We are delighted to be sponsoring a small, fascinating exhibition at the Morgan Library in New York: Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings. The focused show examines the collecting career of Mariette and his distinctive methods of presenting the drawings he owned. Mariette amassed over nine thousand sheets during his lifetime which he displayed principally in characteristic blue mounts. Despite his importance as a collector and connoisseur, he has never before been the subject of an exhibition in the United States.

Brilliantly curated by Giada Damen, the show teases out a number of fascinating themes and new areas of research. The show raises important questions about the historic role of collectors and dealers in presenting works of art and how this continues to impact upon contemporary decisions surrounding display.

The scientific analysis and research carried out by the Morgan has shed important light on the practicalities of Mariette’s methods. We were lucky enough to attend a stimulating study day at the Morgan which raised questions about methods of display, rather than questions of attribution. It made me think further about the strategies used by artists such as J. R. Cozens, Gainsborough and Turner whose works we handle on a daily basis. The images show a detail of J.R. Cozens’s distinctive, wash-lined mount on a watercolour of Greenwich made in the 1790s and a detail of a Gainsborough drawing on blue paper from the 1770s, which Gainsborough mounted on buff card and stamped with his name.

Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings
The Morgan Library & Museum
22 January–1 May 2016