Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
David to Cezanne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 22 September - 5 December 2010
This exhibition presents a wonderful private collection of drawings dating from the late 18th century to the early 20th. The collection of Louis-Antionne and Veronique Prat is a wonder in itself, the works provide a visual delight of comparison between the finesse of Ingres to the flowing drama of Delacroix.
The publication that accompanies the exhibition gives a wonderful insight into the thoughts of the collector and anecdotes of the development of the collection. Unfortunately the quality of the prints in the book are not always as good as I would hope, but I confess to expecting too much of prints which can not and never will be able to convey the delicacy of touch of a pen or pencil.
Arranged in four bays I found the exhibition poorly supported by lighting. Conservation of the works no doubt played a part in the decisions around lighting levels, better to strain the eyes for a few hours than loose these wonderful works.
The Ingres drawings were the expected highlight of the exhibition for me. A number of the other works were however new to me and served to heighten my delight at this opportunity to see work that is not available in museums every day. In particular the Head of a Woman by Henri Lehmann is superb, only the Leon Lehermitte comes close to achieving such emotional intensity in a finished drawing, while Paul Baudry's Melpomene approaches it as a preparatory drawing.
Many of the other drawings are preparatory works and as such are expressive of line and loose of handling, being an impression of intention rather than complete constructions in their own right. For shear rapidity of production coupled with certainty of line and purpose Antoine-Jean Gros' "Arab seated beside his wounded horse" is a stand out work.
For the student of 19th century art there are elements here that point to understanding many works outside the exhibition. For example Bastien-Lepage in his "Annunciation to the Shepherds" has paid tribute to more than one of Ingres eccentricities in representing real and imagined subjects (in the colelction of the National gallery of Victoria).
Well worth the visit for anyone interested in the art of drawing in charcoal, watercolour, ink and wash, pencil.
More exhibitions of this type and quailty would be a great reason to visit the AGNSW.
author: Neil Miley