DRAWINGS are to paintings what letters are to public declarations, or diaries to autobiographies, or songs to symphonies. Michelangelo called drawing the basis of almost all knowledge, believing that only the outline, on paper or in mind, can make meanings clear. Master drawings merge swift emotion with analysis. They are both personal and sharp.
A loan exhibition at the Knoedler Art Galleries last week amounted to a miniature anthology of the best European drawing. Brought together to benefit Columbia University, and sponsored by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth (who sent Signorelli's Hercules and Antaeus, and five other drawings from Windsor Castle), the...