The Frick Pittsburgh Presents Storied Past: Four Centuries of French Drawings from the Blanton Museum of Art

Traveling exhibition chronicling a 400-year period in France makes its debut in Pittsburgh, where it is complemented by works from the Frick's permanent collection

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Storied Past: Four Centuries of French Drawings from the Blanton Museum of Art opens at The Frick Pittsburgh on Saturday, February 5, 2011. Featuring 56 drawings produced over a 400-year period, the exhibition includes works by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805), Francois Boucher (1703–1770) and Nicolas Lancret (1690–1743), among others, with the 19th century represented by choice sheets from artists such as Francois-Marius Granet (1775–1849), Theodore Rousseau (1812–1867), Jean-Louis Forain (1852–1931), Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859–1923), and others whose work reflects shifts in the approach to drawing in the modern era. The full scope of drawing and its uses is represented, from preliminary sketches, compositional studies and figure studies to finished drawings. Especially rich in 17th- and 18th-century drawings, the exhibition illustrates the rise to dominance of the Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture as one of the most dominant cultural and political institutions in Europe.

The exhibition finds a perfect counterpart in the Frick's permanent collection. On view at The Frick Art Museum are paintings by Jean-Marc Nattier (1685–1766), Nicolas Lancret, Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695–1736), Francois Boucher, Hubert Robert (1733–1808), and Nicolas-Bernard Lepicie (1735–1784), along with examples of decorative arts from the period, providing for a richer understanding of the 18th century in particular. The exhibition will remain on view at the Frick through April 17, 2011. Admission is free.

Frick Director Bill Bodine comments, "The Frick's presentation of Storied Past: Four Centuries of French Drawings from the Blanton Museum of Art reflects an institutional interest in French art established by Helen Clay Frick, founder and benefactor of the museum. We are delighted to be the first museum to host this exhibition of the Blanton's magnificent drawings, many of which are unpublished and unfamiliar to the art world at large. This exhibition also provides us with the opportunity to highlight select French drawings and paintings in our collection that were purchased by Miss Frick and relate to the body of work on loan from the Blanton Museum of Art."

Storied Past: Four Centuries of French Drawings from the Blanton Museum of Art is organized by the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin.

Support for the exhibition is provided by Continental Airlines and the Still Water Foundation.

More information is available at www.thefrickpittsburgh.org

SOURCE The Frick Pittsburgh

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