CBS 2 At The Met

CBS 2 At The Met: Tiepolo Drawings

NEW YORK (CBS) ― It's all in the family in the lower galleries of the Robert Lehman Wing. Sixty-five rarely-seen drawings by 18th century venetian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and his son, Giovanni Domenico are on display.

Associate Curator Dita Amory told CBS 2's Dana Tyler, that this newly-renovated space is just right for the Tiepolo team's light-sensitive works. Amory explained.

"You will see drawings of mythological subjects, religious subjects, animal studies, drawings from sculptures, drawings which were preliminary or following etching studies by the artist. They frequently paraphrased figures from etchings from drawings and back again. Tiepolo and his son Domenico often paraphrased each other in these marvelous drawings. You will notice that they commonly use pen and ink and brown wash. That was their great medium."

The Robert Lehman Wing opened to the public in 1975. Lehman, who died in 1969, had an eye for great art. The Lehman Foundation gave hundreds of masterpieces and rare art to the Met, like these Tiepolo drawings.

Armory added, "We're very fortunate in the museum to have our own special exhibition galleries where we rotate art from the Lehman Collection that are generally off-viewed to the public. If the father, Giovanni Tiepolo was the painter who patroned throughout Europe and in Venice. He was the painter of princely palaces. His son Domenico, you could say was the draftsman of everyday life."

And the father took a page from mythology to create what's considered to be the exhibition's showstopper. According to Amory,

"This is arguably one of the finest pen and ink and wash drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It's a story of, Bacchus and Ariadne.

Giovanni Battista has perfectly balanced the shading of brownwash with untouched paper!"

Museum visitors will see one wall devoted to drawings of a popular, comical character by the son, Domenico Tiepolo, circa 1800.

Armory explained, "You'll see a series of highly-finished pen and brow ink and wash drawings, chronicling the life of Punchenello. Punchenello was a comic figure, stock figure, in the 'Commedia dell'arte', a traveling troupe of actors, a traveling theater, that had a stock of subjects for productions into which they would add dialogue."

Armory had a suggestion if you want to see more works by Tiepolo. "If I can just urge our visitors to take a look at this exhibition and then walk upstairs up the main stairs of the 82nd Street entrance and see the Battista Tiepolo canvases that we have on view there. And you will notice a linkage in the quality of the craftsmanship, and a linkage to the painting that beautiful flourish, and beautiful sense of complete comfort with the medium."

"Tiepolo Drawings From The Robert Lehman Collection," are on display until August 17.

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