Master Drawings of the 17th Century from the Witt Collection

Drawing is the most intimate and personal side of an artist’s work. It is the first step and the means by which he achieves the synthesis of vision which is the basis of his art. For the greatest draughtsmen from Michelangelo to Picasso, drawing has been the very act of creation, when the artist’s imagination has forged visual experience into the enduring and inexhaustible image of art. Because of this drawings have always had a fascination for the discerning and have been collected for centuries by artists and connoisseurs. The drawings in this exhibition come from Sir Robert Will’s collection, or from drawings added to it from a fund which Sir Robert left, together with his collection, to the Courtauld Institute and the University of London.

Source: Adapted from: Lou Klepac, Exhibition Catalogue, 1968