News from PRINCETON UNIVERSITY For immediate release: May 25, 2001 CONTACT: Ruta Smithson (609) 258-3763 Exhibition Dates: Through June 10, 2001 PRINCETON -- A small but remarkable group of drawings by
Spanish masters spanning five centuries will be on view at
the Princeton University Art Museum through June 10,
2001. "With a few exceptions, including Minguet y Irol's
Arrival of the Spanish King at Aranguez, most of the
drawings are religious in subject matter, serving as
preparatory studies for altarpieces, private devotional
paintings, and fresco cycles, and reflecting the important
role played by the church in Spanish culture," writes
Professor Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann in an introductory wall
text. The exhibition opens with a dynamic pen and ink sketch of
a male nude, possibly representing Adam leaving the Garden
of Eden, and probably executed by a follower of the leading
Spanish Renaissance painter and sculptor, Alonso Berruguete.
Although at first this work might seem worlds apart from the
concluding, secular image in the exhibition, the
quintessentially cubist Harlequin with a Bat by Pablo
Picasso, both drawings share a tendency toward an expressive
distortion of the figure, which also characterizes the two
drawings of apostles by Francisco Herrera the Elder and the
beautiful double-sided sheet by Francisco Goya, which comes
from the celebrated "Madrid Sketchbook." Other highlights
include three rare red chalk studies by Jusepe Ribera,
illustrating his penetrating naturalism, and the delicate
and moving Christ on the Cross by Bartolomé
Murillo." The exhibition was organized in conjunction with "Old
Master Drawings," a seminar taught by Professor Kaufmann in
the Department of Art and Archaeology. The selection, which
includes works from the Museum's collection and drawings on
long-term loan to the Museum from a private foundation,
comprises one of the finest groups of Spanish drawings in
the United States. Many of the drawings have been catalogued
for the first time by the students of Professor Kaufmann.
Bound copies of papers written by the students on most of
the works exhibited are available for viewing in the
gallery. The Art Museum is open to the public without charge. Free
highlights tours of the collection are given every Saturday
at 2:00 p.m. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00
p.m. It is closed on Monday and major holidays. The Museum
Shop closes at 5:00 p.m. The Museum is located in the middle
of the Princeton University campus. Picasso's large
sculpture Head of a Woman stands in front. For
further information, please call (609) 258-3788.
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301
Spanish Drawings on View at Princeton University Art
Museum
/pr/news/01/q2/0525-italndrngs.htm