1988.452: Sketchbook

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1988.452

People

Raphael Soyer, American (Borisoglebsk, Russia 1899 - 1987 New York, NY)

Title

Sketchbook

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

sketchbook

Date

1984

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/309786

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Sketchbook with black-leather-covered cardboard covers

Dimensions

actual: 28.1 x 21.5 x 2 cm (11 1/16 x 8 7/16 x 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Raphael Soyer, bequest; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1988.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Raphael Soyer

Accession Year

1988

Object Number

1988.452

Division

Modern and Contemporary Art

Contact

am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Sketchbook with black-leather-covered cardboard covers. Sewn page block; pages of off-white wove paper, each 27.2 x 20.8 cm. Drawings made in graphite and in vertical orientation unless otherwise described.

p. 1: black crayon, u.r.: Lambro / 982 2868
center: RAPHAEL / SOYER / 1984

p. 2: July 3 / We arrived in Amsterdam / about 7:30 this evening, settled ourselves in the / American Hotel and went out for a stroll. This hotel / is right in the middle of Leidesplein [Leiderplein?], which seems / to be one of the main centers where the "action" / is, so to speak. There were crowds of young / people, listening to rock & roll, watching mimes and / jugglers. The square was jammed with young men / and women, long-haired, loosely dressed, colorful. / There was a feeling of freedom about them, permissiveness. / July 4 / After the neglected-looking museums in / Florence [added with caret: which depressed me], rich in content ‘tho they are, the Rijksmuseum / here gave me a lift. The paintings were beautifully / installed and well-lit. At the risk of repeating myself, / I must say again that to me Amsterdam is / Rembrandt. I don’t particularly care, or am [inserted with caret: I] interested / in the anecdotal genre of Dutch art. The paintings / of Jan Steen, [inserted with caret: the] van Ostade’s, are fussy and tiresome. Of / course, there are the few Vermeers. But it’s Rembrandt who is the phenomenal figure in the Rijksmuseum. / In the few weeks that we’ve been in Europe we have / seen so many great paintings—the breath-taking Courbets, Delacroix, Gericaults, in the Louvre, the great collection / of the Impressionists in the National Gallery of London, / the Raphaels & the Titians in Florence—Rembrandt, / tops them all, as far as I’m concerned.

Page torn out (numbering does not skip).

p. 3: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 4: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 5: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 6: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same pose and model pp. 3-6, 11-13, 40]

p. 7: Seated Female Nude
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 8: Seated Female
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 9: Seated Female

p. 10: Seated Female [same model pp. 8-10]

p. 11: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 12: Female Head and Shoulders.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 13: Seated Female Nude.
[same pose and model pp. 3-6, 11-13, 40]

p. 14: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same model as 3-6, 11-13?]

Page torn out (numbering does not skip).

p. 15: Seated Female Nude
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same model as 3-6, 11-13?]

p. 16: Woman with Chin in Hand.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 17: Seated Female.

p. 18: Seated Female Nude.

p. 19: Seated Female Nude.

p. 20: Seated Female. Black ink.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 21: Seated Female. Black ink.
[same model and pose pp. 20-21]

p. 22: Female Head Studies.
[mostly drawn upside-down from orientation of book]
[same model pp. 20-23]

p. 23: Female Profile Portrait.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same model as pp. 20-23]

p. 24: Stylized Heads.

p. 25: Seated Woman Undressing

p. 26: Seated Woman Undressing

p. 27: Seated Woman Undressing
[pp. 25-27 in sequence as she undresses; [same model pp. 25-27, 29-36, 38-39, 42-43]

p. 28: Female Portrait Sketch (Rebecca Soyer)
center right: Rebecca
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 29: Seated Woman Undressing
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 30: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink and graphite.

p. 31: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink and erased graphite.

p. 32: Seated Woman Undressing.

p. 33: Head Sketches of Woman Undressing. Black ink.

p. 34: Seated Woman Undressing

p. 35: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 36: Seated Woman Undressing.
[same model pp. 25-27, 29-36, 38-39, 42-43]

p. 37: Male Portrait Head

p. 38: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink.

p. 39: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same model pp. 25-27, 29-36, 38-39, 42-43]

p. 40: Seated Female Nude
[same pose and model pp. 3-6, 11-13, 40]

p. 41: Male Portrait Sketch.
Center right: Dion / O’Wieth / O’Wyatt
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 42: Seated Woman Undressing. Black ink and wash over graphite.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAELL [sic] / SOYER

p. 43: Seated Woman Undressing.
[same model pp. 25-27, 29-36, 38-39, 42-43]

p. 44: Male Portrait Sketch (Nat Messik)
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 45: Male Portrait Sketch (Nat Messik). Charcoal
center right: of / Nat / Messik
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 46: Male Portrait Sketch. Charcoal.

p. 47: Reclining Female. Charcoal and graphite. Horizontal.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 48: Reclining Female Nude. Charcoal. Horizontal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 49: Reclining Female Nude. Charcoal. Horizontal.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 50: Reclining Female Nude from the Back. Charcoal. Horizontal.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 51: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 52: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 53: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RS
[pp. 51-53 roughly in sequence]

p. 54: Seated Female Nude. Charcoal.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 55: Seated Female Nude. Charcoal.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 56: Seated Female. Charcoal and pastel [or colored crayon?]
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 57: Seated Female. Graphite and charcoal.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 58: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings.
l.r.: RS.

p. 59: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Graphite and charcoal.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 60: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings.
l.r.: R.S.

p. 61: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 62: Seated Female Pulling on Stockings. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[pp. 51-53, 58-62 same model and poses]

p. 63: Seated Female. Black ink.
[appears to be same model as that on previous pages]

p. 64: Reclining Female. Charcoal and graphite.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 65: Reclining Female. Charcoal and graphite. Horizontal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 66: Seated Female. Charcoal.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 67: Woman Leaning to Right. Brown and black ink.

p. 68: Standing Female from the Back. Brown ink.

p. 69: Standing Female from the Back and Stylized Profile Heads. Brown ink

p. 70: Standing Female. Charcoal.

p. 71: Male Portrait Sketch (Isaac B. Singer)
center right: Isaac B / Singer

p. 72: Female Heads. Brown ink; black crayon

p. 73: Male Portrait Sketch.
Center right: Lambro Ahlas
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 74: Standing Female Nude

p. 75: Female Nude Leaning Forward, from Behind. Graphite and black crayon.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 76: Male Portrait Study (Gregory Corso)
u.r.: Gregory / Corso / drunk
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 77: Female Nude. Graphite and charcoal.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 78: Male Portrait Study. Graphite and charcoal.
Graphite, u.r.: of / James / Kearny
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[column of figures across bottom of page]

p. 79: Seated Female Undressing. Black crayon and pastel.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 80: Seated Female Nude. Black crayon.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 81: Seated Female Nude. Black crayon, graphite and charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 82: Seated Female Nude. Black crayon.

p. 83: Seated Female. Black crayon and charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 84: Seated Female. Black crayon and pastel.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL SOYER
Verso of page completely colored red in crayon?; red has not transferred to recto of p. 85.

p. 85: Seated Female. Black and red crayon and pastel.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL SOYER

p. 86: Female Lying Prone. Black crayon.

p. 87: Female Lying Prone. Black crayon.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[pp. 86-87 same model and pose]

p. 88: Female Nude Lying Prone. Black crayon and graphite.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 89: Female Nude Sketches, Stylized Heads. Black crayon and graphite.
Graphite, l.r.: R.S.

p. 90: Reclining Female Nude. Black crayon and graphite.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 91: Seated Female Nude and Study of her Head.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 92: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[same model and pose pp. 91-92]

p. 93: Seated Female Nude.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 94: Seated Female.
l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER
[drawn upside down from orientation of book]

p. 95: Female Nude. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.l.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 96: Seated Female.
l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 97: Seated Female.

p. 98: Seated Female. Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 99: Male Portrait Study (Nat Messik?). Charcoal.
Graphite, l.r.: RAPHAEL / SOYER

p. 100: Head sketch.
p. 100 verso, blue ballpoint: Recieve [sic] one / painting on consignment / for payment $5,000. (five / thousand) to be paid / by, latest, February 1984 / [signature, illeg.] / Dec 6th, 1983.

SIX pages torn out at back of book.

Verification Level