Collector Conversations: Talking Drawings 2025
Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, Exhibiting at Adam Williams Fine Art 24 East 80th Street, New York, NY, United StatesStephen Ongpin Fine Art, Exhibiting at Adam Williams Fine Art
Most American museums enrich the range and depth of their holdings of works on paper through gifts and bequests from individuals, made in sizable allotments or smaller installments over decades. Such largesse is often the result of close relationships developed over the years and revolving around a shared passion for drawings, questions of taste and budget, and a collector’s belief in a museum’s mission and curator’s vision. This year's conversation features curators reflecting on the joys and pitfalls of collaborating with celebrated collectors.
New Exhibitions of Old Master Drawings: Conversations with Curators
Sotheby's New York 1334 York Avenue, New York City, NY, United StatesSotheby’s New York
Join us for this wonderful opportunity to hear from four early career curators based in European and US collections as they discuss their recent or upcoming exhibitions that focus on old master drawings. Curators will give short presentations about their exhibitions, followed by a lively panel conversation about their curatorial projects and experiences.
Paris Observed, Paris Imagined: The Drawings of Gabriel de Saint-Aubin
Sacerdote Lecture Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY, United StatesSacerdote Lecture Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780) was a prolific and unconventional draftsman whose imagery offers an unparalleled view of life in eighteenth-century Paris. With subjects that range from the elevated to the mundane, his work brims with wit and humanity but eludes easy categorization. Three talks will explore some of the topics and questions raised by the soon-to-close exhibition Paris through the Eyes of Saint-Aubin, on view at The Met through February 4, 2025.
Drawings in the Round: Perspectives on Italian Drawings
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University 1 East 78th Street, New York, NY, United StatesInstitute of Fine Arts, New York University
What goes into preparing for a major exhibition or publication on a singular collection of drawings? This panel brings together three distinct perspectives – those of a scholar, a curator, and a conservator – on three recent or upcoming projects considering Italian drawing collections.
Inspired by China: Chinoiserie and Export Drawings
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 2 East 91st Street, New York, NY, United StatesCooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
China has long been a source of inspiration and fascination for European artists. In this study session, we will take a close look at Cooper Hewitt’s holdings of chinoiserie and export drawings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a focus on works by Jean-Baptiste Pillement and George Chinnery. Pillement’s playful drawings of architecture, flora, and figures highlight the fantastic and romantic visions of China that populated the European imagination. In contrast to these fanciful representations, Chinnery’s sketchbook drawings—made during the artist’s travels to Macau—capture scenes and figures from daily life. In addition to these works, we will explore chinoiserie drawings and designs by various European artists, as well as examples of Chinese export gouaches.
Annual Master Drawings Symposium 2025
Villa Albertine, The Payne Whitney Mansion 972 5th Ave, New York, New York, United StatesVilla Albertine, The Payne Whitney Mansion
Young scholars and their prize-winning essays are the focus of the annual Master Drawings Symposium, returning in 2025 for its ninth year. Master Drawings awards the best articles by authors under 40 years with an annual cash prize and an opportunity to present their findings in front of drawings enthusiasts. This year 2024 runner-up Tamara Kobel will delve into the fascinating world of Swiss artist Wilhelm Stettler (1643-1708) and his “Eyerstock,” sketches and doodles that formed a rich artistic tool with a fertile pantry of motifs.
Panel Discussion: Impacts on Modern Design
The National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY, United StatesThe National Arts Club
How has architecture, jewelry, sculpture, or furniture been influenced by the “art” of drawing? What details inspire these disciplines? Are nature and culture significant when it comes to moving the arts forward? When computers now generate our visual reality, can we still connect to the skills we once possessed?
Preview and Tour of Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature at The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, United StatesThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Join curators Alison Hokanson and Joanna Sheers Seidenstein for a special preview of Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature at The Met. Opening to the public on February 8, this international loan exhibition brings together more than 75 paintings, drawings, and prints by Friedrich, the celebrated German Romantic artist whose landscapes articulate a profound connection between the natural world and the inner self, or soul.
A Long-Kept Secret: The Collection of European Drawings at the Wadsworth Atheneum
Italian Cultural Institute in New York 686 Park Avenue, New York, NY, United StatesItalian Cultural Institute in New York
The collection of European drawings at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford is barely known, yet it boasts numerous significant works. In conjunction with Paper, Color, Line: European Master Drawings from the Wadsworth Atheneum, a large exhibition on view from January 16th to April 27th, 2025, this talk explores the rich history of the collection.
Curator Talk on The Colorful World of Pancho Fierro, Afro-Peruvian Painter
Hispanic Society Museum & Library 613 W 155th St, New York, NY, United StatesHispanic Society Museum & Library
Please join us for a talk with Senior Curator Emeritus Dr. Marcus Burke about his recently-opened exhibition The Colorful World of Pancho Fierro, Afro-Peruvian Painter. Dr. Burke will discuss Fierro’s vivid depictions of Peruvian society, highlighting the extraordinary upward social mobility that was possible in nineteenth-century Lima, as well as the trans-Pacific networks of exchange that carried Fierro’s watercolors across the globe. The talk will also examine the scientific studies of these works recently completed by a team of scientists from Nottingham Trent University in the UK, casting Fierro’s watercolors in a new light.