Raphael: The Drawings
Raphael: The Drawings
The Drawings From The Collection of Howard Hodgkin
Dr. Catherine Whistler and Dr. Bes Thomas with Adam Gnann and Angelamaria Aceto
ISBN 978 1 910807 15 6
Pages:256
Illustrations: 200 color, 10 black and white
Dimensions:11" x 8 1/2"
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ashmolean Museum
In 2020 we commemorate the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death. The publication Raphael: The Drawings from the Ashmolean Museum is an extraordinary resource for understanding this work.
This book accompanied a 'once in a generation' show, the likes of which has not been seen for over 30 years. The sublime Raphael created a specific mode of visual invention and persuasive communication through drawing. For him, drawing was both a conceptual art (including brainstorming sheets) and a practice based on attentive observation (such as drawing from the posed model). Yet Raphael's drawings also reveal that the process of drawing in itself, with its gestural rhythms and spontaneity, can be a form of thought, generating new ideas.
The publication is the result of a collaboration between the Ashmolean and the Albertina. The Ashmolean houses the world's largest and most important collection of the drawings of Raphael, this genius of the Renaissance. The Albertina is the custodian of a major collection, including some of the most beautiful and important of the artist's sketches. The presentation is enhanced by important loans. Taken together, this is an extraordinary resource that transforms understanding of the art of Raphael. The publication and the exhibition it documented is based on new research by Dr. Catherine Whistler of the Ashmolean and Dr. Ben Thomas from the University of Kent, in collaboration with Dr Achim Gnann of the Albertina.
Here we see how the concept of eloquence is the underlying structure in the drawings. Oratory runs as a linking thread in Raphael's drawings, which stand out for the importance given to the study of gestures, facial expressions, and drapery. Raphael treated the expressive figure of the orator -- poet, philosopher, muse, apostle, saint or sibyl -- in fascinating and significant ways throughout his life.
The drawings span the entire career of the artist, encompassing major projects and exploring his visual language from inventive ideas to full compositions. The extraordinary range of works transforms our understanding of his art and shows the fascinating and significant ways he used drawing throughout his life, creating a specific mode of visual invention and persuasive communication through drawing.
Dr. Catherine Whistler is Keeper of the Western Art Department, Ashmolean Museum, and author of 11 publications. Dr. Ben Thomas is Head of the Centre for Art History and Visual Cultures, University of Kent.
Review: “Throughout the catalogue, the drawings – organised chronologically and reproduced in full colour – are wondrously described in microscopic detail, allowing the reader to navigate the intricate forms and cursory marks found in the objects themselves. These descriptions are weaved into proposed itineraries which detail how Raphael may have started with one drawing and evolved his compositions across the page into another, sometimes rotating the page or turning it over. Particularly exciting are the anecdotes to the pace and pressure of certain drawings: some are quickly drawn, some are lightly drawn, and sometimes he recharged his pen momentarily. There is a great sense of immediacy in each account as if one were seeing Raphael’s hand at work in real-time. Whilst nothing can ever compare to seeing these exquisite drawings in the flesh, Raphael: The Drawings is a necessary contribution to the existing art-historical literature on the artist”