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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, whenever he depicted groups of figures conversing with each other. Drawings by Antoine Watteau, Jean-Honore Fragonard, and Gabriel de Saint-Aubin are among the many from eighteenth-century France.This volume is the ninth to be published in a projected series of sixteen that will catalogue the entire Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. It discusses all 140 drawings at length, placing each in its art historical setting and complementing the discussion with comparative illustrations of related works.
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About the author
Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann is John Langeloth Loeb Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Mary Tavener Holmes is an independent scholar specializing in eighteenth-century French paintings and drawings. Fritz Koreny is Curator of Early German and Netherlandish Drawings and Prints, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, and Professor of Art History, Vienna University. Donald Posner is Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Fine Arts and Deputy Director, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
Summary
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 140 drawings, placing each in its art historical setting and complementing it with comparative illustrations of related works.
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"This is an elegantly designed and beautifully and generously illustrated book. . . . It is an exceedingly informative volume and can be welcomed as an invaluable contribution to literature."
