Georg Baselitz & Joseph Beuys gifted to Courtauld permanent collection

London’s Courtauld Gallery has received works by Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys for their permanent collection, as part of a significant gift of 25 drawings from the collection of the late British collector Howard Karshan and donated by his wife, Linda Karshan (artist).

Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, the head of the Courtauld gallery, said the gift was “important beyond its size” because of the gaps it filled and the nature of the works. The gallery has one of the nation’s great drawing collections, with 7,000 works by artists including Leonardo, Rembrandt and Rubens.

“It is also one of the most active collections in terms of exhibitions and displays and loans,” said Vegelin. “Despite that, our representation of draughtsmanship in the 20th century is hesitant, so this gives us a fantastic new chapter in the collection and a great basis for future growth.

... He said the art works made a case for drawing on its own terms, not just as preparatory studies for paintings. “It is not a collection that someone has put together from a reference book, it is a collection with real edge and bite and character that really gets under the skin of drawing as an art form.”

The works, which also include examples by Cy Twombly, Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys, were “gutsy, full-on drawing as self-expression, really pushing the boundaries of the medium and exploring the edges of draughtsmanship.”

— Reports Mark Brown, The Guardian

“[The Courtauld Gallery] is also one of the most active collections in terms of exhibitions and displays and loans,” said Vegelin. “Despite that, our representation of draughtsmanship in the 20th century is hesitant, so this gives us a fantastic new chapter in the collection and a great basis for future growth.”

The gift includes watercolors by Cézanne, as well as drawings by Cy Twombly, Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys. Also represented are drawings by less known artists which Vegelin called “astonishing and revelatory,” including two expressive finger drawings by Swiss artist and violinist Louis Soutter.

— Reports Tessa Solomon, ARTnews