Drawings and Watercolours in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection - by Manuela Fidalgo (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

For the first time in book form, this is the collection of drawings and watercolors amassed by Calouste Gulbenkian. Such works are rarely put on display, being kept away from the public eye, and are therefore less well-known.

In keeping with an editorial strategy that aims to bring to public attention all of the various groups of works belonging to the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, a book devoted to its drawings and watercolors has been published. Featuring texts by Manuela Fidalgo, who worked as a curator at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum until her retirement, this edition is the product of several years of thorough research underpinned by technical and scientific rigor and the involvement of several international experts in the art of drawing.

This publication therefore plays an essential part in raising awareness of one of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum's least-well known collections, which includes works produced in the main centers of European art (France, Holland, Flanders, England and Italy) between the 16th and early 20th centuries by great masters such as Dürer, Watteau, Boucher, Turner and Sargent, among others. This book also gives us a clearer picture of Calouste Gulbenkian's artistic sensibility as a collector: despite claiming not to be attracted to drawing, the beauty and quality of the works brought together here were such that he could not resist purchasing them.

About the Author

Since the 1980's until she retired in 2014, the curator of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Manuela Fidalgo, was responsible for keeping, studying and making the collections of graphic documents widely available, which include printed and illuminated European books, prints, watercolours and drawings. She was also responsible for several exhibitions at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum such as Designing the Décor in 2005-6 and Drawings and Watercolours in 2014.