Research Exhibition: Rework, Retouch, Care: Case Studies from the Hertziana Collection

Francesca Borgo / Camilla Colzani

Much more than any other artistic medium or medium, drawings have been manipulated, mounted, cut, pasted, and retouched by artists and collectors, at times to modify the original figure, at other times to adapt them to contemporary tastes, and at other times for reasons of collection or conservation. The drawings in the Hertziana collection offer a key entry point into considering the layered nature of these works and their modification over time. This research project is focused on the development of an exhibition entitled Rework, Retouch, Care: Case Studies from the Hertziana Collection, which aims to present a selection of drawings from the Hertziana collection that are of particular importance from the point of view of the material interventions that have altered their graphic sign or support over time. The event (expected dates: 5 March to 15 May 2025) will be preceded and accompanied by a research phase as part of the Lise Meitner Group’s annual initiative (2024/2025: “Rework”). This work is also connected with the work of Getty Paper Project workshop Touched/Retouched: Paper across Time (1400–1800) and the 2025 Gernsheim Study Days Mettere mano: Reworking Early Modern Drawings. The research project will be developed in different phases: a contribution to the history of the Hertziana collection, the study of eight to ten drawings in terms of their stylistic and material aspects, and the organization of the exhibition in all its aspects.