Guercino: Virtuoso Draftsman

Guercino: Virtuoso Draftsman offers a comprehensive exploration of the artist’s graphic work, ranging from his early genre studies and caricatures, the dense and dynamic preparatory studies for his paintings, and to the highly finished chalk drawings and landscapes that were ends in themselves.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (1591–1666), was arguably the most interesting and diverse draftsman of the Italian Baroque era, a natural virtuoso who created brilliant drawings in a broad range of media. Although a painter by trade, he was dedicated to the craft of drawing as a means for examining a subject, testing ideas, and finding inspiration.

Accompanying an exhibition of drawings from the collection of the Morgan Library & Museum, written by John Marciari, Charles W. Engelhard Curator and Department Head of Drawings and Prints at the Morgan, this catalogue features an introductory essay on Guercino’s work as a draftsman followed by entries on the twenty-five drawings by the artist in the museum’s collection.

In the press:
"Small, scholarly book . . . John Marciari writes meticulously."
—The Art Newspaper

Published by the Morgan Library & Museum in association with Paul Holberton Publishing

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