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Modern British, 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Swan landing
Modern British, 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Swan landing

Modern British, 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Swan landing

By Sven Berlin

Located in Petworth, West Sussex

Like Elizabeth Frink, another great artist from the period, the excellence displayed in his sculptures goes hand in hand with these beautiful preparatory line drawings. Exhibiting an...

Category

20th Century Romantic Animal Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

British 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Self Portrait, pen and ink
British 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Self Portrait, pen and ink

British 20th Century St. Ives artist, Sven Berlin, Self Portrait, pen and ink

By Sven Berlin

Located in Petworth, West Sussex

Like Elizabeth Frink, another great artist from the period, the excellence displayed in his sculptures goes hand in hand with these beautiful preparatory line drawings. Exhibiting an...

Category

20th Century Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

G A  Rochegrosse (1859-1938)  Study for the Exposition Internationale Paris 1900
G A  Rochegrosse (1859-1938)  Study for the Exposition Internationale Paris 1900

G A Rochegrosse (1859-1938) Study for the Exposition Internationale Paris 1900

By Georges Antoine Rochegrosse

Located in Paris, FR

In a modern frame : 46 x 36.5 cm Annotations on the back of the mount (now under the modern frame) that identifiy this drawing as a preparatory study for the decoration of the Salle...

Category

1890s Symbolist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Carbon Pencil

Tableau Series - Gamma - Monoprint on Parchment Paper, Framed, 2010+
Tableau Series - Gamma - Monoprint on Parchment Paper, Framed, 2010+

Tableau Series - Gamma - Monoprint on Parchment Paper, Framed, 2010+

By Susan Collett

Located in Bloomfield, ON

In this way, every new image is original—one of a kind. “I do not make preparatory drawings for the sculpture or the prints, rather I hone in on the spontaneous, which perhaps ste...

Category

2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples

Materials

Parchment Paper, Monoprint

Hopper Drawing by and inscribed by Carter E Foster to Herbert Kasper, 1st Ed
Hopper Drawing by and inscribed by Carter E Foster to Herbert Kasper, 1st Ed

Hopper Drawing by and inscribed by Carter E Foster to Herbert Kasper, 1st Ed

Located in valatie, NY

Foster examines how Hopper used his drawings to develop his paintings, arguing that the artist's work can only be fully understood after careful study of these preparatory sketches.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Books

Materials

Paper

Christo & Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, Limited Signed Book & Original Fabric Square
Christo & Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, Limited Signed Book & Original Fabric Square

Christo & Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, Limited Signed Book & Original Fabric Square

By Wolfgang Volz, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, TASCHEN

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Each copy comes with a 24 x 24 cm (9.4 x 9.4 in.) piece of the project’s original fabric and features over 100 preparatory drawings and collages, as well as 900 important documents, ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Books

Materials

Fabric, Paper

19th Century View from the Spiers of the Duomo Painting Watercolor on Paper
19th Century View from the Spiers of the Duomo Painting Watercolor on Paper

19th Century View from the Spiers of the Duomo Painting Watercolor on Paper

Located in Milan, IT

The calm and carefree atmosphere that characterizes the work is further transmitted by the palette of soft colors spread over overlapping glazes, which, in addition to giving strengt...

Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Paper

Tableau Series - Zeta: Abstract Monoprint on Paper, Framed 41 x 29, Unique
Tableau Series - Zeta: Abstract Monoprint on Paper, Framed 41 x 29, Unique

Tableau Series - Zeta: Abstract Monoprint on Paper, Framed 41 x 29, Unique

By Susan Collett

Located in Bloomfield, ON

'Zeta' is the sixth letter in the Greek alphabet-(sixth in a series). "I do not make preparatory drawings for the sculpture or the prints, rather I hone in on the spontaneous, which...

Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Monoprint

Tableau Series - Theta: Abstract Monoprint, Framed 44.75 x 31.25
Tableau Series - Theta: Abstract Monoprint, Framed 44.75 x 31.25

Tableau Series - Theta: Abstract Monoprint, Framed 44.75 x 31.25

By Susan Collett

Located in Bloomfield, ON

The name, 'Theta' references the eighth letter in the Greek alphabet-(eighth in a series). "I do not make preparatory drawings for the sculpture or the prints, rather I hone in on t...

Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Monoprint

The Causeway by Luana Asiata, Contemporary landscape painting, Original art
The Causeway by Luana Asiata, Contemporary landscape painting, Original art

The Causeway by Luana Asiata, Contemporary landscape painting, Original art

Located in Deddington, GB

Music plays a big part and influences the way she paints and draws, rhythmically it sets a pace where she can visualise colour vibrations. Most of her drawings become preparatory dra...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

The Causeway, Original Abstract Seascape Painting, Blackwater Estuary in Essex
The Causeway, Original Abstract Seascape Painting, Blackwater Estuary in Essex

The Causeway, Original Abstract Seascape Painting, Blackwater Estuary in Essex

Located in Deddington, GB

Music plays a big part and influences the way she paints and draws, rhythmically it sets a pace where she can visualise colour vibrations. Most of her drawings become preparatory dra...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil Pastel, Acrylic

Temperate and Vista with Acrylic on Canvas, Painting by Luana Asiata
Temperate and Vista with Acrylic on Canvas, Painting by Luana Asiata

Temperate and Vista with Acrylic on Canvas, Painting by Luana Asiata

Located in Deddington, GB

Music plays a big part and influences the way she paints and draws, rhythmically it sets a pace where she can visualise colour vibrations. Most of her drawings become preparatory dra...

Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Meadow, Original painting, Floral art, Abstract Painting
Meadow, Original painting, Floral art, Abstract Painting

Meadow, Original painting, Floral art, Abstract Painting

Located in Deddington, GB

Music plays a big part and influences the way she paints and draws, rhythmically it sets a pace where she can visualise colour vibrations. Most of her drawings become preparatory dr...

Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Study for Ovid-Windfall
Study for Ovid-Windfall

Study for Ovid-Windfall

By Chris Ofili

Located in Toronto, Ontario

"Study for Ovid-Windfall," recalls a mixed media preparatory drawing for a 2011-2012 large-scale painting of the same name.

Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Giclée

Exceptional Baccarat Chandelier and Its Ten Wall-Lights, France, Circa 1870
Exceptional Baccarat Chandelier and Its Ten Wall-Lights, France, Circa 1870

Exceptional Baccarat Chandelier and Its Ten Wall-Lights, France, Circa 1870

By Cristalleries De Baccarat

Located in PARIS, FR

Related work : This preparatory drawing probably served as a model for the chandelier presented here.

Category

Antique 1870s French Napoleon III Chandeliers and Pendants

Materials

Crystal

"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

By Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Located in Hinsdale, IL

The model he actually took was not the painting itself but one of the preparatory drawings for it, representing Suzanne Valadon and perhaps Renoir’s brother Edmond (some say it is hi...

Category

1890s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"La Danse à la Campagne", 2nd plate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

By Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Located in Hinsdale, IL

The model he actually took was not the painting itself but one of the preparatory drawings for it, representing Suzanne Valadon and perhaps Renoir’s brother Edmond (some say it is hi...

Category

1890s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

Christo "Wrapped Statues (Project for Der Glyptotek in Munich Aegean Temple)"
Christo "Wrapped Statues (Project for Der Glyptotek in Munich Aegean Temple)"

Christo "Wrapped Statues (Project for Der Glyptotek in Munich Aegean Temple)"

By Christo

Located in Toronto, Ontario

The temporary nature of their work is perhaps its most alluring aspect. Only preparatory drawings, prints, and collages remain after the installations are dismounted.

Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Offset, Screen

The republican picnic Stéphane Fauchille Contemporary art painting colour humour
The republican picnic Stéphane Fauchille Contemporary art painting colour humour

The republican picnic Stéphane Fauchille Contemporary art painting colour humour

By Stéphane Fauchille

Located in Paris, FR

When he shifts to painting, often on large formats, he then feels the need for an organized, structured composition, carefully developed, requiring several preparatory drawings. Wh...

Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Still Life with Fruit and Flowers', Paris, Tokyo, London, Copenhagen Academy
'Still Life with Fruit and Flowers', Paris, Tokyo, London, Copenhagen Academy

'Still Life with Fruit and Flowers', Paris, Tokyo, London, Copenhagen Academy

By Ib Eisner

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

He painted mostly without fixed contour lines or preparatory drawings, since the necessary capturing of the desired, elusive light effects required a consistently rapid and intuitive...

Category

1950s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Costumes of Spain – ILLUSTRATED by Antonio Rodríguez, 1803
Costumes of Spain – ILLUSTRATED by Antonio Rodríguez, 1803

Costumes of Spain – ILLUSTRATED by Antonio Rodríguez, 1803

Located in Middletown, NY

The first 38 plates correspond to Madrid costumes, five to La Mancha, one to La Alcarria, another to the Serranía, eight to Castilla la Vieja, two to León, Santander, Asturias and Ga...

Category

Antique Early 19th Century Spanish Books

Materials

Gold Leaf

4 Antique Gil Blas French Belle Époque Newspaper Advertising Framed Steinlen 23"
4 Antique Gil Blas French Belle Époque Newspaper Advertising Framed Steinlen 23"

4 Antique Gil Blas French Belle Époque Newspaper Advertising Framed Steinlen 23"

By Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Located in Dayton, OH

A full moon illuminates a village church steeple in the background. The original preparatory drawing for this print, rendered in brush, black ink, and colored chalk, is housed in the...

Category

Antique Late 19th Century Victorian Prints

Materials

Hardwood, Paper

Columbus, Ohio State Artist Lithograph "Heavenly Bliss" Angels, Biplane
Columbus, Ohio State Artist Lithograph "Heavenly Bliss" Angels, Biplane

Columbus, Ohio State Artist Lithograph "Heavenly Bliss" Angels, Biplane

By Sid Chafetz

Located in Surfside, FL

A golden halo, bi-plane, smiling sun, and God's feet appear in the sky above the couple. An ink and pencil preparatory drawing titled Last Tango in Columbus, with appliqué correction...

Category

1990s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Archival Paper, Lithograph

Richard Cook, Reclining Nude – Corrina, Figurative Art, Contemporary Art
Richard Cook, Reclining Nude – Corrina, Figurative Art, Contemporary Art

Richard Cook, Reclining Nude – Corrina, Figurative Art, Contemporary Art

Located in Deddington, GB

His landscapes show places that are always there, but the moment he visits them to make his preparatory drawings are not. Each time, the people will be different and the weather cond...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Wrapped Statues/West Germany
Wrapped Statues/West Germany

Wrapped Statues/West Germany

By Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Located in Missouri, MO

Funding for the site-specific works come from the sale of preparatory drawings, documents, and sculptures.

Category

1980s Modern Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Laid Paper, Lithograph

Yellow Store Front, Project, 1980
Yellow Store Front, Project, 1980

Yellow Store Front, Project, 1980

By Christo

Located in Missouri, MO

Funding for the site-specific works come from the sale of preparatory drawings, documents, and sculptures.

Category

1980s American Modern Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Daniel Arsham - Eroded Classical Prints - Contemporary Art
Daniel Arsham - Eroded Classical Prints - Contemporary Art

Daniel Arsham - Eroded Classical Prints - Contemporary Art

By Daniel Arsham

Located in Asheville, NC

ERODED CLASSICAL PRINTS is a set of three silkscreened prints reproducing Daniel Arsham’s preparatory drawings for eroded sculptural works. Each 18” x 24” print, was created with 8 ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Larges Sculptures Boreas abducting Orithya -The Rape of Proserpina France c 1870
Larges Sculptures Boreas abducting Orithya -The Rape of Proserpina France c 1870

Larges Sculptures Boreas abducting Orithya -The Rape of Proserpina France c 1870

Located in PARIS, FR

The program was intended to celebrate the cosmic and political glory of Louis XIV through an iconography inspired by Apollo and the order of the universe, and included eight groups o...

Category

Antique 1870s French Napoleon III Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Large Figurative Sculpture of Fragmented Female Body in Carved Polychrome Wood
Large Figurative Sculpture of Fragmented Female Body in Carved Polychrome Wood

Large Figurative Sculpture of Fragmented Female Body in Carved Polychrome Wood

By Jose Perozo

Located in FISTERRA, ES

For that exhibition, the sculpture formed part of a three-part installation bringing together the finished figure, the original preparatory drawing and wood remnants generated during...

Category

2010s Surrealist Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Sèvres Médicis Vases Commissioned by Napoléon for Talleyrand
Sèvres Médicis Vases Commissioned by Napoléon for Talleyrand

Sèvres Médicis Vases Commissioned by Napoléon for Talleyrand

By Cristalleries De Sevres

Located in New Orleans, LA

Notably, Brongniart’s original preparatory drawing for this floral motif is preserved in the Sèvres archives.

Category

Antique 19th Century French Vases

Materials

Bronze

St. George Dragon Tuscan School 17/18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master
St. George Dragon Tuscan School 17/18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master

St. George Dragon Tuscan School 17/18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

A large number of Leonardo’s preparatory drawings and studies of horses in battle have survived to this day; these, in fact, represent the pinnacle of his exploration of the dynamics...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

A two-part cabinet in rare exotic woods with solid ebony inlays, Italy, 1990s
A two-part cabinet in rare exotic woods with solid ebony inlays, Italy, 1990s

A two-part cabinet in rare exotic woods with solid ebony inlays, Italy, 1990s

Located in Chiavari, Liguria

The concept stemmed from an intuition: an initial preparatory drawing exploring two interlocking volumes—massive yet elegant, seemingly austere in their sequence of right angles.

Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Cabinets

Materials

Ebony, Fruitwood, Rosewood

Andy Warhol & Jamie Wyeth - Portraits of Each Other, Signed 3x by Jamie Wyeth
Andy Warhol & Jamie Wyeth - Portraits of Each Other, Signed 3x by Jamie Wyeth

Andy Warhol & Jamie Wyeth - Portraits of Each Other, Signed 3x by Jamie Wyeth

By Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth

Located in New York, NY

According to "Warhol: The Biography" by Victor Bockris, "Warhol and Wyeth had been commissioned to paint each other's portraits and show the results, along with preparatory drawings,...

Category

1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Spring- 21st Century Contemporary
Spring- 21st Century Contemporary

Spring- 21st Century Contemporary

By Pam Hawkes

Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant

"I rarely do research or preparatory drawings. I immediately go on with a half idea and work it out while I continue. " And it works!

Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

Portrait of Sir Henry Guildford

Portrait of Sir Henry Guildford

By (After) Hans Holbein The Younger

Located in London, GB

Guildford was one of the first in England to commission a portrait from Holbein and both the preparatory drawing and finished painting survive. Holbein reportedly also painted a port...

Category

16th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Antique 19thC French Baccarat Four Chamber Divided Enamel & Ormolu Scent Bottle
Antique 19thC French Baccarat Four Chamber Divided Enamel & Ormolu Scent Bottle

Antique 19thC French Baccarat Four Chamber Divided Enamel & Ormolu Scent Bottle

By Baccarat

Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent

The production of such a piece must have involved preparatory drawings, trials, and extensive labour, which, combined with the expense of manufacture, explains why only two examples ...

Category

Antique 19th Century French Other Bottles

Materials

Crystal

Holy Family with Two Saints, after Parmigianino
Holy Family with Two Saints, after Parmigianino

Holy Family with Two Saints, after Parmigianino

By Antonio Da Trento

Located in Middletown, NY

The preparatory drawing in red chalk with white heightening entitled Holy Family with Two Saints (c. 1527–29), is in the permanent collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Gabinetto dei Dis...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Ink, Laid Paper, Woodcut

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Preparatory Drawing For Sale on 1stDibs

On 1stDibs, you can find the most appropriate preparatory drawing for your needs in our varied inventory. You’re likely to find the perfect preparatory drawing among the distinctive items we have available, which includes versions made as long ago as the 18th Century as well as those made as recently as the 20th Century. When looking for the right preparatory drawing for your space, you can search on 1stDibs by color — popular works were created in bold and neutral palettes with elements of beige and brown. Creating a preparatory drawing has been a part of the legacy of many artists, but those crafted by John Steven Dews, Ferrau Fenzoni and Carl Nordell are consistently popular. Artworks like these of any era or style can make for thoughtful decor in any space, but a selection from our variety of those made in pencil, ink and canvas can add an especially memorable touch.

How Much is a Preparatory Drawing?

A preparatory drawing can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price for items in our inventory is $2,025, while the lowest priced sells for $300 and the highest can go for as much as $38,916.