Costume B [preparatory drawing]
2002
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite on graph paper [preparatory drawing]
Dimensions
22 x 17 in.
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2024.132.719
Art Historical Context
Richard Tuttle's *Costume B [preparatory drawing]* (2002) invites visitors into the intimate world of an artist's creative process. Rendered in graphite on graph paper, this 22 x 17-inch drawing measures precise planning against subtle improvisation. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Drawing collection (Department CG-W), it was generously gifted by Kathan Brown, a key figure in contemporary printmaking, underscoring its ties to experimental art practices. Tuttle, a leading American artist born in 1941, is renowned for his post-minimalist style—delicate, ephemeral works that blur boundar...
About the Artist
Richard Tuttle
Richard Tuttle, born on July 12, 1941, in Rahway, New Jersey, recognized his calling as an artist by kindergarten, inspired by his grandfather's drawings and early visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his mother. He studied art, philosophy, and literature at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, earning a BA in 1963, and spent a semester at Cooper Union. There, he met curator Sam Wags...