The Spooner collection of British watercolours is one of the finest of its kind, featuring all the leading artists of the period 1750–1850. Among the fine sheets included are watercolours of the Lake District by John White Abbott, and rural scenes by several artists – Gainsborough, Turner, Cozens, Rowlandson, Francis Towne, Samuel Palmer. Architecture dominates the setting in works by Girtin, Cotman and Sandby. More
This is an overdue investigation into one of the most remarkable artistic enterprises of the seventeenth century, much cited but seldom discussed, David Teniers the Younger’s publication in 1660 of the magnificent Theatrum Pictorium or Theatre of Painting, the first illustrated and printed collection catalogue. More
As a result of generous loans of over one hundred outstanding works of art, in 2002 the Courtauld Gallery was able to extend its collection further into the twentieth century. For the first time the Gallery was able to show historically coherent groups of works representing key developments in the art history of the early 20th century. This is the catalogue to the new display. More
This book accompanied an exhibition which united La Loge for the first time with Renoir's other treatments of the subject and with loge paintings by contemporaries, including Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. Concentrating on the early years of Impressionism during the 1870s, the book explores how these artists used the loge to capture the excitement and changing nature of fashionable Parisian society. More
Accompanying an exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, this catalogue explores one of the most important and historically neglected art forms of Renaissance Florence: cassoni – pairs of chests that were lavishly decorated with precious metals and elaborate paintings and were often the most expensive of a whole suite of decorative objects commissioned to celebrate marriage alliances between powerful families. More
This is the first book to consider Lewis’s drawing as a distinct contribution to his art, despite the importance he attributed to draughtsmanship. Lewis wrote that the line in drawing was nothing less than “the bone beneath the pulp”. “It is more difficult upon a piece of white paper ... to deceive the expert spectator than it is with a lot of oil paint upon a canvas.” This book traces his drawing from youthful figure studies and portraits to the surreal abstractions and dreamscapes of his later years. More
This catalogue accompanies an exhibition at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, and The Courtauld Gallery, London, which will be the first full display of the Courtauld’s outstanding collection of watercolours by J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851). The collection spans the artist’s career, ranging from an important early view of the Avon Gorge, Bristol, made when Turner was just sixteen years old, to examples of the monumental highly finished watercolours of his maturity and the celebrated expressive late works. More
This catalogue accompanied the first exhibition to bring together the seminal group of paintings of London building sites by Frank Auerbach (born 1931). Produced between 1952 and 1962, the paintings are among the most profound responses made by any artist to the post-war urban landscape. These works chart the early development of Auerbach’s remarkable approach to painting, for which he is celebrated as one of Britain’s greatest living artists. More
The Courtauld’s Adam and Eve is arguably the most beautiful of Cranach’s fifty or more depictions of this subject. It brilliantly combines devotional meaning with pictorial elegance and invention. This exhibition catalogue explores the making and meaning of this Protestant and courtly masterpiece, and the contexts in which it was made and seen. It will incorporate much conservation and technical research. More
"The whole thing is a curatorial and scholarly triumph ... the catalogue essays do full justice to the power of Michelangelo's intellect, as well as to hand and eye." (Richard Dorment, Telegraph) Michelangelo's Dream (or Il Sogno) is one of the finest of all Italian Renaissance drawings and is amongst The Courtauld Gallery's greatest treasures. Executed at the height of the artist's career, this magnificent work exemplifies Michelangelo's unrivalled skill as draughtsman and his extraordinary power of invention. More