Exhibitions

New at the Morgan: Acquisitions Since 2004
April 17 through October 18, 2009

+zoom	Book of Hours of Guillaume Lambert, Rome use, in Latin France, Lyons, 1484 Written by Guillaume Lambert and illuminated for him by the Master of Guillaume Lambert; 192 leaves 126 x 82 mm Melvin R. Seiden Collection, 2007; MS M.1162 (fol. 71v) An inscription in this manuscript indicates that Guillaume Lambert wrote it in 1484 in Lyons at his house pres le portal (near the portal—perhaps an entrance to the church of Notre-Dame de Confort, an area favored by the book trade). Since Lambert was not an illuminator, he sought local artists to paint the miniatures. The anonymous artist responsible for the Adoration of the Magi shown here was the best illuminator active in Lyons at the time. In 1982 John Plummer, Curator Emeritus at the Morgan, named him the Master of Guillaume Lambert after this manuscript.

+zoom	*Trinity Adored by the Choirs of Angels* Illuminated by the Master of Claude de France Prayer Book of Queen Claude de France France, Tours, ca. 1517 2 3/4 x 2 inches (69 x 49 mm) Gift of Mrs. Alexandre P. Rosenberg in memory of her husband Alexandre Paul Rosenberg, 2008; MS M.1166 (fols. 24v–25) Photography by Schecter Lee See the whole manuscript » Claude de France had just been crowned queen of France when she received this prayer book. It is one of a pair of tiny manuscripts (the companion Book of Hours is in private hands) that the queen might have commissioned as a gift for herself. The work of an artist whose jewel-like style is the epitome of refinement, the queen's manuscripts are the finest creations by an illuminator called the Master of Claude de France. Shown here is the Trinity adored by choirs of angels. Surrounding the Trinity is a girdle with loosely tied knots—an emblem of Claude's husband, King François I. Framing a Trinity in which Christ appears as the pre-Incarnate Son, the girdle alludes to Claude's hopes for a fruitful marriage.

+zoom	Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) Sketch for the second movement of the Symphony no. 7, op. 92 Autograph manuscript, 1812 James Fuld Collection See the whole manuscript » This sketch comes from the lower part of a leaf from the Petter Sketchbook, named after Gustav A. Petter (1828–1868), one of its former owners. It contains musical ideas for the second movement of the Seventh Symphony—the opening chord and the reiterated bass figure. Undoubtedly the popularity of this movement made it desirable to admirers and collectors and led to the dismemberment of the sketchbook and dispersal of several of its leaves.

+zoom	Red Grooms (b. 1937) Rudy Burckhardt at Machu Picchu, 1974 Pencil and colored ink on paper. Signed at bottom left, PaulGrooms and dated 1974 60 3/4 x 38 inches (1543 x 965 mm) Gift of Lysiane Luong Grooms and Red Grooms; 2008.3 © 2013 Red Grooms / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York This impressive portrait records Grooms's friendship with photographer and cinematographer Rudy Burckhardt (1914–1999), with whom he collaborated on several films in the 1960s. The drawing was made from a sketch Grooms did during a trip the two artists took to the pre-Columbian Inca site of Machu Picchu, Peru. The mix of humor and tenderness is characteristic of Grooms's style, which relates to the aesthetics of the comic strip. Having started with the head, Grooms eventually ran out of space for the feet and continued on another sheet of paper.

+zoom	Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) Figures on a Busy Street, 1914 India ink, watercolor, gouache, and reed pen on wove paper. 12 3/8 x 16 1/2 inches (313 x 420 mm) Bequest of Fred Ebb; 2005.140 "I must draw at speeds close to racing, just draw," Kirchner wrote. "Then after a time select what is good." The execution of this watercolor inspired by Berlin's streets conveys the fast pace and transience of modern urban life. All the faceless figures look alike. Although the swift strokes of the pen and free handling of watercolors preserve the spontaneity of a drawing made from life, the careful arrangement of the groups of figures and cars at this busy intersection suggests a planned composition rather than a quick recording of visual impressions.

+zoom	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) Il dissoluto punito o sia: Il D. Giovanni Playbill for the first Leipzig performance, June 15, 1788 James Fuld Collection This playbill, one of only seven to have survived that advertised performances of Mozart's operas during his lifetime, documents the Leipzig premiere of Don Giovanni on 15 June 1788, only seven and a half months after the work's world premiere in Prague. The impresario Domenico Guardasoni, who presented Don Giovanni in Prague, brought his company to perform the work in Leipzig, using many of the same performers from the first production: Donna Elvira (Micelli), Zerlina (Micelli sen.), Commendatore (Lolli), Leporello (Ponziani), Don Ottavio (Baglioni), and Masetto (Lolli). The other two roles were recast: Don Giovanni (Costa for Luigi Bassi), and Donna Anna (Crespi for Saporiti).

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