The Met Curatorial Conversation: Nature and Narrative: Exploring British Drawings

This curatorial conversation is inspired by the exhibition British Vision, 1700–1900: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints, on view from December 7, 2023 through March 5, 2024. The show celebrates recent additions to The Met’s collection by British artists who worked across two centuries, from 1700 to 1900. Landscape is a focus here, with the genre becoming closely allied to the growing popularity of watercolor during this period. Around 1760, artists like Paul and Thomas Sandby, Francis Towne, and Thomas Jones–all of whom painted settings in nature–began to explore the medium’s expressive potential. In the nineteenth century, dedicated watercolor societies were established and held regular exhibitions to promote their members’ work. Increasingly developed and poetically resonant compositions sought to challenge the preeminence of oil painting.

Presentation on the study and collecting of British drawings by three specialists of British art:

Refining Constable: Two case studies from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Anne Lyles, Independent Art Historian and Curator, British Art ca. 1790–1850

“Remarkable designs”: Simeon Solomon’s Pre-Raphaelite Drawings Roberto C. Ferrari, Curator of Art Properties, Columbia University

Building a Collection of British Drawings and Watercolors at The Met Constance McPhee, Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Following the Curatorial Conversation, attendees are invited to view the exhibition, British Vision, 1700–1900: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints on view in Gallery 690.

This event is organized by The Drawing Foundation in association with Master Drawings New York 2024 and is made possible through the generous support of CHRISTIE’S.

Image: Alfred William Hunt (British, 1830–1896), Snowdon, after an April Hailstorm , ca. 1857, watercolor. Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2016, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016.597