150 Masterpieces of Drawing (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

This collection, never before published in the United States, presents art from the early fifteenth to the end of the eighteenth centuries. Selected with great care and impeccable taste by a highly respected artist and teacher, these drawings are the finest efforts of great masters of Western art, a rich and glowing collection that will be treasured by every art lover.
The artists whose work is represented include world-famous greats of the Italian Renaissance, Flemish masters, members of the Dutch and French schools, and British artists. In addition to the expected, well-known drawings by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Brueghel, Rubens, Fragonard, Dьrer, Raphael, and others of their standing, there are scores of brilliant efforts by lesser known geniuses: Francesco Francia, Mabuse, Huber, Breu, Urs Graf, van Goyen, Wouwerman, Antoine Pesne, Natoire, Basaiti, and many others. And instead of only pen or pencil drawings, the collection includes a wide variety of techniques: chalk, bistre, sepia, watercolor, crayon, charcoal, silverpoint, and pastel.
But regardless of the medium used, each of the drawings is superbly reproduced. Lines are clear and sharp and shaded areas are rich in contrasts. As often as possible, the drawings are presented in full size, so that they are as close to the originals as they can be. Arranged chronologically by artist, the 150 plates are all described, the artist noted and his dates given and the technique used in each case stated in a detailed list of the plates.