Bargue book finally released

[Marvin Mattelson]

For anyone who may be interested, the Dahesh Museum in New York City has just received its copies of the "Drawing Course", created by Charles Bargue under the direction of J L Gerome. It contains reproductions of all the plates plus additional works by Bargue. It is annotated by Gerald Ackerman.

Many contemporary ateliers are using these plates as part of their drawing programs. I believe that the are only 3 known sets in existence containing all the plates. These plates, as a set, haven't been available in over 100 years.

The publisher is ACR. To the best of my knowledge these books aren't available anywhere else at this time.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Marvin, I don't know that publisher.

[Marvin Mattelson]

ACR is a French Publisher specializing in Art books. Their books are published in French and sometimes in English (as in the case of this book).

They published the Gerald Ackerman catalogue raisonne on Gerome as well as numerous books on Orientalist painters. The Dahesh Museum sells a number of those books in its store including the Gerome, which unfortunately is only available in French. The pictures, however are in English.

I'm sure that Ursus Books in NYC stocks their titles as well. Ursus is very very expensive and deals in both rare and new art books. Hacker Art Books used to carry ACR books but have since been taken over by the Strand book store and no longer sell them.

I make it my business to stay on top of publishing news concerning the artists I am most interested in, since buying the original art is beyond my financial grasp

I was fortunate enough to meet Damian Bartoli last week at Christies' 19th century European preview, as I stood in front of a beautiful Bouguereau painting of a little girl (see below). Ironically, he is the author of the long awaited Bouguereau catalogue raisonne which will be coming out in 2005. It was great to compare notes with him and he was quite receptive to some ideas that I shared.

He was very warm and gracious.

[Marvin Mattelson]

This is the cover of the French edition.

[Michele Rushworth]

Marvin, can you tell us more about the contents of this book?

In particular, can you describe how one would benefit from using the images, as opposed to copying other master drawings that may be more readily available?

[Marvin Mattelson]

It's approximately 200 plates that are in three groups.

The first group of plates breaks down the drawing process visually. Most of the plates compare Bargue's simple shape analysis of his subject matter with finely resolved versions of the same pose. The plates start with simple parts of the face and get gradually more complex. There are linear guidelines indicating how to align important points.

The second group is comprised of copies, by Bargue, of classical artworks.

The last group are the linear starts of figure drawings that demonstrates how he approaches figure construction by drawing angles.

The reason one might choose to copy his drawings is to grasp the way he was able to evaluate and then clarify his subject matter.

Each plate is annotated by the author. In addition, there are examples of Bargue's drawings and paintings as well as an explanation of sight size drawing techniques.

Best of al, if one approaches the plates with an open mind there is a very good opportunity to get into the head of J L Gerome.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Thank you-sounds awesome. I had not seen that WB before.

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Thanks for sharing this info Marvin. The ACR site can be found at http://www.acr-edition.com/Pages/index.htm

I couldn't find this book though. The site probably has not been updated as of yet.

[Mari DeRuntz]

To order the book, you need to contact the Dahesh Museum gift store. Contact information is:

Jessica Cull
Museum Shop & Visitor Services Weekday Floor Manager
Dahesh Museum of Art
580 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10022
Tel: (212)759-0606 x227
Fax: (212)759-1235
Email: [email protected]

The paperback is a steal at $45. Hardback, $65.

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Thanks Mari,

This is going on my Christmas wishlist!