Fragonard

Fragonard
Author: Perrin Stein
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2016
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1588396010

One of the most forward-looking artists of the eighteenth century, Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was a virtuoso draftsman whose works on paper count among the great achievements of his time. This book showcases Fragonard's mastery and experimentation in a range of media, from vivid red chalk to luminous brown wash, as well as etching, watercolor, and gouache. With essays that focus on the role of drawing in his creative process and provide a modern reevaluation of his graphic work, the book offers fresh perspectives on this innovative and independent artist, who began his career in the Rococo era but lived through and adapted to changing times in France, and who chose to leave the more defined path of official patronage in order to work for private clients. Unlike many earlier painters who used drawings primarily as preparatory tools, Fragonard explored their potential as works of art in their own right, ones that permitted him to work with great freedom and allowed his genius to shine. The 100 featured works come from New York collections, public and private, balancing a mix of well-loved masterpieces, new discoveries, and works that have long been out of the public eye. Fragonard: Drawing Triumphant illuminates the approach of a ceaselessly inventive artist whose draftsmanship was at the core of his remarkable body of work.

Chippendale's Director: A Manifesto of Furniture Design

Chippendale's Director: A Manifesto of Furniture Design
Author: Morrison H. Heckscher
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2018-05-14
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 1588396479

Published to coincide with the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Chippendale, England’s most famous cabinetmaker, this issue of the Bulletin addresses the history of Chippendale works at The Met. Morrison H. Heckscher recounts the designer’s meteoric rise from rural obscurity to the heights of the London luxury trade, crediting that remarkable success to the publication of the Chippendale Director, an instructive book on furniture design and ornament. The text analyzes the Museum’s rare collection of drawings by Chippendale, revealing a gifted and highly imaginative designer who mastered what today would be called branding. Illustrating a wide selection of the Director drawings alongside furniture inspired by the Director or actually made in Chippendale’s shop, this Bulletin features works of art that attest to the museum’s century-long infatuation with drawing, prints, books, and furniture in the Chippendale style.

Watteau, Music, and Theater

Watteau, Music, and Theater
Author: Antoine Watteau
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2009
Genre: Artists and theater
ISBN: 1588393356

"Accompanying an exhibition in honor of Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, this engaging book examines the influence of music and theater on the art of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). Fifteen major paintings and a number of drawings by Watteau that illustrate the connections between painting and the performing arts in Paris are explored. In addition, drawings and prints by other 18th-century artists featuring musical or theatrical subjects and objects and musical instruments are included."--Publisher description.

The Robert Lehman Collection

The Robert Lehman Collection
Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 410
Release: 1987
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Robert Lehman, one of the foremost art collectors of his generation, embraced traditional and modern masters. This work catalogues 130 nineteenth- and 20th-century paintings that are part of the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. It includes paintings by Ingres, Theodore Rousseau, and Corot among other early 19th-century artists. In addition to a group of early German drawings, this collection includes a Saint Paul from a series associated with Jan van Eyck and the famous Scupstoel from the circle of Rogier van der Weyden. It discusses all drawings, placing each in its art historical setting and complementing it with comparative illustrations of related works.

Extravagant Inventions

Extravagant Inventions
Author: Wolfram Koeppe
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2012
Genre: Design
ISBN: 1588394743

Catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition "Extravagant Inventions: the Princely Furniture of the Roentgens" on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from October 30, 2102, through January 27, 2013.

Daumier Drawings

Daumier Drawings
Author: Colta Feller Ives
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1992
Genre: Caricatures and cartoons
ISBN: 0870996533

By combining Daumier's drawings with selected examples of his paintings, prints, and bronzes, this book traces the evolution of the artist's succinct and emphatically expressive style from its roots in the European tradition exemplified by Rembrandt, Rubens, and Fragonard to its modern manifestations in the works of Degas, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Beckmann. In the course of his long and productive career Daumier returned again and again to favorite themes, often after considerable lapses of time. Thus the works here are grouped by their subject matter into six sections: studies of individual figures and faces; narrative scenes inspired by history or literature; views of contemporary urban and domestic life; dramatic portrayals of lawyers in court; depictions of street performers; and episodes in the wanderings of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Fifteenth- to Eighteenth-century European Drawings

Fifteenth- to Eighteenth-century European Drawings
Author: Egbert Haverkamp Begemann (Kunsthistoriker)
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 490
Release: 1999
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0870999184

"Early European art was a consuming interest of both Robert Lehman and his father, Philip Lehman, an interest reflected in the remarkable number and quality of drawings they owned from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In addition to an important group of early German drawings, the collection includes a "Saint Paul" from a series associated with Jan van Eyck and the famous "Scupstoel" from the circle of Rogier van der Weyden, the only design for a decorative sculpture to survive from the fifteenth century. The great artists of the seventeenth century, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Claude Lorrain, and Rembrandt among them, are also represented, Rembrandt by seven drawings, including the large study of Leonardo's "Last Supper" that would stay in his mind all through his career. Drawings by Antoine Watteau, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Sandby, and George Romney are among the many from eighteenth-century France and England. The volume discusses all 153 drawings at length, placing each in its art historical setting and complementing the discussion with comparative illustrations of related works." This e-book on the MetPublications website is also accompanied by links to related works and under the "Additional resources"tab are links to Met works of art and Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History essays and timelines (viewed May 1, 2014).