Saturday, November 5, 2016

Guercino's "pure naturalism of the basest kind"

Guercino
Lucretia
early 1640s
drawing
Minneapolis Institute of Arts

"... Guercino, according to our knowledge, made no use of ancient models, nor does he seem to quote works of the High Renaissance ..." 

" .... unlike Caravaggio and Reni, Guercino never tried to achieve a meticulous rendering of surfaces ..."

"It is painted in that style of his, with colors and manner that always lacked a certain decorum and suitable nobility; and his figures lack attractive attitudes or well-designed draperies. Instead, he always adopted his own pure naturalism, but it was of the basest kind."

– opinions about the works of Guercino from a range of voices reprinted in Captured Emotions : Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725 (Getty Museum, 2008)

Thousands of Guercino's drawings survive. His distinctive graphic style was both popular with collectors and easy to imitate. Therefore, many early forgeries and/or copies also exist. Curators and connoisseurs claim firm attributions for the drawings gathered here.

Guercino
Lucretia
1640
drawing
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

Guercino
Woman and Child
17th century
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Standing Draped Woman
ca. 1635-45
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Old Man Scowling
1630s-1640s
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
St John the Evangelist Meditating on the Gospel
1645-50
drawing
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

Guercino
Boy in Large Hat
1630s-1640s
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Hercules
1641-42
drawing
Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Guercino
Old bearded man with turban
ca. 1645-50
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Man in profile
17th century
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Triumph of David
1636-37
drawing
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Guercino
Study for Martyrdom of St Bartholomew
1635-36
drawing
Princeton University Art Museum

Guercino
Astrological Subject
1640s
drawing
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Guercino
Assembly of Learned Men
ca. 1625-27
drawing
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Guercino
Angel in flight
ca. 1648
drawing
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford