, actually, more than 1500 items. Many objects were wrongly identified, others were mistakenly catalogued in the museum's library, and some drawings simply were not catalogued at all.

In order to authenticate the diverse drawings, Acton and the museum's paper conservator, Joan Wright, employed x-ray machines, infra-red cameras, and arcane chemical tests to prove that what they were looking at was really what they were supposed to be seeing. In some cases, the work was discovered to have been incorrectly attributed, the drawing having been made by a student or assistant, and not the master. Other works were found to be duplicates produced by another artist rather than the supposed originals.

Next came the task of choosing which works would be included in the exhibit, or as Acton called them, "the greatest hits.'' He re-examined nearly 1600 sheets, looking for the highest quality examples of style, image, and execution that would best represent the many nations and particular eras of artistic development.

Acton makes the point that while drawings can be produced with pencil on paper, they can also consist of pen and ink, brushwork, chalk, charcoal, pastel, crayon, and watercolor. Drawings can be simple black graphite on white paper; but they can also be made on colored papers, or, using different mediums, they can become brilliantly colored images. (He expands on this line of thinking in the impressive accompanying catalogue, Master Drawings at the Worcester Art Museum, a book that will undoubtedly stand as a valuable resource long after the exhibit is over.) What really differentiates drawing from other artistic pursuits is that, whatever drawing implement and medium the artist chooses, the image is direct and immediate, with every mark original. Unlike painting or printmaking, mistakes are hard to conceal. There is little chance for reworking or glossing over unsatisfactory results. To look at a drawing is to look at the artist's handwriting.

Many artists use drawings as inspiration, to later be transferred or reproduced in their paintings or sculpture. Some artists make process drawings to help solve compositional difficulties in larger works. Artists often employ presentation drawings to show prospective clients what a commissioned work would look like. And since the turn of the century, many artists create drawings as finished works meant to stand on their own merit.

One of the most important and intriguing pieces in the chronologically arranged exhibition is the 15th-century German drawing of Saint George. This recent acquisition consists of a partially completed image of a knight in armor drawn in metalpoint. That the anonymous artist rendered the drawing in such a difficult technique attests to his skill as a draftsman. A drawing in metalpoint, or silverpoint, is accomplished by dragging a sliver of metal across a prepared surface. Tiny metallic particles are deposited on the roughened paper and eventually oxidize into the warm tan color we see. Because this effect occurs over time, the artist cannot completely view the image while at work.

Why the drawing remains unfinished is unknown. It was apparently taken from a 30-inch-tall, German painted and gilded limewood sculpture that was executed shortly before the drawing was made. Whether this was an idea sketch by an armorer or a process drawing made by an artist who never got around to making the painting, by itself it exudes a great deal of endearing charm through the graceful pose and sensitively delineated face. It, like all the other drawings on display, requires close-up viewing to fully appreciate all the nuances of style and technique.

In 1593, the well-known Italian Renaissance painter Francesco Vanni obtained a commission for an altarpiece to be placed in the Siena cathedral. His original presentation drawing, currently on view for the first time in more than 30 years, is executed in black and red chalk. Although the finished work is a highly colored and heavily varnished oil on canvas, this chalk sketch was sufficient to gain the cathedral trustees' vote. We know this because on the reverse is the written contract signed by the artist.

A couple of centuries later, Jean-François Millet made several studies of a scene he witnessed on a visit to his hometown of Gruchy, France. In Bringing Home the Newborn Calf, local farmers are shown returning from the pastures carrying a sickly, newborn calf on a litter. The drawing on exhibit is the most completely detailed version of this scene, the stooped peasants indicate the solemnity of the event. In fact, Millet's finished oil on canvas received some negative criticism at the time for its excessive melodrama, which is certainly not overplayed in the drawing on view.

About 25 years later, British artist Walter John Knewstub produced a series of exquisite watercolors featuring a young model with auburn hair. The finished drawing Lily and Rose catches the girl daydreaming in a rose bower. Not only did Knewstub romanticize the image by including wispy butterflies among the flowers, but by judicious use of dabs of gum arabic he made the petals actually glitter.

As part of the 20th-century portion of the exhibition, Acton has arranged a group of nude drawings made by different artists over a 50-year span. It is interesting to note the ways in which stylistic treatment of similar subjects changed during this time period. Using charcoal on paper, Alexander Archipenko rendered his nude with full volumes suggested by hatch marks of deepening density. George Wesley Bellows executed his Reclining Nude in lithographic crayon and charcoal, imparting a classical pose with an Art Deco aura. Gaston Lachaise, the burly sculptor best-known for his buxom, bronze women, captures the essence of his model with a few deft swipes of green crayon. Pop-art icon Tom Wesselman's pencil sketch Study for Great American Nude #59 is the tongue-in-cheek precursor of his large patriotic red, white, and blue molded plastic illuminated wallworks that dominated the art scene during the mid-'60s.

Drawings often act as a reflection of the times in which they were made. In them we can see examples of societal attitudes toward different classes along with the current trends in fashion. Artists have quickly recorded likenesses of their contemporary and mythological heroes, as well as just plain folks. Through drawings we can also gain a more intimate understanding of the mores and philosophical attitudes prevalent during the artists' lifetimes.

Each of the 100 works in this exhibit has its own look, its own intrinsic value, and its own story. Together they present the viewer with an illuminating dialogue of 700 years of drawing history. Drawings, unlike most painting and sculpture, have a sense of immediacy. We are looking at the artists' personal markings, at a direct link to the soul. We can see the decision-making process as it occurs, and because the artists have opened themselves in this way, we can appreciate the drawings as original and unique works of art.

CONCURRENTLY ON display in WAM's First Floor Hiatt Wing Gallery, is an exhibition of "European Color Prints: 1500-1900," also curated by David Acton. Fifty prints chosen from the museum's permanent collection illustrate the development of European printmaking through 400 years. An informative and well-documented exhibit in its own right, it also complements the "Master Drawings."

Pay particular note to Ugo da Carpi's 1530 print of Diogenes. Most woodcuts use filled-in outlines to make their image. This chiaroscuro woodcut was made without any outline, or "key," block, and needed three separate blocks with different inking to create an image much like the chiaroscuro drawings of Parmigianino and San Friano on display upstairs.

Just last month WAM acquired Cornelis Anthoniszoon's The Last Supper printed in the early 1500s. Based on Luke's description of the Passover preparations, only seven impressions of this detailed chiaroscuro woodcut are known to exist.

British artist George Baxter used 30 engraved woodblocks to gain the subtle color and shading in his 1854 print A Lady Reading a Letter. To bring the entire image to life, he then overprinted the entire page with a highly detailed etched and aquatinted plate inked in black. Because of its popularity, Baxter was well rewarded for using such a painstaking and exacting process in making this romantically engaging print.

The most ambitious print in this exhibition was made in 1792 by Louis Philibert Debucourt. Wanting both to show up his competition and to give his large edition of prints the look of an original watercolor, he employed mezzotint, aquatint, etching, and roulette engraving to create the colorful and complex The Public Promenade, a satiric rebuke of the French aristocracy. Who knew how prophetic this print would be, for just a few months later, many of his subjects met the guillotine. n

The Worcester Art Museum is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 799-4406.