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500 Years of Prints and Drawings

Exhibitions
PAST EXHIBITION

500 Years of Prints and Drawings

OPENS
January 25, 2002
CLOSES
July 28, 2002
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About the Exhibit

January 25 – July 28, 2002

Five intimate exhibitions that highlight the range and depth of the Blanton’s collection of prints and drawings. Each of the five exhibitions can be enjoyed on its own as a thematic exploration of works from one specific century. Together, the exhibitions trace the history of art from the 15th through the 20th centuries, revealing the evolving techniques, uses, and developments of works on paper in Europe and the United States.

Saint Francis in the Counter-Reformation

In the late 16th-century the Church called for art that reflected the ideals of Catholicism and a purity of religious sentiment. Saint Francis was an ideal subject for this type of art and the eleven prints and drawings here, all by or after Italian artists, demonstrate the variety of ways in which his image was propagated during the Counter-Reformation. Organized by Erika Nelson, graduate intern in the Department of Prints and Drawings.

Labor and Leisure in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Prints

Drinking, gambling and merry-making are just a few of the most popular subjects explored in genre prints of 17th-century Holland. In portraying the labors, festivities, and pastimes of the lower classes, artists captured expressions of unbridled laughter, pure enjoyment, and feelings of contentment on the figures’ faces and evoked both humor and moral consideration. Featured are fourteen prints by artists including Adriaen van Ostade, Rembrandt van Rijn, Wallerant Vaillant, and Cornelius Visscher. Organized by Laura Soete, graduate intern in the Department of Prints and Drawings.

Eighteenth-Century French Drawings

The Suida–Manning Collection is known for its representation of Renaissance and Baroque paintings and drawings, though it also includes a significant group of high quality drawings from eighteenth-century France. This exhibition is the first showing of some of these drawings, which are joined by several fine examples from the Blanton’s previous holdings. Included are works by Watteau, Lancret, Natoire, Fragonard, and others. Organized by Jonathan Bober, Curator of Prints, Drawings, and European Paintings.

John Martin’s Paradise Lost

Between 1825–1827 John Martin issued a set of twenty-four mezzotint plates illustrating Milton’s classic epic tale, Paradise Lost, embodying in ink the sensation and drama that Milton captured in words. In this exhibition, the Blanton displays its very fine proof set for the first time. Martin’s ability to manipulate this medium enabled him to use light and shade to balance the spectacular brilliance of heavenly light with the infinite darkness of hell. Organized by Laura Soete and Erika Nelson, graduate interns in the Department of Prints and Drawings.

German Expressionist Prints

Emotional interpretations of man’s place in nature, his relationship with others, and the assimilation of current events, are the central themes of Expressionism. For artists working in Germany in the early 20th century, printmaking was a powerful medium for expressing these complex themes, revealing the mysteries of the soul in simplified forms and bold contrasts. This exhibition includes important works by Oskar Kokoschka, Käthe Kollwitz, Erich Heckel, and Max Pechstein, among others. Organized by Rebekah Morin, Curatorial Associate in the Department of Prints and Drawings.

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