ITALIAN DRAWINGS IN THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO by Harold Joachim; Suzanne FoldsMcCullagh; THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, ITALIAN DRAWINGS OF THE 15TH, 16TH, and17TH CENTURIES by Harold Joachim; THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, ITALIAN DRAWINGSOF THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES AND SPANISH DRAWINGS OF THE 17TH THROUGH 19THCENTURIES by Harold JoachimReview by: Jack Perry BrownARLIS/NA Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 4/5 (SUMMER 1980), p. 147Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27946363 .

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A RUS/NA Newsletter, Summer ?980 147

Artists. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974; Burg, David F. Chicago's White City of 1893. Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1976.

Katharine Ratzenberger NCFA/NPG

ITALIAN ART OF THE PAST Joachim, Harold and Suzanne Folds McCullagh. ITALIAN DRAWINGS IN THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHI CAGO. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1979.

202p., illus., bibliog. LC 78-31088 ISBN 0-226-40013-1 (0-226 40015-8 pap.) $37.50 hardcover; $12.50 paper.

Joachim, Harold. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, ITALIAN DRAW INGS OF THE 15TH, 16TH, and 17TH CENTURIES. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1979. 191 p., illus.,

bibliog. 6 color fiche (440 photographs) (Chicago Visual Library) LC 79-14276 ISBN 0-226-68801-1 $80.00.

Joachim, Harold. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, ITALIAN DRAW INGS OF THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES AND SPANISH DRAWINGS OF THE 17TH THROUGH 19TH CENTURIES. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1980. 95p., illus., bibliog. 3 color fiche (199 photographs) (Chicago Visual Library) LC 79-19721 ISBN 0-226-68803-8 $40.00.

These volumes are part of a project which plans to publish the

extensive drawing collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Italian drawings are the subject of three publications: a printed catalog with scholarly annotations featuring 160 highlights of the collection up through the eighteenth century, and two text-fiche volumes reproducing around 600 of the drawings with minimal annotations.

The Italian drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago are far more

problemmatic than the internationally known French drawing collection. The bulk of the Italian drawings, when received as a

large gift in 1922, included a great range of quality and many incorrect attributions. Under the guidance of Harold Joachim, curator of prints and drawings since 1958, many of the gaps have been filled in. However, the collection still does not have any

drawings by the masters of the High Ranaissance, Leonardo, Titian, or Raphael. In the seventeenth century, major artists such as Annibale Carracci are not represented. But among the eight eenth-century drawings there are a number of delightful sketches

by Piazzetta, the two Tiepolos, and others. Also, works by a

number of lesser-known artists have been placed in an historical context by their objective treatment in these publications.

In the printed catalog, Suzanne Folds McCullagh's carefully researched entries provide the basis for linking selected drawings to

those in other collections. A variety of types of drawings are

illustrated?from first sketches to modellos. McCullagh's intro duction recounts stylistic developments in Italian drawing from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, although significant examples of these developments are not always represented in the collection. The catalog entries wisely avoid excessive stylistic analysis in favor of objective descriptions of the drawings' content and format. One minor inconvenience in using the catalog is created by the printing of references in full in the text except for the dates of publication; for these one must turn to an alphabetically arranged bibliography at the end.

The fiche volumes include all the works discussed in detail in the printed catalog among the six hundred drawings illustrated. Here the emphasis is on the color reproductions, accompanied only by a

small catalog with brief factual descriptions of each work. The fiche medium is well suited for enhancing our appreciation of the artists' choices of color in paper, ink wash, and pastel. The lumino

sity of the fiche brings out some subtleties of tone. H owever, lack of

sharp resolution in the fiche (or possibly in the Bell and Howell viewer I was using with room lights on) obscure the images of some

fine line ink sketches by Vasari, later work of G.B. Tiepolo, and others. After all, if drawings is disegno, or linear design, we should be able to see the outlines. Nevertheless, with color printing luxury these days, the fiche reproductions are the closest thing to

examining the nuances of shades and tones in the drawings them selves.

The relationship between the three publications is somewhat un

clear. Even the titles are confusingly similar, failing to indicate the different content of these works. The printed catalog stands on its own as a publication, and will be preferred by smaller libraries. The fiche catalogs, on the other hand, cannot be fully utilized by the specialist without the scholarly entries in the printed catalog. At a cost of $80.00 for the fiche set of drawings throught the seven teenth century, and an additional $40.00 for the eighteenth

century drawings included with other works, it seems unfortunate that the fiche catalogs could not include the scholarly text as well.

Certainly the fiche volumes will be acquired only by more special ized art libraries.

Pignatti, Terisio. THE GOLDEN CENTURY OF VENETIAN PAINTING. Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in assoc. with

George Braziller, cl979. Hardcover ed. distrib. through George Braziller. I73p., illus., bibliog. notes. LC 79-17412 ISBN 0-8706 0935-8 (0-87587-088-0 pap.) $30.00 hardcover; $8.95 paper.

This is the catalog of an exhibition held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from October 30, 1979, to January 27, 1980. It was, as its organizers state, "the first comprehensive

exhibit of Venetian Renaissance painting in this country." Although the exhibit unfortunately did not travel to other museums, we can still enjoy the astonishing quantity of very fine color plates reproduced in this catalog.

According to the catalog's preface, the exhibit sought to display "paintings not seen or reproduced in this country." Works such as Titian's Man With the Giove and Portrait of Paul HI were bor rowed from European museums, churches, and private collections. Even more impressive is the gathering together of Venetian Renais sance paintings now in the U.S, many of which had not been exhibited outside of their own collections.

An introductory essay by Terisio Pignatti provides a concise overview of developments in the "golden century" of Venetian coloristic painting, the sixteenth century. The essay does not neces

sarily fulfill the definition implied by its title, "The Venetianness of Venetian Painting," however. Biographical material and a descrip tion of the paintings follow, arranged chronologically by artist. The organizers of the exhibit hoped that "presented as a succession of individual artists...[the exhibition] nevertheless reveals the

sequence of artistic and intellectual crises and resolutions that make the history of sixteenth century Venetian painting...intensely dramatic." This thesis is, at best, only implied by the selection and

arrangement of the paintings in the catalog as there is no linking structure between the individual entries.

As Director Emeritus of the City Museums of Venice, and author off several catalogues raisonnes on Venetian Renaissance

painters (Giorgione, Bellini, and Veronese), Terisio Pignatti has lent authority.to the selection of paintings and authorship of the

catalog. It is difficult to tell whether Pignatti is responsible forali the material in the catalog, but he does seem to be responsible for all of the new attributions and datings.

The catalog is very attractively designed. In fact, it looks more like a pictorial survey than a catalog. The text is arranged with

general material leading to more specific data; all bibliographic references and technical descriptions of the works are found at the end. Even the entries are arranged in an attractive, legible fashion on the page. The cost of the catalog is well worth the fifty-six color plates. Because of its illustrations and layout, this catalog will be an attractive addition to large public library collections. Academic institutions will want to acquire it as visual documentation of an

important exhibit bringing together Venetian paintings from this country and abroad.

Virginia M. Ken

University of Illinois/Chicago Circle

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