This sketchbook dates between 1923 and 1924, from William Crozier's time spent in Europe. It was in the possession of his friend, the painter William Gillies, and was donated to the RSA in 1973 as part of the W G Gillies Bequest.
Upon graduating from Edinburgh College of Art and after being awarded the RSA Carnegie Travelling Scholarship, Crozier studied alongside Gillies in the studio of the early French cubist Andre Lhote. This sketchbook contains multiple compositional studies drawn by Crozier of artworks within The Louvre Museum in Paris. The sketches illustrate famous Renaissance paintings by notable European artists such as Raphael, Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci, compartmentalising them into basic elements, such as shape and colour. Pages 55 onward relate to Crozier's travels to Florence, Italy.
Some distinct representations can be found throughout:
Coronation of the Virgin, Fra Angelico (page 11); Virgin and Child, Sandro Botticelli (page 17); The Visitation, Domenico Ghirlandaio (page 19); Man with Glove, Titian(page 27); Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle (the hand of), Albrecht Dürer (page 37); Silver Age or The Effects of Jealousy, Lucas Cranach the Elder (page 39); Inspiration of the Poet, The Shepherds of Arcadia andThe Blind Men of Jericho, Nicolas Poussin (pages 45 and 47).
