The Morgan Library and Museum houses one of the finest and most renowned drawing collections in the world. This publication accompanies the exhibition by the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München in the Pinakothek der Moderne and shows 100 master drawings from the 15th to the 20th century.
Ranging from elaborate tableaux sketches to spontaneous studies, the books holds a rich spectrum of drawings picked, as the most distinguished, from the vast Morgan collection. Techniques evident in the anthology include silver-point, chalk, pen and watercolour, all of which are sublimely demonstrated by the European masters.
The interesting history of the Morgan collection parallels many of the pieces, including purchases made by the renowned Banker John Pierpoint Morgan (1837-1923), as early as 1909, and some remarkable gifts to and acquisitions by the Library after its public inception in 1924. Masters include the 15th and 16th century virtuosos Tintoretto, Fra Bartolomeo, Parmigianino, del Sarto and Reni, the Spaniards El Greco and Herrera, exponents of the Dutch tradition, from Heemskerck, Rubens and Jordaens to Van Rijn and Lievens, as well as the Germans Strigel, Dürer, Cranach the Elder and Breu the Younger. 17th and 18th century works include those of Poussin, Watteau, Tiepolo Canaletto and Piranesi, while the 19th and 20th centuries are well-represented by the likes of Goya, Ingres, Corot, Degas, Mondrian, Klee Picasso and Pollock.