Loading Events

Revolution to Restoration: French Drawings from The Horvitz Collection features approximately 90 drawings made from the 1770s through the 1850s, one of the most turbulent periods in French history.

During this time, France abolished the monarchy, established a republic, terrorized perceived political enemies, waged war across the continent, imposed an empire, and eventually reinstated the monarchy—and these are only a handful of the tumultuous episodes that occurred across this 80-year period. Despite this profound instability, the country’s cultural environment flourished, spurring a significant stylistic shift in artistic production. Influenced by the rationalist ideas and moral seriousness of such Enlightenment thinkers as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and inspired by important archaeological discoveries that radically altered contemporary ideas about the ancient Greco-Roman past, artists turned away from the playful, decadent Rococo style of the mid-18th century. In its place they adopted a more restrained and disciplined style, now known as Neoclassicism, a term invented only in the 19th century.

Featuring works by the most accomplished and influential artists of the time, including Jacques-Louis David, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, and Théodore Géricault, the exhibition explores the impact of ancient Greek and Roman art, history, and mythology on artistic production, as well as the role of the Academy, changing social norms, and convulsive contemporary events.

The selected drawings showcase a variety of media—pen and ink, watercolor, chalk, and pastel—and highlight how artists of the period demonstrated a surprisingly modern combination of intellectual curiosity, political commitment, and graphic virtuosity. The presentation demonstrates the expressive versatility and powerful immediacy of drawing as a medium of persuasion, propaganda, and, above all, aesthetic stimulation.

The exhibition complements French Neoclassical Paintings from The Horvitz Collection in Gallery 223.

Revolution to Restoration: French Drawings from The Horvitz Collection is curated by Kevin Salatino, Chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator, Prints and Drawings, and Emily Ziemba, director of curatorial administration and research curator, Prints and Drawings.

Image: Etienne Barthélemy Gardier, Banquet of Tereus. The Horvitz Collection, Wilmington

Exhibitions, Upcoming
Share:

Revolution to Restoration: French Drawings from The Horvitz Collection

Revolution to Restoration: French Drawings from The Horvitz Collection features approximately 90 drawings made from the 1770s through the 1850s, one of the most turbulent periods in French history.

During this time, France abolished the monarchy, established a republic, terrorized perceived political enemies, waged war across the continent, imposed an empire, and eventually reinstated the monarchy—and these are only a handful of the tumultuous episodes that occurred across this 80-year period. Despite this profound instability, the country’s cultural environment flourished, spurring a significant stylistic shift in artistic production. Influenced by the rationalist ideas and moral seriousness of such Enlightenment thinkers as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and inspired by important archaeological discoveries that radically altered contemporary ideas about the ancient Greco-Roman past, artists turned away from the playful, decadent Rococo style of the mid-18th century. In its place they adopted a more restrained and disciplined style, now known as Neoclassicism, a term invented only in the 19th century.

Featuring works by the most accomplished and influential artists of the time, including Jacques-Louis David, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, and Théodore Géricault, the exhibition explores the impact of ancient Greek and Roman art, history, and mythology on artistic production, as well as the role of the Academy, changing social norms, and convulsive contemporary events.

The selected drawings showcase a variety of media—pen and ink, watercolor, chalk, and pastel—and highlight how artists of the period demonstrated a surprisingly modern combination of intellectual curiosity, political commitment, and graphic virtuosity. The presentation demonstrates the expressive versatility and powerful immediacy of drawing as a medium of persuasion, propaganda, and, above all, aesthetic stimulation.

The exhibition complements French Neoclassical Paintings from The Horvitz Collection in Gallery 223.

Revolution to Restoration: French Drawings from The Horvitz Collection is curated by Kevin Salatino, Chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator, Prints and Drawings, and Emily Ziemba, director of curatorial administration and research curator, Prints and Drawings.

Image: Etienne Barthélemy Gardier, Banquet of Tereus. The Horvitz Collection, Wilmington

Date

October 26, 2024 – January 6, 2025

Venue
Address
159 East Monroe Street
Chicago, IL IL 60603

More Events

Events, Upcoming
On Drawings 2024: Event Program
October 28, 2024 10:30 am
Exhibitions, Upcoming
Henri Michaux: Mescaline Drawings
The Courtauld Gallery
Current, Exhibitions
Drawn to Blue: Artists’ use of blue paper
The Courtauld Gallery
Events, Upcoming
AIC Lecture: Neoclassical Drawings—What’s Old Is New Again
Art Institute of Chicago
November 2, 2024 2:00 pm

Join The Drawing Foundation community

Scroll to Top
Sign up for our newsletter