1000 Drawings of Genius. Victoria Charles

Charles, Klaus H. Carl

      1000 Drawings of Genius

      With the collaboration of Rubén Cervantes Garrido

      Quoted texts by:

      Leon Battista Alberti, Charles Baudelaire, Vincenzo Carducci, Cennino Cennini, Paul Klee, John Ruskin, Giorgio Vasari, and Claude-Henri Watelet

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      © Alexander Calder, Calder Foundation New-York / ADAGP, Paris

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      © Frida Kalho, Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kalho Museums Trust. AV. Cinco de Mayo n°2, Col. Centro, Del. Cuauhtémoc 06059, México, D. F.

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      © Andy Warhol Estate, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, USA

      Introduction

      This book aims to take the reader on a journey through the history of the art of drawing. As the pages advance, one can appreciate the evolution of Western art from the Late Middle Ages to the present day, as each chapter gives a visual account of the different artistic tendencies that coexisted in every century, with a generous selection of the great masters of each period. Every chapter is accompanied by a text written by a contemporary theorist or artist, in order to give the reader a better understanding of each period’s concerns and approaches to art in general, and to drawing in particular.

      An extract from John Ruskin’s The Elements of Drawing, first published in 1857, has been chosen as the general introduction to this history of Western drawing. The focus, however, has not been placed on his detailed descriptions of how to practise the art of the line with the pen or pencil, or how to apply shade and colour. It may be of more interest to the reader to know the author’s recommendations and warnings for those who desire to become artists. What is interesting about Ruskin is that he acts as a kind of link between the traditional and modern approaches to art. It is very possible that Ruskin may not, today, sound very modern; his sometimes strict recommendations seem to contradict the contemporary notion of absolute creative freedom. But while he retains many values of traditional art, Ruskin was also a champion of modern figures such as Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites at a time when it was not fashionable to be so, especially of the latter.

      Of course, these are the recommendations of only one particular art theorist, but Ruskin was a very important one. It is very interesting to know which artists he considers best (and worst) for a young person to admire, as well as the literature he should read. Ruskin’s is a great