FEBRUARY 4–APRIL 29, 2007
Drawing from Nature
Drawing in the open air was an important element in Claude's creative process. During the 1630s and 1640s, he made a vast number of studies directly from nature, in which he recorded details of the landscape around Rome. He would refer to these drawings when painting his finished canvases in his studio. Drawing—and, supposedly, making oil sketches—in the open was a relatively new practice in European art, which Claude pursued with particular enthusiasm. His studies of nature remain his most innovative and appealing drawings.
By Richard Rand
The book presents some of Claude's most remarkable drawings—including all aspects of his style and subject matter, from informal outdoor sketches of trees, rivers, and ruins to formal presentation drawings and elaborate compositional designs for paintings—many of which have never before been reproduced in color. A detailed and scholarly essay places them within the social and cultural contexts of their time and includes comparative illustrations of paintings and etchings to situate them within the artist's oeuvre.
228 pages, 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches
137 color illustrations
Published by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in association with Yale University Press