Significant works by Paul Cézanne, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and more are heading to London’s Courtauld Gallery as part of a transformative gift of modern drawings. It is said that 25 piece assembled by the late British collector Howard Karsh is being donated as a memory of his wife artist Linda Karshan.
The Courtauld gallery’s renowned collection includes masterpieces like Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Its massive holdings of works on paper count pieces by artists such as Leonardo, Rembrandt and Rubens, but until now, the museum was sorely missing masterpieces from the 20th century. Apart from Cézanne, none of the artist’s work which is included in Karshan gift was represented in gallery holdings.
There are drawings by great names but also “astonishing and revelatory” works by artists less well known to the wider public. For example, an explosively colourful work by the Californian abstract expressionist Sam Francis, and abstract works by Henri Michaux made while he was tripping on mescaline.
Soutter produced his most famous piece while interning against his wish in hospice in Ballaigues, a small village in Switzerland. After he developed osteoarthritis, Soutter would dip his fingers in ink and work directly on paper. The gallery will also receive a piece by the Abstract Expressionist artist Sam Francis and a series of abstract works by Belgian painter and writer Henri Michaux that were created while he was high on mescaline. The Karshan gift will go on display in late 2021, when the historic gallery reopens following a $70.5 million modernization project.