New Getty Book Explores the Use of Paper, Light, and Shadow in European Drawings

The treatment of light and shadow is one of the building blocks of drawing.

From techniques such as highlights and reserves, to material selection and the creation of translucent tracing paper, to the use of light as a medium for viewing artworks, artists for hundreds of years have found innovative and dazzling ways to create light on a sheet of paper.

Paper and Light: Luminous Drawings (J. Paul Getty Museum, $24.95) examines the central relationship between paper and light in the world of drawings in western European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Focusing on drawings from the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, as well as works from the British Museum, Musée du Louvre, and others, and featuring masterful drawings by such artists as Parmigianino, Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolas Poussin, Odilon Redon, Edgar Degas, and Georges Seurat, Paper and Light will entice readers to look longer and more closely at drawings, deriving an even deeper appreciation for the skill and labor that went into their making.