Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy: Bibiena Drawings from the Jules Fisher Collection

The Bibiena family, renowned theater designers for over a century, created elaborate stage designs for operas, festivals, and courtly performances in Europe. A collection of their drawings, from the collection of Jules Fisher, is being gifted to the Morgan Library & Museum, marking the first exhibition in the US in over 30 years. The drawings showcase the family's range of output, from energetic sketches to highly finished watercolors, depicting imagined palace interiors and lavish Baroque architecture. The catalogue includes essays by experts on the Bibiena family, their contribution to theater design, and the significance of their scena per angolo sets.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 15 May 2021
Publisher: Paul Holberton Publishing

For nearly a century, members of three generations of the Bibiena family were the most sought-after theater designers in Europe. Their elaborate stage designs were used for operas, festivals, and courtly performances across Europe, from their native Italy to cities as far away as Vienna, Prague, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, and Lisbon. Beyond these performances, the distinctive Bibiena style survives through their remarkable drawings. Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy is a promised gift to the Morgan Library & Museum from the collection of Jules Fisher, the Tony Award-winning lighting designer, and commemorates an exhibition of these works, the first in the United States in over thirty years to celebrate these talented draftsmen. These drawings demonstrate the range of the Bibienas output, from energetic sketches to highly finished watercolors. With representations of imagined palace interiors and lavish illusionistic architecture, this group of drawings highlights the visual splendor of the Baroque stage. The catalogue opens with Diane Kelder's introductory essay about the Bibiena family. Laurel Peterson then discusses the Bibienas as draftsmen, underscoring the drawings from the Fisher collection. Arnold Aronson, in turn, explores the family's contribution to the theater, setting them within a history of European stage design and explaining the significance of the dynamic angled perspective of their scena per angolo sets. John Marciari's essay considers the Fisher gift among the many Bibiena drawings already at the Morgan, mainly from the Oenslager collection, and looks at the collecting of Bibiena drawings more generally. Finally, Diane Kelder's checklist offers information regarding the attribution and provenance of the works in the exhibition.

Weight: 288g
Dimension: 209 x 209 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781913645045