Drawn to Blue: Artists’ Use of Blue Paper

Interesting exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of works on blue paper from their collection.

The show explained how artists used blue paper to give a mid-tone to drawings and watercolour sketches. It also looked at the different types of blue paper and how it was made.

The best aspect was the beautiful works which were on show from a drawing from Tintoretto's workshop to a 20th century piece by Wyndham Lewis. I loved a small Turner landscape and wonderful church interior by Pieter Saenredam from 1634.

I was most intrigued at the story with a female nude by Govert Flinck from 1648. It represents one of the earliest documented cases of women posing nude in Western art as a court case from the same year tells us that Flinck painted three sisters "stark naked". 

Closes 26 January 2025


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