Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, 1780-1867). Study for "Raphael and the Fornarina" (detail), ca. 1814. Graphite on white wove paper, 10 x 7 3/4 in. (25.4 x 19.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.646)

Leonardo to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning October 4, presents 60 masterpieces of European drawing spanning the Renaissance to the Modern age. It is the first presentation to highlight the full range of Robert Lehman’s vast and distinguished drawings collection—numbering over 700 sheets—and to explore his significant activity as a 20th-century collector. The exhibition will trace the development of European drawing across five centuries through works by such celebrated masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer, Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Ingres, Seurat, and Matisse. 

The exhibition is made possible by the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Drawn from the Museum’s acclaimed Robert Lehman Collection, the exhibition will present a dynamic array of styles, techniques, and genres—from compositional studies for mythological and biblical narratives to panoramic landscapes and arresting studies of the human form. The selection will also illustrate the different facets of the artists’ creative processes—from Leonardo’s keen anatomical observation in his Study of a Bear Walking, to Dürer’s awakening artistic self-consciousness in his Self-Portrait study, to Rembrandt’s re-interpretation of Leonardo’s painted masterpiece, The Last Supper. 

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, Vinci 1452-1519 Amboise), A Bear Walking, ca. 1482-85. silverpoint on light buff prepared paper; 4 1/16 x 5 1/4 in. (10.3 x 13.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.369)

The selection of drawings on view in Leonardo to Matisse will reflect significant developments in the medium between the 15th and 20th centuries, as styles, techniques, and genres evolved, evoking illuminating comparisons across regions and eras. The portraits, figure studies, landscapes, mythological and biblical narratives included in the exhibition will represent diverse sacred and secular subjects in media ranging from metalpoint, pen and ink, and chalk to graphite, pastel, and charcoal. 

The role of drawing as the foundation of all the visual arts will be illustrated by numerous preparatory studies for painting, sculpture, textiles, engraving, and stained glass, including rare 15th century Netherlandish designs for a carved capital and tapestry. Elucidating the varying stages of the design process, the works on view will include rapid preliminary sketches, detailed studies of motifs, expansive compositional designs, and finished drawings intended for patrons. 

Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471-1528 Nuremberg), Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and a Pillow (recto); Six Studies of Pillows (verso), 1493. Pen and brown ink; 10 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. (27.8 x 20.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.86).

The Robert Lehman Collection
Robert Lehman bought his first drawings in the 1920s, adding works on paper to his father’s distinguished painting collection. He began with rare sheets by Italian masters and continued to acquire drawings for the next half century, principally in the field of Italian art, but more expansively through examples from England, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. By his death in 1969, the drawings collection numbered more than 700 sheets. While a few examples found their way into other public institutions in his lifetime, the remaining sheets form part of the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. Together with the holdings in the Department of Drawings and Prints, it has granted the Museum an outstanding collection of works on paper.

The Robert Lehman Collection is one of the most distinguished privately assembled art collections in the United States. Robert Lehman's bequest to The Met, a collection of extraordinary quality and breadth acquired over the course of 60 years, is a remarkable example of 20th-century American collecting. Spanning 700 years of western European art, from the 14th to the 20th century, the 2,600 works include paintings, drawings, manuscript illumination, sculpture, glass, textiles, antique frames, maiolica, enamels, and precious jeweled objects. 

Leonardo to Matisse is organized by Dita Amory, Curator in Charge, and Alison Nogueira, Associate Curator, both of the Robert Lehman Collection at The Met.

Circle of Michelino da Besozzo (Michelino de Mulinari) (Italian, Lombardy, active 1388–1450), A Gazelle in Profile, Moving Toward the Right, early 15th century. Tip of the brush and brown, gray (both in various shades), and black ink; contours with metalpoint (?or black chalk?); touches of white chalk; brown and light brownish gray wash; on vellum; 3 9/16 x 4 3/16 in. (9.1 x 10.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.402).

Attributed to Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio) (Italian, Messina ca. 1430–1479 Messina), Group of Draped Figures, early 1460s. Tip of the brush (or fine pen?) and brown ink; 4 5/16 x 5 7/8 in. (11 x 14.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.265).

Antonio Pollaiuolo (Italian, Florence ca. 1432–1498 Rome), Study for the Equestrian Monument to Francesco Sforza, early to mid 1480s. Pen and brown ink, light and dark brown wash; outlines of the horse and rider pricked for transfer.; 11 1/16 x 10 in. (28.1 x 25.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.410).

Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian, Siena 1439–1501 Siena), Design for a Wall Monument, ca. 1490. Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, blue gouache, on vellum; 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. (18.4 x 18.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.376).

Flanders (Brussels?) (1470–1490), Bear Hunt, ca. 1470–90. Pen and brown ink; 11 1/4 x 16 11/16 in. (28.6 x 42.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.822).

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam), The Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci, 1634–35. Red chalk; 14 1/4 x 18 11/16 in. (36.2 x 47.5 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.794).

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux), Self-Portrait in a Cocked Hat, ca. 1790. Pen and brown (iron gall?) ink on paper; 3 7/8 x 3 7/16 in. (9.8 x 8.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.976). 

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853-1890 Auvers-sur-Oise), Road in Etten, 1881. Chalk, pencil, pastel, watercolor. Underdrawing in pen and brown ink. 15 1/2 x 22 3/4 in. (39.4 x 57.8 cm). The Metropolitan  Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.774). 

Odilon Redon (French, Bordeaux 1840–1916 Paris), Pegasus and Bellerophon, ca. 1888. Charcoal, charcoal with water wash, white chalk, conté crayon, and highlighting by erasure on buff papier bleuté, darkened; 21 1/8 x 14 3/16 in. (53.7 x 36.1 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.686). 

Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice), Reflection in the Mirror, early 1923. Charcoal on paper, 20 1/16 x 16 in. (51 x 40.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.669). © 2017 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York