Working on the road and en plein air:
Katrin Bellinger began collecting in 1985 in parallel to her career as a dealer in Old Master drawings. Fascinated with the artistic process and the mystique surrounding it, she chose to focus on one theme: the artist at work. The collection has since expanded considerably and now includes circa 2000 examples in a range of media – drawings, paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture – dating from the Renaissance to the present day.
At the 2025 Salon du Dessin, the Katrin Bellinger Collection will present a selection of drawings and watercolours exploring the theme of travel, to coincide with the XVIIIth Salon du dessin International Symposium, ‘Traveling Artists: Forms and Functions of Travel Drawing’.
The display will build on the success of the recent exhibition Connecting Worlds: Artists & Travel – a collaboration with the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (8 July – 8 October 2023). From sketchbook sheets to finished drawings made as gifts, the chosen works showcase a variety of approaches to the experience, recording and recollection of travel.
Offering insights into this ever-expanding private collection, the display will include prime examples by Lambert Doomer (1624–1700), Hubert Robert (1733–1808) and Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827), amongst others.
The collection is administered by the Tavolozza Foundation, a non-profit, charitable organisation founded in 2001 by Katrin Bellinger.
Named Tavolozza, the Italian word for palette, the Foundation offers support to projects focusing on the theme of the artist at work and on the field of works on paper, with the aim of keeping drawings and prints visible.
This includes providing funding for exhibitions and their catalogues, acquisitions, scholarly publications as well as special projects such as conferences and study days.
Henri-Joseph HARPIGNIES
A draughtsman sketching in a tree
1895
Pen and black ink, grey wash over traces of chalk, 68 x 102 mm
Katrin Bellinger Collection
Photography: Matthew Hollow
Lambert DOOMER
An artist seated by a tree, sketching
Early 1660s
Pen and brown ink, brown wash
145 x 117 mm
Katrin Bellinger Collection
Photography: Matthew Hollow
Carlo LABRUZZI
The Colosseum seen from the Palatine Hill, Rome
Late 1760s–1780
Pen and watercolour over traces of pencil
375 x 540 mm
Katrin Bellinger Collection
Photography: Matthew Hollow
Hubert ROBERT
An artist drawing beside a statue of Jupiter
1762
Red chalk, 530 x 400 mm
Katrin Bellinger Collection
Photography: Matthew Hollow
Thomas Rowlandson
An artist travelling in Wales
c. 1797
Pen and ink and watercolour over touches of pencil.
On the artist’s original wash line mount
282 x 282 mm
Katrin Bellinger Collection
Photography: Matthew Hollow
Fondation Tavolozza
Nikolausstr. 12, 82335 Berg, Deutschland/Germany
Tel. +49 1728417170
www.katrinbellingercollection.com
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