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# Treasures of the Master Drawings Fair, from a Surprising Portrait to a Strange Dreamscape
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/master-drawings-fair-in-new-york-2018/
- Published: 2018-02-02T19:25:48.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:11:02.000Z
- Description: I have developed some affection for the enterprise, which is much more diffuse than other New York fairs.
- Author: Seph Rodney
- Tags: Art, Drawing, Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-18 14:37 (2018)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/gericault-18-cc.jpg)

Théodore Géricault, “Study of a Lion at Rest” (ca. 1820) at Stephen Ongpin Fine Art (image courtesy Stephen Ongpin Fine Art)

A few days ago I made my return visit to this year’s iteration of the annual [Master Drawings in New York](http://www.masterdrawingsinnewyork.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) fair. I have developed some affection for the enterprise, which is much more diffuse than other New York fairs — to experience it one needs to perambulate among a selection of Upper East Side galleries beginning from a 54th Street location (technically on the west side) up to 93rd street. (Most, though, are clustered between 60th and 80th streets, so it can be easily walked in an afternoon.)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/nocturnalanimalssm.jpg)

Flemish School (early 17th century) “Nocturnal Animals” (circa 1600) oil on panel, 16 by 22¼ inches at Mireille Mosler, Ltd. (image courtesy Mireille Mosler, Ltd.)

As with times previous, I found myself drawn to a diversity of work: illustrations, studies, human portraiture, animal portraiture, nudes, a couple of surreal landscapes, and inventive, post-war abstract works. I was surprised to find the latter, and when I admitted to Katherine Degn of [Kraushaar Galleries](http://www.kraushaargalleries.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) that I admired her gallery the most of those I had seen that day, she said to me that their emphasis was more on the “drawing” than on the “masters.” This is where I saw a strange dreamscape by Dorothy Dehner titled “Balloon Ascension #3: Dithyrambe Played by the Ashraf” (1947), and a couple works that were not actually drawing: a print from a woodcut by John Storrs “Repose (Reclining Figure Under a Tree)” (ca. 1920); and a black-and-white, abstract work by William Kienbusch, “From the Porch, Cape Split #2” (1972), which might represent an old set of antenna that used to typically line the roofs of houses in the 1970s.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/dehner-balloon-ascension-3e.jpg)

Dorothy Dehner, “Balloon Ascension #3: Dithyrambe Played by the Ashraf” (1947), ink on paper, 17.5 x 26 inches at Kraushaar Galleries (image courtesy Kraushaar Galleries)

I paid less attention on this trip to works from the European Renaissance, with a couple of notable exceptions. Jacopo Pontormo’s work at [Christopher Bishop Fine Art](http://www.avenuegallery.com/chris-bishop-fine-art/?ref=hyperallergic.com) was quite impressive. Pontormo’s double-sided drawings represent four key scenes depicted in paintings that once occupied a loggia (a covered exterior gallery) at [Villa Castello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa%5Fdi%5FCastello?ref=hyperallergic.com) and which were lost after the Medici dynasty ended. According to Bishop, the drawings represent complex interconnected mythological narratives that dovetailed with the realpolitik intrigue of [Cosimo I,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosimo%5FI%5Fde%27%5FMedici,%5FGrand%5FDuke%5Fof%5FTuscany?ref=hyperallergic.com) who assumedthe Ducal throne of Tuscany as a teenager to continue the reign of the Medici family after the assassination of a cousin, Alessandro.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/02/christopher-bishop-gallery-view.jpg)

View of the exhibition staged around the double-sided drawing of Jacopo Pontormo circa 1537, at Christopher Bishop gallery, including a projection of what the drawings may have looked like as paintings on the loggia ceiling (image courtesy Christopher Bishop gallery)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/02/jacopo-pontormo-saturn-and-ceres.jpg)

Jacopo Pontormo, “Saturn and Ceres” (ca. 1537) (one side of the double-sided drawing) pen and brown ink on buff paper with black chalk, 161 x 247 mm at Christopher Bishop Fine Art (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

Among my other favorites are a small, reddish study of a lion in repose by [Théodore Géricault](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odore%5FG%C3%A9ricault?ref=hyperallergic.com). It’s simple, but gets the blasé dispassion of the creature when it’s at rest. I was also completely engaged by Rembrandt Van Rijn’s “Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove”(1658), an etching and engraving that captures the weariness of the subject. The more I see of Rembrandt, the more I’m convinced that as much as he was a master, he was also an empath. I was surprised to find a portrait of someone who looks like me in [Santiago Arcos y Ugalde](http://wm1640482.web-maker.es/Pintores-extranjeros-en-Espanya/Santiago-de-Arcos-y-Ugalde/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s “Absalam” (1887), on display at [Stephen Ongpin Fine Art](http://www.stephenongpin.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=19&tabindex=18&ref=hyperallergic.com). Santiago expertly renders the facial hair of the Moroccan man, as well as his quiet self-containment; it’s rare to find this among the work across the fair: a dark-skinned person given this sort of dignity. I was also excited to see the drawing study by Jared French of a painting I’ve seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art: “Study for State Park” (1946). I immediately recognized the drawing because the painting had stayed in my memory years after seeing it — the strained poses of the characters are so strange and yet they seem comfortable in their strangeness.

Lastly, I was happy to run into Giacomo Balla’s “Vortice” (ca. 1913-14) at [David Tunick](https://www.tunickart.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com). I have for a long time loved the Italian Futurists, particularly Balla, who made several paintings that looked liked swirling squalls of hurly-burly, and this constant activity certainly feels like a foundational feature of modern life, evocative of the way we live now.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/rembrandt-woman-sitting-beside-a-stove.jpg)

Rembrandt Van Rijn, “Woman Sitting Half Dressed Beside a Stove” (1658), etching, engraving and drypoint on Japanese paper, dimensions: 8 5/8 x 7 3/8 in, at David Tunick (image courtesy David Tunick, Inc.)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/storrs-repose-reclining-figure-under-a-tree.jpg)

John Storrs, “Repose (Reclining Figure Under a Tree)” (circa 1920), woodcut, 6.375 x 6.375 inches, at Kraushaar Galleries

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/jared-french-study-masters-drawing.jpg)

Jared French, “Study for State Park” (1946), graphite and white wash on paper, 12 x 12 inches at James Francis Trezza (photo by the author)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/steinberg-illustration-masters-drawing.jpg)

Saul Steinberg, “Artist at his Drawing Table (1964), dedicated to Jean Stein, 12 x 15 inches, ink on paper at James Francis Trezza (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/absalam-masters-drawing.jpg)

Santiago Arcos y Ugalde, “Absalam” (1887), watercolor over traces of an underdrawing in pencil, 314 x 192 mm at Stephen Ongpin Fine Art (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/klimt-nude-masters-drawing.jpg)

Gustav Klimt, “A Standing Female Nude” (n.d.), pencil on buff paper, 570 x 370 mm at Stephen Ongpin Fine Art (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/a-sleeping-youth-masters-drawing.jpg)

Barent Fabritius, “A Sleeping Youth” (n.d.), tip of brush, brown, grey, and ocher wash, heightened with white, 6 x 8 in at Découvert Fine Art (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/seaside-village-masters-drawing.jpg)

Jean Metzinger, “Seaside Village” (n.d.), pencil on paper, 516 x 714 mm at Stephen Ongpin Fine Art (photo by Seph Rodney/Hyperallergic)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/kienbusch-from-the-porch-cape-split-2.jpg)

William Kienbusch, “From the Porch, Cape Split #2” (1972), casein on paper, 81.3 x 103.5 cm at Kraushaar Galleries (image courtesy Kraushaar Galleries)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/01/balla-vortice.jpg)

Giacomo Balla, “Vortice” (ca. 1913–14), pencil on paper, 660 x 820 mm at David Tunick (photo courtesy David Tunick, Inc.)

[*Master Drawings in New York*](http://www.masterdrawingsinnewyork.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *continues at several locations in Manhattan through February 3.*