The Russian-born artist Peter Blume employed the Renaissance technique of making drawings and multiple small-scale paintings in preparation for his large-scale, finished compositions. This drawing, given to the museum by the artist in the 1960s, is one of many studies for the Art Institute’s painting The Rock (1956.338). Taken as a group, these studies demonstrate the artist’s working method and show the progression of The Rock from an idea to the finished painting.
