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21/9/2010

David to Cezanne

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

The Gallery presents David to Cézanne: Master drawings from the Prat Collection, Paris an exhibition of 101 French drawings spanning the course of the 19th century. This was a century when France, more than any other country, produced the finest succession of great artists: David, Ingres, Delacroix, Géricault, Millet, Daumier, Manet, Degas, Redon, Moreau, Seurat, Cézanne - all represented in this exhibition through drawings of superlative quality.

This is the first time that the collection has been seen in Australia, offering a rare opportunity to see some of the most beautiful examples of 19th-century drawing and provides an insight into the fascinating world of the collector.

The collection is, according to Pierre Rosenberg, former director of the Louvre: a top-rank ensemble ... [striking for the] invariably perfect quality of each drawing ... Rarely has there been such a manifest, coherent determination to conceive a collection as a creation; in isolation each sheet delights and enchants; all together these drawings ... are a lesson in the history of art, a non-verbal lesson, and all the more enjoyable for that ...

This exhibition offers a tightly focused, in-depth exploration of the development of French drawing over the course of the 19th century, a period of rapid and profound change – social, political, economic and artistic. Indeed this was a century when France, more than any other country, produced the finest succession of great artists: David, Ingres, Delacroix, Géricault, Millet, Daumier, Manet, Degas, Redon, Moreau, Seurat, Cézanne – all represented in this exhibition through drawings of superlative quality.

Exactly 101 drawings have been selected from the Prat Collection to travel to Sydney. These tell the unfolding story of the evolution of French art in the period spanning the momentous decades following the French Revolution up to the eve of the 20th century and the birth of Modernism. Through works of outstanding quality by many of the greatest draughtsmen the exhibition takes us through the defining movements of Neo-classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Symbolism.

The exhibition highlights the extraordinary diversity of drawing styles and techniques employed during the 19th century as well as the varied purposes that drawings served for artists in this period. Meticulously finished drawings made as works of art in their own right will be seen alongside preparatory studies for major paintings and quick, spontaneous sketches.

The exhibition not only offers an opportunity to see some of the most beautiful examples of 19th-century drawing, it provides an insight into the fascinating world of the collector: Obviously, collecting art is much more gratifying than checking stock prices everyday. Moreover, the works are there, on your walls. You need no longer be concerned about their value; you can simply look at them. A collector who reasoned otherwise would be ruined. The only happy collector is the one who considers money merely a means. And the less money he has, the prouder he can be of the collection that he has assembled.

During several months of being on display, a collection such as this one will be seen by more people than during a century of storage in the boxes of a public drawing cabinet whose access rules impose drastic restrictions ... We possess only that which we share, be it knowledge or an object. – Louis-Antoine Prat

On Wednesday 22 September the Gallery celebrates the opening of David to Cézanne with two guest talks during Art After Hours:
6.30pm Louis-Antoine Prat in conversation with Edmund Capon
7.15pm Laurence Lhinares, department of graphic arts, Musée du Louvre, with a lecture entitled Making their mark:The shared tastes of two great collectors, the Marquis de Chennevières (1820–1899) and Loius-Antoine Prat.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue together with a series of public programs including drawing workshops, lectures, celebrity and exhibition talks and children’s programs. For full details see http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au.

Media informaiton: Claire Martin
(02) 9225 1734 or 0414 437 588
clairem@ag.nsw.gov.au

Image: Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of François-Eugene David and his wife Anne-Therese 1825, The Prat Collection

Opening 22 September 2010

Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney
Open daily 10am to 5pm, Wednesdays until 9pm
Admission: Adult $10 conc $8

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