On my drawing table
What is a master copy?
Two weeks ago I started Dina Brodsky’s Tree Drawing online short course. You may have spotted Dina’s work on Instagram. She is a huge proponent of the modern sketchbook movement, and is especially known for her sensitive and detailed drawings of trees, landscapes, and birds. As part of the class, we are tackling a copy of an historical master drawing of trees in a landscape.
The snapshot above shows the early stages of my master drawing copy. On the left is a printout of an early 19th-century drawing by AEG Roelofs from the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. I’ve just laid in the first layers of wash in the drawing on the right. There’s still quite a ways to go!
The Rijks Museum has a really wonderful program called Rijksstudio. Anyone can set up a free account and receive access to all the works in the museum’s online database. Members of the general public may download lower res JPGs of the artwork to use gratis for any project, from school term papers to t-shirts, mugs, and other items for personal use. A professional account is also free, but professionals may download high-res TIFF files of images for no-cost use in projects such as presentations. Professionals may also use images as design elements in products created for sale, but there is a royalty/licensing fee involved.
A master copy is when an artist chooses to make a copy of a painting or other artwork by a master artist of the past. One example of a master copy are the sketches drawn by art students visiting museums. An artist may copy a masterwork in order to learn or refine a technique that the famous predecessor was known for. Or the contemporary artist may be seeking compositional ideas, or themes. Sometimes an artist will choose to repeat the historical work as closely as possible, sometimes even using materials that were in use when the original was created. Other times, the artist may reinterpret the artwork according to his or her own style. Matisse painted three master copies of La Desserte by Jan Davidsz. de Heem. The first was made while he was still a student at the Academy, and is a faithful rendering of the 17th-century Dutch still life. The second version was painted in 1908, and is a tour-de-force of Matisse’s Fauvist style. The third version, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, was completed in 1915. Picasso is also known for his reinterpretations of El Greco and Velasquez using Cubism.
One thing a master copy is NOT—a forgery or a copyright infringement. The modern artist is paying an homage to the historical artist, not trying to rip people off. The title of the master copy will be something along the lines of, “Landscape, after XYZ,” with XYZ being the name of the historical artist who created the original.
Matisse’s achievement may be beyond my reach, but with a little luck and a lot more work, this course should be another step in my quest to merge the exactitude of my botanical training with my roots in messy ‘80s Neo-Expressionism.
What kind of learning or creative projects have you been enjoying this fall?
Your homage is beautiful even in its early stages Wren! I agree that making master copies are a brilliant way to learn and pay homage to an artist that inspires us.
I also adore the Rijksmuseum. The best exhibition I've ever seen was there - a comprehensive exhibit of Rembrandt's drawings. It was stunning. But I didn't know they allowed access to images in their collection, that's incredible news, thank you for sharing!!
So interesting! Love your trees so far - I’ve been intrigued by Dina’s class and it’s lovely to see what you’re creating! I’ve been doing a lot of watercolor and pencil paintings in my sketchbook as small studies for the new painting collection I’m working on.