Item #8080 [Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations]. Helen S. Collins.
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].
[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].

[Sketches of Classical Art and Illuminated Manuscript Illustrations].

[South Hadley, Massachusetts]: 1914-1916. 47 thin cards, each around 5” x 8”. Very good plus: tiny pin holes to corners of each card; the occasional bit of edge wear, spotting or faint stain; lightly dust-soiled.

This is a stunning set of artistic renderings made by a woman who we believe to have been a student at Mount Holyoke College between 1914 and 1916, Helen S. Collins.

Not to be confused with the noted English painter and teacher of the same name, Helen Collins graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1916 and went on to be a mathematics teacher in Stonington, Connecticut; Dover, New Hampshire; and Fall River, Massachusetts. Each of the cards on offer here was dated, and a few had the notation of “Art VIII c,” which we took to be a college-level art class. A history of art at Mount Holyoke we found online shared that students at the time would have been studying texts such as Masterpieces of Painting: An Introductory Study and History of Italian Painting, along with illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, engravings and other art found in the school's own impressive collections.

These impeccably tidy, highly skilled sketches reveal studies of classical and Renaissance works, as well as ornaments, brocades and patterns from Romanesque, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts. One card was an “Original Design made up from motives of Gothic Illuminated Manuscripts,” another an “Example of Rococo Decoration,” and one showed “Persian Brocades in works of European Artists.” Seventeen of the cards were illustrated in vivid color, and eight in charcoal, including an “Example of Greek Carving” from the “Classic Period” and an “Early Lombard Ornament.” Another 19 were done in pencil, including studies of Giotto and the Florentine School, Raphael, “Michelangelo's human figures from the Sistine Chapel” and a “Composition to show line, Botticelli 1444-1510. This shows an interesting interlacing of line.” The remaining three cards include black ink renderings of “Greek Patterns, taken from photographs” and a “Tuscan Romanesque” marble inlay.

Striking original work showcasing emblems and drawings found in illuminated manuscripts as well as classical art. Very good +. Item #8080

Price: $500.00

Add to Cart Ask a Question Add to Wish List
See all items in Art, Illuminated Manuscripts, Women
See all items by