This fall, the Crocker Art Museum brings
to Sacramento an exhibition of master drawings by two of 18th-century Italy’s most famous
draftsmen, the father and son Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo. Masters of Venice: Drawings by
Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo from the Anthony J. Moravec Collection offers
an engaging experience of luminous compositions, as the Tiepolos’ splendid
drawings — and the works of other Venetian artists — provide a unique view into
the distinctive art of Italy’s lagoon city.
On view from October 29, 2017 –
February 4, 2018, Masters
of Venice provides new insight into two of the city's most important
artists. Eighteenth-century Venice was not only home to a lively community of
artists and the finest publishing and printmaking industry in Europe, but its
unique architecture and traditions also made it a cultural destination for
artists, aristocrats, and royalty. Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770) and his son
Domenico (1727–1804) were the most renowned Venetian artists during this
period, with patrons across Italy and Europe. In 2010, Indiana businessman and
philanthropist Anthony J. Moravec donated a collection of drawings by the
Tiepolos to Indiana University’s Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art in
Bloomington, expanding its Tiepolo holding to make it the third largest in the
nation.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a
group of 12 drawings from Domenico Tiepolo’s New Testament cycle, from what is
believed to be the largest such cycle produced by a single artist. These large,
ink and wash drawings are not studies for other works, but rather unique
designs that showcased the artist’s deep understanding of the religious subject
matter and his careful observation of the world around him. While most of the
events from the New Testament are familiar, others are more rarely depicted,
yet even in the most iconic scenes, Domenico brings out the humanity of the
story.
“Domenico Tiepolo was an extraordinary
storyteller,” says Crocker Art Museum Curator William Breazeale. “His talent
for bringing together faith and inventive composition is apparent throughout
his religious drawings.”
While Domenico’s New Testament series
shows scenes of devout prayer, swooping angels, the penitent faithful, and a
menacing Satan, the artist also ventures into lively mythological drawings of
centaurs, and his most famous series, scenes of Punchinello. Drawn from the
characters in the popular theater, the commedia dell’arte, the series shows
Punchinello as an everyman, dancing and stumbling through life’s celebrations
and tragedies.
Although the collector of these works
focused largely on Domenico’s work, it is not surprising that he also acquired
excellent examples by the artist’s father, Giambattista Tiepolo. One of the
most productive 18th-century artists, Giambattista — assisted by Domenico —
frescoed enormous palaces, in addition to producing narrative paintings,
etchings, and a large number of drawings. Giambattista Tiepolo was particularly
talented at capturing gleaming contrasts of light in all his works, using
washes to define textures in his scenes as well as his famous caricatures.
Along with the drawings by the
Tiepolos, Masters of
Venice includes drawings by their predecessors and contemporaries,
including Ubaldo Gandolfi and Giuseppe Bernardino Bison. A selection of 12
Venetian drawings from the Crocker's permanent collection accompanies the exhibition,
expanding our view of the city's rich artistic tradition.
This exhibition is organized by The
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University. It is accompanied
by a full-color catalogue by Adelheid Gealt, director and curator of Western
art emerita at the Eskenazi Museum of Art, with contributions by the late
George Knox, an authority on Venetian art. The catalogue includes works by the
Tiepolos that are published for the first time.
