Goya to Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection

This stunning catalogue presents The Courtauld's outstanding collection of works by Renaissance artist Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, better known as Parmigianino (1503-1540). This catalogue accompanies a display of works by Parmigianino at The Courtauld, including his famous and enigmatic painting of the Virgin and Child, as well as drawn studies for his most ambitious projects such as the Madonna of the Long Neck and the frescoes of the church of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma. The latter was the last and most important commission of his life and would have been his triumphal homecoming. Instead, Parmigianino became entangled in his experimental processes and failed to complete it, leading to his brief imprisonment for breach of contract. Fundamentally a draftsman at heart, Parmigianino drew relentlessly during his relatively short life, and around a thousand of his drawings have survived. The Courtauld's collection comprises twenty-four sheets. In preparation for the catalogue, new photography and technical examinations have been carried out on all the works revealing two new drawings that were previously unknown, hidden underneath their historic mounts. They have also helped to better identify connections between some of the drawings and the finished paintings for which they were conceived. The catalogue illustrates the whole Courtauld collection, which also includes two paintings and more than ten prints. As a printmaker, Parmigianino is considered to have been the first to experiment with etching in Italy and was a pioneer of the chiaroscuro woodcut technique. His refined and graceful compositions were much appreciated by his contemporaries and exalted by the artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511-74). This catalogue and display have been curated by Gottardo and Rebecchini in collaboration with former and current research students at The Courtauld, and technical research has been conducted by members of The Courtauld Conservation Institute. A truly collaborative project, the catalogue sheds light on an artist who approached every technique with unprecedented freedom and produced innovative works which were studied and admired by artists and collectors for many years to come.

In 1955 the Franco-Belgian poet and visual artist Henri Michaux (1899?1984) tried the psychedelic drug mescaline, an experience that transformed his artistic life and provoked an outpouring of writings and distinctive drawings. Accompanying an exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, this fascinating catalogue celebrates these unique drawings. This catalogue and exhibition celebrate the unique Mescaline Drawings by the Franco- Belgian poet and visual artist Henri Michaux (1899?1984). In January 1955, as part of an experiment prompted by his publisher, Michaux, who was then 56 years old, tried the psychedelic drug mescaline, a product derived from the Mexican peyote cactus. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of this type of non-addictive drug on the creative act. Michaux considered these experiences to be a portal into the inner workings of the mind. The investigation transformed Michaux?s artistic life and provoked an outpouring of writings and distinctive drawings during the 1950s and 1960s, the latter being at the centre of this exhibition. Created after the effects of mescaline (and at times other drugs such as hashish, LSD and psilocybin) had passed, the drawings are the astonishing transcriptions of the artist?s sensation, rendered as if by a sort of shuddering seismograph. This display and the accompanying catalogue, which present works rarely seen in the UK, will showcase Michaux?s extraordinary experience, one that pushed the limits of what the essence of drawing is.