Luminous Color at the Morgan

Sky Study, ca. 1850, oil on paper, Carl Maria Nicolaus Hummel

After exploring the rich symbolism of Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions, I wandered into Luminous Color (February 10 through November 8, 2026), an intimate exhibition devoted to oil sketches from the remarkable collection donated jointly to the Morgan Library & Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Though modest in scale, these vibrant studies, often painted as preparations for larger works, possess a freshness and immediacy that finished paintings sometimes lose. Rather than polished masterpieces, they reveal artists thinking through light, color, atmosphere, and composition, making them feel unexpectedly personal and alive.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli

View of Ischia from the Sea, 1842, oil on paper,
mounted to canvas, Jean-Charles-Joseph Rémond

Moonlit Harbor in Southern Italy, 1833-35, oil
on paper, mounted to Masonite, Thomas Fearnley

Moonlit View of the River Elbe at Dresden, 1826, oil on paper,
mounted to paper-covered wood panel, Johan Christian Dahl

Ischia and the Bay of Naples by Moonlight, ca. 1800,
oil on paper, Circle of Pierre Henri de Valenciennes

Garden of the Villa Medici, Rome, ca. 1845-70,
oil on paper, Jean-Achille Benouville

View of Rome with Ruined Church, ca. 1825-35,
oil on paper, mounted on canvas, Franz Ludwig Catel

Landscape at Sunset, ca. 1830, oil on paper,
mounted to canvas, Carl Gustav Carus

Cloud Study, 1828, oil on paper, mounted to cardboard, Johan Christian Dahl

Sunset on the Normandy Coast, ca. 1850, oil on paper,
mounted to canvas, Eugène Isabey

Jungfrau, Mönch, and Eiger, ca. 1851, oil on paper,
mounted to cardboard, Carl Morgenstern