OMNP is finding galleries to be clearly outgunning the auction houses for this year’s crop of works for sale at Old Master Drawings Week in New York. Among the highlights below, we see the flair that Delacroix had for equine subjects, in “A Bugler on Horseback, Accompanied by a Hound,” being exhibited by Stephen Ongpin. Delacroix’s frenetic lines investigate a frozen moment of contradiction in a creature that is physically imposing, yet psychologically feeble.
It’s also hard not to be a fan of two works by artists overshadowed by all-time greatness. Sebald Beham was a German printmaker who had the artistic misfortune of having to reconcile with the gigantic impact of Albrecht Durer, whose work had come a generation before. As an important member of the “Little Masters,” a group of engravers who followed in Durer’s wake, Beham was obviously indebted to the man from a stylistic standpoint (moreover for the fact that he plagiarized an unpublished Durer study of horses, for which he was banished from his hometown of Nuremburg in 1528) Yet as we can see in an intricate a Putti also being exhibited by Mr. Ongpin, originality does not detract from the man’s skill.
John Martin’s art historical reputation as a British Romantic has not suffered from such ignominy, or even from a complete lack of recognition. While the man took obvious cues from J.M.W Turner, depictions of the sublime and vast wilderness like “The Last Man” are usually inserted into Art History 101 courses. A great example of a recurring theme of man’s mortality and solitude amidst such vast and melancholy landscape can be seen in “Moonlit Chepstow Castle ,” a watercolor being exhibited by dealer Andrew Wyld.
Selected works are below. For more information, visit www.masterdrawingsinnewyork.com
- Eugene Delacroix, “A Bugler on Horseback, Accompanied by a Hound,” Pencil, grey and brown wash, with watercolour and gouache, 208 x 255 mm. (8 1/8 x 10 in.), courtesy Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, exhibiting at Mark Murray Fine Paintings, 39 East 72nd Street, Suite 4c, New York, NY 10021
- Sebald Beham, Recto: “A Putto Beside a Flaming Urn” Verso: “Four Studies of Men’s Heads,” Pen and black ink. 149 x 158 mm. (5 7/8 x 6 1/4 in.), courtesy Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, exhibiting at Mark Murray Fine Paintings, 39 East 72nd Street, Suite 4c, New York, NY 10021
- Sebald Beham, Recto: “A Putto Beside a Flaming Urn” Verso: “Four Studies of Men’s Heads,” Pen and black ink. 149 x 158 mm. (5 7/8 x 6 1/4 in.), courtesy Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, exhibiting at Mark Murray Fine Paintings, 39 East 72nd Street, Suite 4c, New York, NY 10021
- Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, “Study of a Soldier and of an old Man,” Pen and brown ink and wash, 255 x 182 mm; 10 x 7 1/4 inches, courtesy Thomas Williams Fine Art Ltd., exhibiting at, Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
- George Richmond R.A., A Study for two male figures in “Comus- The Measure,” Black chalk, 8 ¼ x 9 ¼ inches (21.6 x 23.3 cm), courtesy W·S Fine Art Ltd. / Andrew Wyld, exhibiting at Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
- Francesco Mazzola known as Parmigianino, “Various studies: four of the figures relating to the Massacre of the Innocents and the remaining group representing Hercules slaying the Neamean lion,” Rome, circa 1524-27, Pen and brown wash 154 x 207 mm., Stiebel Ltd., 252 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
- Francois Boucher, “The Adoration of the Magi,” circa 1731, Black chalk, pen and gray ink, gray wash, 5 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches, courtesy Stiebel Ltd., 252 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
- Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, “Caricature of a Man Holding a Three-cornered Hat,” Pen and grey wash on white paper, 8 ¼ x 5 ½ inches, courtesy Stiebel Ltd., 252 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
- Joseph William Mallord Turner R.A., “Storm at Sea,” Watercolour, 7 3/16 x 11 7/16 inches (18.3 x 29.1 cm), courtesy W·S Fine Art Ltd. / Andrew Wyld, exhibiting at Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
John Martin, "Moonlit - Chepstow Castle, " Watercolour, 11 7/16 x 8 ¼ inches (29 x 21 cm), courtesy W·S Fine Art Ltd. / Andrew Wyld, exhibiting at, Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
- John Ruskin, “Study of Boulders,” Watercolour, 5 ¼ x 8 inches (13 x 20 cm.), courtesy W·S Fine Art Ltd. / Andrew Wyld, exhibiting at Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
- Samuel Palmer, “The Broken Bridge,” Watercolour and bodycolour, 15 ¾ x 20 inches (40 x 50.8 cm), Signed “S. Palmer,” courtesy W·S Fine Art Ltd. / Andrew Wyld, exhibiting at Dickinson, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
