Few artistic movements of the twentieth century are as celebrated and studied as surrealism. Many of the works of its best known practitioners — including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, and Leonora Carrington — have become touchstones of modern art and some of the most familiar images of the era.
Critical to the development of surrealism was the art of drawing. For those involved in the movement, it was a vital means of expression and innovation, resulting in a rich array of graphic techniques that radically pushed conventional art historical boundaries. Yet the medium has been largely overlooked in visual arts studies and exhibitions as scholars and institutions have focused more on surrealist painting and sculpture.
Francis Picabia (1879–1953) Olga, 1930. Graphite pencil and crayon on paper; Bequest of Mme Lucienne Rosenberg. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
The central role drawing played in surrealist art is explored in a large-scale exhibition at The Morgan Library & Museum entitled Drawing Surrealism. The show will include more than 165 works on paper by 70 artists from 15 countries, offering important new understanding of surrealism’s emergence, evolution, and worldwide influence. The exhibition is co-organized with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and will be on view at the Morgan through April 21, 2013.
Drawing Surrealism is presented chronologically with interwoven thematic sections devoted to the surrealists’ principal drawing techniques and to international developments. Important drawings will be shown from countries beyond the movement’s Western European geographic roots, including sheets from Eastern Europe, Japan, the United States, and Latin America. The exhibit includes works from the Morgan, as well as from the collections of LACMA, Tate Modern, the Musée national d’art moderne at the Pompidou Center, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection. It also includes drawings from a number of major private collections in the United States and abroad, which are rarely accessible to the public.
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