Laura Gascoigne

How flabby our ideas of draughtsmanship have become

The dazzling drawings in the Ashmolean's new exhibition show us how it's done

Left: ‘Study of a Dog’, c. 1630/61, by Joannes Fijt. Right: ‘Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion’, c.1606-39, by Rubens. Credit for both images: Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp 
issue 20 April 2024

The term drawing is a broad umbrella, so in an exhibition of 120 works it helps to outline some distinctions. A good place to start is to ask what drawings are for, and that is what Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum has done with its current show of sketches by Flemish masters – staged in collaboration with Antwerp’s Museum Plantin-Moretus – dividing them into studies, designs and stand-alone finished works.

Van Dyck’s teenage studies are a measure of how flabby our ideas of draughtsmanship have become

If you’ve ever had the chance to visit it, you’ll know what a special place the Plantin-Moretus is....

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in