Master Drawings New York Announced Dates and Exhibitors for 2023

Established in 2006, Master Drawings New York (MDNY) is the pre-eminent event for exhibiting and celebrating old masters through contemporary drawings in the United States. A select number of exhibitions also feature master paintings, sculpture, and photography. Dealers from the United States and Europe showcase their highest quality artwork in galleries along Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan from January 20-28.

The event coincides with the major Old Master auctions and scholarly events focused on drawings. It is a week dedicated to historic art, where collectors, scholars, museum curators and dealers travel to New York from around the world to view artwork and participate in the events around the city.

Image credits: Jan Lievens (Leiden 1607 – Amsterdam 1674) Portrait of Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (1597-1653), 1653; Black chalk on cream laid paper, 310 x 311 mm (irregular)signed with a monograph lower right “I.L.” and dated 1653 in black chalk

One of the highlights of Master Drawings New York 2023 will be a rediscovered Dutch Golden Age masterpiece on view at Christopher Bishop Fine Art. Jan Lievens’s 1653 portrait of Dutch war hero Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp is on view in New York for the first time, after making headlines at TEFAF Maastricht in June 2022. The drawn portrait had not been seen since 1888 and was only known from later prints and painted versions. A contemporary and rival of Rembrandt, Lievens (1607-1674) is one of the great Dutch artists of the 17^th century.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino) (Italian 1591-1666) The Finding of the True Cross, c.1644; Pen and brown ink with brown washes on buff paper, 330 x 216 mm. Image courtesy Christopher Bishop Fine Art

Another rediscovery by Bishop will also be on view at Master Drawings. A dramatic work by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino) (Italian 1591-1666) depicts the discovery of the cross in a boldly composed pen and ink drawing. The Finding of the True Cross, 1644, is a preparatory drawing for an altarpiece Guercino executed for San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti in Venice.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish 1881 1973) Homme Lançant Une Pierre, 1920; Charcoal and pencil on paper, 47.4 x 62.5 cm (18.7 x 24.6 in.) Signed lower left and dated 7-9-20 on the upper right side. Image courtesy Christopher Bishop Fine Art

A Picasso drawing that has not been on the market for more than 40 years will also be on view. The 1920 drawing, titled Homme Lançant Une Pierre, is a charcoal and pencil work on paper from a Spanish collection. Created while the artist was in Juan-les-Pins, the deceptively simple drawing is a masterwork of economy, movement, and style.