Seeing Red in Edinburgh
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
“Red Chalk: Raphael to Ramsay” is nearing the end of its run at the Scottish National Gallery, where exquisite drawings in the medium by Peter Paul Rubens, Salvator Rosa, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Francois Boucher are on rare display.
“The earliest drawing on display, and a highlight of the show, is Raphael’s Study of a Kneeling Nude,” according to the museum. “This beautiful life-study was made in about 1518 and is a preparatory drawing for one of a series of Raphael’s painted frescos. The delicately drawn figure reveals not only the artist’s phenomenal skill as a draughtsman, but also his meticulous preparation for each composition.
“Red chalk experienced a surge in popularity with French artists in the 18th century. Drawings in the display by Watteau and Boucher will showcase how the medium was used by artists of the Rococo period to produce highly decorative and elegant drawings. Studies by Fragonard and Hubert will also provide superb examples of red chalk being chosen as a useful medium for highly evocative depictions of the landscape.
“Other highlights include a preparatory study by Guercino for his monumental oil painting of Erminia Finding the Wounded Tancred (currently displayed in the main gallery), and the Scottish portrait painter Allan Ramsay’s iconic drawing from 1776 of his second wife, Margaret Lindsay. The show also includes works by artists David Allan, William Delacour and Archibald Skirving to illustrate how the medium was adopted in Scotland.”
“Red Chalk: Raphael to Ramsay” runs through June 10 at the Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh, 0131-624-6200, nationalgalleries.org.
Franklin Einspruch is the art critic for The New York Sun. He blogs at Artblog.net.
