Claude Lorrain, Liber veritatis
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Claude Lorrain, Liber veritatis Details
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I initially found Claude's paintings rather artificial but soon found myself warming to them.I got several books about his drawings and became really excited. Claude's Landscapes tend to be Ideal. They were based on his outdoor sketching in the Roman countryside and later worked up as paintings in the studio. He had many famous patrons and a wide market for his paintings. He kept his Liber Vertatis to document his painting so he knew what the painting looked liked and who he had sold it to. As his style as popular and commanded high prices he wanted to know which were his own works and which where not (I will call him Claude as some do, it is easier than typing Claude Lorrain each time)The book of drawings was formerly in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire but passed to the Crown in lieu of Estate Duty and was allocated to the British Museum (1957) The British Museum already had a collection of large collection of Claude drawingsClaude Lorraine is one of the cornerstones of the French Landscape traditionThe Liber Verititis is his book of drawings that reproduce his paintings.As the author says they were " the artist's record of his own work methodically kept for nearly fifty years as a safeguard against forgery and imitationsThere are 195 drawings in the exhibitionKitson has written a detailed discussion of each drawing and commented on the history of ownership of the paintings.Claude became a favourite of English collectors in the later 17th and 18th century in particularAll the Drawings are illustrated at the back of the book in black and white. The quality of preproduction is good by the standards of the dayThere is an index of Patrons and a separate Index of Current OwnersMost people prefer Claude's other drawings . Note however this is the first time the actual drawings from The Liber Veritatis have been reproduced in there entirety- this should lead to a greater appreciation of these (Liber Veritatis) drawingsNote Amazons's description of this book-I think it said 185 pages-that just covers the text-there is probably as many pages of illustrations in black and white - one drawing per page-note that the book is a small oblong volumeIf you are interested in Claude Lorrain's painting or drawings you should get this book.If you are interest in French Master Drawings or the French Landscape drawing tradition then you should consider purchasing this book.NoteI have since reviewed the Catalogue Riasonne ( academic catalogue) of Claude Lorrain's DrawingsSeeClaude Lorrain. Catalog. The DrawingsMarcel RoethlisbergerUniversity of California Press. 1968Text volume. 477 pages, Plates1244 illustrations. Important drawings mainly 2.per page, others about 4 per pageAll illustrations in B&WIf you love Claude's drawings then this is a great 2 volume set