Volume 39, Number 13 · July 16, 1992
The Genius of Cento
By Matthew Rutenberg
ABOUT GUERCINO
Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque 15–May 17, 1992
an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, March
Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque
catalog of the exhibition by Denis Mahon, with contributions by Andrea Emiliani, by Diane De Grazia, by Sybille Ebert-Schifferer
National Gallery of Art, 315 pp., $39.95 (paper)
Guercino: Drawings from Windsor Castle
an exhibition at The Drawing Center, New York, June 2–August 1, 1992
Guercino: Drawings from Windsor Castle
catalog of the exhibition, by Nicholas Turner
National Gallery of Art, 144 pp., $29.95 (paper)
Guercino: Master Draftsman, Works from North American Collections
catalog by David M. Stone
Harvard University Art Museums/Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 254 pp., $30.00 (paper)
Guercino (1591–1661): Drawings From Dutch Collections
catalog by Carel van Tuyll Van Serooskerken
Gary Schwartz, Sdu/University of Washington Press, 204 pp., $25.00 (paper)
Perhaps no other artist, excepting the Renaissance painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi called Il Sodoma (the Sodomite), has been as unfortunately nicknamed as Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, or the 'little squinter.'[1] In spite of his defective eye Guercino 'was a great draftsman and a felicitous colorist,' to quote Ludovico Carracci, one of the most eminent artists of his day. This judgment has recently been confirmed in a series of exhibitions celebrating the fourth centennial of his birth, at the Louvre, in London, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ottawa, Cleveland, Bologna, Rome, Genoa, Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Fort Worth, New York, and recently at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. Still, after all this attention, perplexing questions remain about Guercino's work, particularly in the way his painting suddenly seemed to change its character and become less interesting in the middle of his career.
Review, 3508 words
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