Under Cover:Artists' SketchbooksAt the Fogg through Oct. 22Harvard University Art Museums32 Quincy Street, Cambridge617-495-9400 A sketchbook can provide an intimate view into the mind of an artist, giving insight into how they prepare their artwork through a different medium. The Fogg's exhibit "Under Cover: Artists' Sketchbooks", on view in the Strauss gallery through Oct. 22, contains pieces from a diverse group of artists, from 18th century Rococo icon Jean-Honor?© Fragonard to contemporary artists like as Henry Moore and Boston's own Jonathan Borofsky.
The exhibit is not arranged chronologically, for unlike finished artworks, it is more difficult to trace developments over time with sketchbooks due to their private nature. Sketchbook styles can vary greatly between contemporaneous artists, and so the exhibit is instead divided into two sections: Observation, or sketches of nature and the outside world, and Invention, meant to show the more imaginative, personal pieces.
The artist best represented in "Under Cover" is John Singer Sargent, whose works here span nearly the entire length of his career, starting with some truly astounding sketches from when he was only sixteen. From there, we can see his plans for the murals at the Boston Public Library.
These sketches exhibit a great range, from detailed, close-up figures, to hasty sketches of the murals' layout, which show Sargent's struggle with the composition of the entire project. Studies for the Biblical prophets Obadiah and Joel are particularly striking, with each hunched over in the same position.
Sargent manages to endow each with separate emotions through the play of shadow and the thoughtful treatment of their hands and faces. Their anguish and despair is communicated powerfully even in such preliminary drafts.
Next to Sargent's portraits are several sketches from Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David. The artist was present at the coronation of Napoleon in 1804, and viewers of the exhibit can see how the artist prepared for such a monumental commemorative piece (the painting, which he finished in 1806 and hangs in the Louvre, contains around 200 figures).
David's sketches of Napoleon, his wife Josephine, and many other members of the royal family are carefully gridded for easy transfer to the canvas. The artist often started his figures in the nude to perfect their anatomy before adding clothing. This process makes David's figures flawless, as, unlike some other artists, he gives us an actual body underneath the garments.
The precision of David's sketches stands in stark contrast to those of his near
contemporary, Jean-Honor?© Fragonard. A painter in the Rococo movement (just prior to Neoclassicism), Fragonard draws hastily, urgently capturing as much as he can of Italy's visual stimuli in one sketch.
The rambling, undulating lines are characteristic of Rococo style and show us that Fragonard was perhaps more interested in the composition of his studies as a whole than the detailed examination of individual subjects. These particular drawings are comparable to those of architect Frank Gehry, in that the sketches themselves are indecipherable, but when placed alongside their finished products, their function and meaning become immediately clear.
Jumping forward in time, there is a Paul C?©zanne sketch of a fragment of his studio. It is small, but speaks volumes. The compression of space gives the normally three-dimensional scene a sense of flatness, making it hard to differentiate the separate objects in the scene.
The new definitions that C?©zanne gave to space and perception in art were to have vast influence on the Cubists, and the visual similarities between this sketch and certain Cubist works are difficult to miss. Pieces such as these represent a watershed moment in the history of art.
There is another small, yet remarkable, sketch belonging to contemporary artist Henry Moore. Famous for his large sculptures, usually of abstract human forms, Moore gives us only one page of colored sketches. It is extraordinary in how easily they translate into his finished pieces. The contours of the sketches explore the curves of the human form and communicate all the graceful weight of his full-sized sculptures. It is easy to see from these sketches how Moore endows his pieces with an organic feel.
"Under Cover" proves that hasty scribbles and informal sketches can have all the power and merit of their fully-realized counterparts. They aid us in fathoming the minds of their creators, as they are more conducive to overt self-expression than finished paintings sometimes are (this is especially true of older artists). Although a small exhibit, "Under Cover" is one of both beauty and innovation.
