by During the Renaissance, drawings were an integral part of the huge paintings and frescoes that have long been associated with that period. Among other things, they were a way for artists to understand how to arrange a compositional space, and they also helped artists to soften the wonderful still life situations synonymous with masterpieces from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Tiziano Vecellio. (better known as Titian) and Tintoretto. Drawings were even used in legally binding contracts to provide a reference point for the work being agreed upon.
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When it came to drawings, Sandro Botticelli was in a class of his own, with one expert even hailing him as “Europe’s greatest linear design artist”. Botticelli’s line was the basis for the dance-like aesthetic that runs through his output and can be seen in masterpieces such as Birth of Venus and La Primavera. According to Italian Renaissance expert Furio Rinaldi, “Botticelli’s use of drawing goes to the core meaning of the word ‘choreography’ … With his drawings, Botticelli is writing the composition, drawing the dance.”
For San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum, Rinaldi has curated an exciting new exhibition focusing on Botticelli’s drawings. Showcasing 27 of the artist’s drawings – including five newly cited ones – and a total of more than 60 works from numerous lenders, it offers Bay Area audiences a rare opportunity to see one of the largest shows of the Italian master’s work to see.
“It was an incredible effort that took more than three years to organize,” Rinaldi said during an interview in his office at the Legion of Honor. “In my mind there is something incredibly incredible about Botticelli being in San Francisco, so far away from where he worked. For many it will probably be the only opportunity to see so many works by this great artist.”
Like many painters of the time, Botticelli relied on drawings during his creative process to help assemble and shape forms that would eventually come together as a painting. What Botticelli Drawings tries to show is how central these sketches were to the unique qualities that made Botticelli stand out from his contemporaries, and that have made his works of art for over 500 years and reference make them in everything from The Simpsons to cover Lady. Gaga 2013 Artpop Album. “We’re zooming into his mind and expressing his thoughts graphically,” Rinaldi said. “They are so essential to the aesthetic that makes Botticelli so attractive, because the linearity of these sketches is really a reflection of his painting technique.”
The works on display at the Legion of Honor are truly masterful. Here the audience will see representations of the human form that seem so lifelike they could walk off the page. As this exhibition shows, these forms often appear to be in motion – whether jumping back in fear in the midst of a fight, running to announce the incarnation of Jesus Christ or raising a decapitated head, subjects appear to be Botticelli’s drawing dancing, moving with him. the presence of fluids and colors that make these figures very different from other figures. “I tried to go beyond the core of this attraction and magnetism,” Rinaldi said. “Many contemporary artists and dancers have been inspired by Botticelli. And I felt that the common thread was the line, the perfect linearity of Botticelli’s composition.”
With Botticelli’s drawings central to this exhibition, each gallery of the show also features one finished painting to offer the viewer a point of synthesis. Among the works shown here are large pieces such as The Virgin and Child With the Young Saint John the Baptist and The Adoration of the Magi, including paintings that rarely or never traveled to the US. These paintings help the viewer understand how Botticelli’s drawings were part of the creative process that eventually culminated in a work on canvas. “Each room contains a pioneering painting,” said Rinaldi, “a remarkable work to help the viewer consolidate and reconstruct the ideas and figures they see scattered in the drawings.”
Putting on an exhibition of Botticelli’s drawings was a significant challenge that took over three years to complete. This was partly due to the fact that, although Botticelli is recognized as an innovator and master of drawing, only a little over two dozen of his works have survived to this day. “Very few surviving drawings can be attributed to Botticelli,” Rinaldi said. “If you think of Leonardo da Vinci, we have almost thousands of his drawings. For other artists, it could be hundreds. For Botticelli we don’t have more than 30 pages by my count.” Because Botticelli died in poverty, his drawing workshop was not preserved like many of his contemporaries, and instead was sold after his death. “If you think of Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, there’s a slightly different situation where all their students continue their workshop and preserve and use the drawings as a kind of visual patrimony of the artist’s ideas.”
One thing that stands out about Botticelli’s Drawings is the very detailed presentation of the works. The Legion of Honor galleries have been set back in a way that gives the show a very polished, contemporary feel, almost as if it’s borrowing from the very clean, bright aesthetic of the Apple Store. “I wanted to put the audience in the best position to appreciate this work, so you’ll see a very tight hang,” said Rinaldi. “Everything is just very clean and very modern. Even if the exhibition is firmly based on art historical research, I am trying to remove Botticelli from art historical mythologies.” Rinaldi’s aesthetic result creates an interesting, and certainly original feeling.
Ultimately, Botticelli Drawings succeeds in presenting the artist in a different way, one that imagines and allows us to look at his work as if for the first time. It’s a big show – a welcome opportunity to see pieces that rarely travel anywhere, let alone the United States, and to have a deep look into the intimacy of the creative process of an artist who comes from a very different world than ours. where we live. “Renaissance Florence is so far away in time and place that people don’t even know what it means anymore,” Rinaldi said. “I think it’s time to turn the page and look at these artists with today’s eyes.”
