This catalogue explores nineteenth-century French artists' drawing collections, revealing friendship, admiration and artistic exchange.
Nineteenth-century artists did not merely create; they were also collectors. Out of friendship, admiration or loyalty, they surrounded themselves with the works of their peers, amongst which drawings – intimate and personal objects – held a special place. This catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition at the Frits Lugt Collection, Fondation Custodia, Paris, delves into the heart of these artists’ collections and sheds new light on nineteenth-century drawing in France. 
Including paintings and documents, Mes Chers Amis features a selection of remarkable sheets, often gifted or exchanged, bearing witness to the artists’ sense of kinship. Illustrious names – such as Théodore Gericault, Honoré Daumier, and James Whistler – stand next to lesser-known ones. The collections met with different fates after the deaths of their owners: some were preserved and bequeathed to museums, for instance that of Pierre-Jean David d’Angers, now in Angers; others were dispersed at public auction, like the best-known and most admired example, the collection of Edgar Degas. 
Distributed for Paul Holberton Publishing
Exhibition Schedule:
Frits Lugt Collection, Fondation Custodia, Paris
(17 October 2026 – 17 January 2027)