This major drawing was part of the series entitled ‘Drawings for The Courtauld’ that Richard Serra produced for the special display of the same name at The Courtauld Gallery (19 September 2013 – 12 January 2014). Serra presented this work to The Courtauld as a gift that would mark both the success of the display and his long-standing connection to the collection, especially the works by Cézanne. When he was a young artist, starting out in New York in the early 1960s, Serra first saw Cézanne’s Still Life with Plaster Cupid and was overwhelmed by its radical vision and power. It has remained a touchstone for him throughout his career and he has had a black and white postcard of it on his nightstand for many years. Serra traces part of the impetus for his own pioneering approach to both sculpture and drawing to his experience in front of this painting. His ‘Drawings for The Courtauld’ were intended as a manifestation of this radical ambition. ‘Courtauld Transparency #4’ exemplifies the qualities that define the series as a whole. A hybrid of printmaking and drawing, the work was produced using litho crayon on both sides of a Mylar plastic sheet. The transparency of the support means that the thick black pigment appears to float without being anchored to a solid ground. Furthermore, elements of the pigment on the verso are visible from the front, further destabilizing our perception of the black mass of material that clings to the plastic sheet. The work addresses fundamental questions about the nature of drawing and extends Serra’s practice as a one of the most important draughtsman of the second half of the twentieth century – a parallel career to his fame as a sculptor.

gift of the artist to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2014

Richard Serra - Drawings for The Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 12/09/2013-12/01/2014