New York: Master Drawings
It has expanded to include Modern and Contemporary drawings as well as Old Masters.
From January 21-28, a total of 24 galleries will put on special displays of drawings in a relatively small geographical area of Manhattan in either their own or borrowed galleries. Participants come from as far afield as London, Florence, Vienna, Paris and, of course, the US.
The idea is effectively that of an art fair, dedicated to drawings, but with a short walk – often battling terrible winter weather, however – between the stands. Rather than the more generic environment of a fair location, the visitors can admire the range of exhibitions and share the knowledge and enthusiasm of the dealers in cosy and purpose-designed galleries.
MDNY provides the opportunity to see discoveries, debate recent attributions and appreciate the immediacy, vision and perception of a huge number of artists from various periods, often before the drawings vanish into private collections again.
The event unites major collectors, curators and drawings enthusiasts and the sketches and studies on show offer the chance to see how the thought processes of the artists developed, providing an intimate insight into their creative process in unfinished sketches.
It is a key occasion in the calendar to see many wonderful and varied works on paper, to gain insight into drawings as an art form and to feel the bonhomie and shared enthusiasm for drawings of the scholars, dealers and collectors which buzzes through the streets.
