Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

May 3 – July 26, 2015
West Building, Ground Floor, West Outer Tier Galleries

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Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Attributed to Jacquemart de Hesdin and others,
 Sketchbook Formed of Six Panels of Prepared Boxwood, open to Women and Wild Men, c. 1390/1400,
 model book with drawings in metalpoint (probably silverpoint) on prepared boxwood,
 The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1906

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Rogier van der Weyden
, Portrait of an Unknown Young Woman, c. 1435/1440, silverpoint on prepared paper,
 On loan from The British Museum, London © The Trustees of The British Museum, London

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Albrecht Dürer
, A Dog Resting, 1520, silverpoint over traces of carbon black on prepared paper, On loan from The British Museum, London © The Trustees of The British Museum, London

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Leonardo da Vinci, A Bust of a Warrior, c. 1475/1480, silverpoint on prepared paper,
 On loan from The British Museum, London © The Trustees of The British Museum, London

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Filippino Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, and Raffaellino del Garbo, Page from “Libro de’ Disegni,”  drawings probably 1480–1504; mounted by Giorgio Vasari, album page with drawings in metalpoint and various media, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Woodner Collection, Patrons’ Permanent Fund

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Raphael,
 Studies for an Infant Christ, c. 1509,
 silverpoint on prepared paper, 
On loan from The British Museum, London, Bequeathed by Richard Payne Knight, 1824 © The Trustees of The British Museum, London

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Hendrick Goltzius, Young Woman Reading a Book (Portrait of Sophia Goltzius, Sister of the Artist?), Seen from Above, 1591, metalpoint (probably silverpoint) on prepared paper or parchment, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett © bpk, Berlin/Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen/Jörg P. Anders/Art Resource, NY

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Rembrandt van Rijn, Five Studies of Heads, c. 1633,
 silverpoint on prepared vellum,
 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Koenigs Collection  

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

William Holman Hunt, Study for Saint Joseph, 1876,
 silverpoint with graphite and scraping on prepared paper, On loan from The British Museum, London, Donated by Edith Holman Hunt © The Trustees of The British Museum, London

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Joseph Edward Southall, Head of a Girl, 1899,
 metalpoint (probably silverpoint) with scratching on prepared paper,
 The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, Purchased with funds from the Schweppe Art Acquisition Fund

Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns

Otto Dix, Old Woman, 1932,
 metalpoint (probably silverpoint) and graphite (?) on prepared paper, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase, 1950 © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY

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This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: Since the Middle Ages, artists have used metalpoint to create some of the most beautiful and technically accomplished drawings ever made. Interest in the medium peaked during the Renaissance when it was embraced by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Albrecht Dürer. Revived in the nineteenth century, metalpoint continues to be practiced today.

An artist working in metalpoint uses a sharp, pointed 
instrument (a stylus) with a metal tip to draw on paper, 
parchment, or wood that has been specially coated. As 
the stylus travels across this slightly abrasive ground, a 
small amount of metal is scraped off and remains behind,
 creating a line. Almost any metal can be used, though only lead, which is softer than others, can be used without a ground. When first drawn, all metalpoint lines, including those made by gold, appear gray, an optical effect that stems in part from the breaking down of the metal into tiny particles. Some metals oxidize, or tarnish, to different colors over time: silver, for example, generally turns golden brown. Others, such as gold, never tarnish and remain gray. Goldpoint appeals to some artists for this reason, although it was rarely used before the nineteenth century. Most of the drawings in this exhibition are silverpoints, by far the most common form of metalpoint through history.

Silverpoint is often considered a challenging medium. The lines can be difficult or even impossible to erase depending on such factors as the type of ground. Unlike pen or chalk, which can produce strokes of varying thickness or darkness depending on how hard artists bear down on the instrument, silver leaves a nearly uniform line. Nonetheless, the medium offers practical and aesthetic advantages: Its portability and convenience make it particularly suited for use in sketchbooks, as artists do not have to carry an inkwell or wait for ink to dry. Silverpoint is especially resistant to smearing and therefore has the added benefit of durability. Also, the precision and subtlety of its delicate lines render it ideal for capturing fine detail. Above all, it is the shimmering beauty of silverpoint that has attracted artists across the centuries.

Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with The British Museum, London.

Sponsors: The exhibition is made possible by a generous gift in memory of Melvin R. Seiden.

The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art is also supporting the exhibition.

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 68,884

Catalog: Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns. By Stacey Sell et al. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2015.

Other Venues: The British Museum, London, September 10–December 6, 2015