Bean, J., "100 European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art"

Drawings have a more intimate character than any other form of artistic expression. Often they represent an artist’s first thoughts, hastily and spontaneously noted on the paper. They reveal his self-assurance or his hesitancy in the search for a solution that makes a reality of his first idea. They enable us, in a sense, to participate in the artist’s act of creation.

The collecting of drawings was long the province of artists themselves. The Florentine Vasari formed one of the first sizable and systematic collections of drawings, and his example was followed by Rembrandt, Rubens, Lely, Reynolds, and Lawrence. Great European museums—the Uffizi, the Louvre, the Berlin Museum, and the British Museum—have old and important collections of drawings. In America public interest in drawings is a fairly recent development; our public collections have short histories. That of the Metropolitan Museum is one of the oldest in the country, and this is due to the foresight of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The initial nucleus of the collection, given by Mr. Vanderbilt in 1880, has been slowly enriched by purchase, gift, and bequest. We owe much to the generosity of many donors and to the foresight of the Museum’s curators of paintings, who until recently were responsible for our drawings collection.

The installation of the Blumenthal Patio from Vêlez Blanco will now provide a fine exhibition space in which our constantly growing collection of drawings can be exhibited. The arcaded loggias of the Patio are a setting perfectly suited to close-hand inspection of framed drawings. Parts of the permanent collection will be shown, as well as periodic exhibitions of exceptional interest. Students will have access to the recently completed drawings study room in the Thomas J. Watson Library. The most modern methods of storage and air conditioning have been used in new vaults to assure the preservation of the drawings.

In 1960 an independent Department of Drawings was established with Jacob Bean in charge. Under his curatorship many important new acquisitions have been made that greatly strengthen our collection. From the finest of our drawings he has made here a selection that testifies to their range and quality.
100 drawings reproduced.
About the author - Jacob Bean is Curator of Drawings.