October 14, 2018 – January 20, 2019 West Building, Ground Floor, Inner Tier Galleries
This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.
Chiaroscuro woodcuts—color prints made from the successive printing of multiple blocks—flourished in 16th-century Italy, interpreting designs by leading masters such as Raphael, Parmigianino, and Titian, while boasting extraordinary craft and their own, often striking palette. However, they remain among the least understood phenomena: exactly how were chiaroscuros created, in what sequence were they printed, and why? Based upon the most beautiful impressions in American and British collections, extensive new research, and far-reaching interpretations, this exhibition explains the chiaroscuro woodcut as an essential phenomenon, and one of the most beautiful, in the history of printmaking.
The exhibition is conceived and organized by Naoko Takahatake, curator of prints and drawings at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her research began at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, as a graduate curatorial intern in 2006 and as Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow (2008–2010). The exhibition is coordinated in Washington by Jonathan Bober, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art.
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Ugo da Carpi, Saint Jerome, after Titian, c. 1516, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, The British Museum, London, 1860,0414.100
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Ugo da Carpi, Hercules and the Nemean Lion, after Raphael or Giulio Romano, c. 1517–1518, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, The British Museum, London, 1920,0420.20
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Ugo da Carpi, Diogenes, after Parmigianino, c. 1527–1530, chiaroscuro woodcut from four blocks, state i/iii, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of Julia and Stephen Wilkinson, 2005.16
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Antonio da Trento, Nude Man Seen from Behind (Narcissus), after Parmigianino, c. 1527–1530, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, G7500
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Antonio da Trento, Nude Man Seen from Behind (Narcissus), after Parmigianino, c. 1527–1530, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Muriel and Philip Berman Gift, acquired from the John S. Philips bequest of 1876 to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with funds contributed by Muriel and Philip Berman, gifts (by exchange) of Lisa Norris Elkins, Bryant W. Langston, Samuel S. White 3rd and Vera White, with additional funds contributed by John Howard McFadden, Jr., Thomas Skelton Harrison, and the Philip H. and A.S.W. Rosenbach Foundation, 1985, 1985-52-556
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Antonio da Trento, Parmigianino, Martyrdom of Two Saints, c. 1527–1530, chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks, state i/ii, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2006.162.2
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Attributed to Antonio da Trento or Niccolò Vincentino, Parmigianino, Circe Drinking (Circella), c. 1540s, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, state i/ii, printed by the Vicentino workshop, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1975.21.1
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Niccolò Vicentino, Saturn, after Pordenone, 1540s, chiaroscuro woodcut from four blocks, state i/iii, The British Museum, London, 1858,0417.1577
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Domenico Beccafumi, Apostle with Book, 1540s, chiaroscuro woodcut from four blocks, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC, FP-XVI-B388, no. 40 (B size)
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Domenico Beccafumi, Saint Philip, 1540s, chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC, FP-XVI-B388, no. 41 (B size)
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Nicolò Boldrini, Tree with Two Goats, late 1560s, chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks, The British Museum, London, 1856,0614.140
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Andrea Andreani, Rape of a Sabine, after Giambologna, 1584, chiaroscuro woodcut from five blocks, state ii/ii (?), Yale University Art Gallery, Bequest of Lydia Evans Tunnard, 1981.60.1
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Andrea Andreani, A Skull, after Giovanni Fortuna (?), c. 1588, chiaroscuro woodcut from five blocks, The British Museum, London, 1861,0518.199
Organization: Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington
Passes: Admission is always free and passes are not required