Giuseppe Maria Crespi
Finally thrilled to make the announcement!
A rare drawing by Giuseppe Maria Crespi (Bologna, 1665-1747), presented at the 2023 edition of the Salon du Dessin in Paris, has become part of the art collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
The discovery is as rare and important.
One of the most brilliant and inventive personalities of his Century, Giuseppe Maria Crespi was a prolific artist in all genres of painting, including those considered 'low'.
Compared to his abundant painted and engraved production, his graphic production is rather poor. A fact also confirmed by his son Luigi, according to whom his father drew very little.
The discovery of this sheet is also important as it puts an end to a vexata quaestio concerning the well-known engraving of a similar subject, of which our drawing appears to be the preparatory study.
Signed by Ferdinando Crespi (1709-1754), the painter's third-born son, the engraving - of admirable execution - has been unanimously attributed by the most informed critics to the hand of his father.
As Alessandro Brogi, author of an interesting essay published in the art magazine "PROSPETTIVA "*, explains, we are faced with an "example of paternal generosity": Giuseppe Maria Crespi was responsible for the invention and execution of this etching, leaving it to his son Ferdinando to sign it, thus allowing him to take credit for it.
Considering the latter's less-than-excellent artistic talents, one wonders if this was not a gesture of paternal clemency rather than benevolent generosity.
The most important thing is that our drawing is a rare example of the Bolognese master's excellent graphic skills.
Our thanks go to Jonathan Bober and the entire staff of the NGA for believing in the value and rarity of this extraordinary sheet.
* A. Brogi, Il "San Pasquale Baylon" di Giuseppe Maria Crespi: un disegno inedito per un incisione misintesa, ancora un esempio di generosità paterna, in "Prospettiva. Rivista di storia dell'arte antica e moderna", Università degli Sudi di Siena, Florence 2021, no. 183, pp. 111-118, rep. fig. 8, p. 115.
** Thanks to Alessandro Bagnoli - editor of the journal "Prospettiva" - for having granted us the possibility of publishing Alessandro Brogi's essay in its entirety online.
For more information on PROSPETTIVA magazine