GETTY MUSEUM PRESENTS FROM LINE TO LIGHT: RENAISSANCE DRAWING IN FLORENCE AND VENICE

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE DRAWINGS FROM THE CORE OF THE GETTY MUSEUM'S CELEBRATED DRAWINGS COLLECTION, ON VIEW FROM 20.JULY THROUGH 10.OCTOBER, AT THE GETTY CENTER. FROM LINE TO LIGHT: RENAISSANCE DRAWING IN FLORENCE AND VENICE BRINGS TOGETHER SPECTACULAR DRAWINGS FROM THE MUSEUM'S EXTENSIVE HOLDINGS TO EXPLORE INFLUENTIAL TRENDS IN ITALIAN DRAWING BEFORE 1550. VISITORS WILL HAVE A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE MORE THAN 40 STUNNING WORKS ON PAPER EXECUTED BY ITALY'S GREATEST PRACTITIONERS OF DRAWINGS, WITH RAPHAEL (RAFFAELLO SANZIO), FRA BARTOLOMMEO, ANDREA DEL SARTO AND JACOPO PONTORMO REPRESENTING VENICE AND THE VENETO. THE COMPREHENSIVE INSTALLATION PROVIDES A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARTISTS' INDIVIDUAL APPROACHES TO DRAWING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR TIMES, AGAINST A BACKDROP OF HOW THEY EACH USED DRAFTSMANSHIP TO SOLVE ARTISTIC PROBLEMS. FROM 1480 TO 1550, DRAWING CAME OF AGE, REPRESENTING A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN STYLE AND ARTISTIC THINKING IN THE USE OF PREPARATORY DRAWINGS ON PAPER. WHILE IT BEGAN AS A MEANS OF PRESERVING ARTISTIC IDEAS FOR THE DESIGN OF PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE, DRAWING THEN EVOLVED FROM A PART OF THE DESIGN PROCESS TO AN ESTEEMED INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY. BY 1550 THE WRITER ARTIST GIORGIO VASARI WOULD DECLARE DRAWING THE 'FATHER OF THE ARTS'. ARTISTIC STRIDES WERE MADE IN DIFFERENT ITALIAN REGIONS AND CITIES: THE CENTRAL ITALIAN SCHOOL, REPRESENTED BY FLORENCE AND ROME, FOCUSED ON THE STUDY OF THE HUMAN FIGURE LIFE THROUGH DRAWING AND THE DETAILED EXAMINATION OF NATURE, WHILE THE PRACTITIONERS OF THE NORTHERN ITALIAN SCHOOL, WITH VENICE AS THE DOMINANT ARTISTIC CENTER, CONCENTRATED ON THE SEARCH FOR TONAL AND COLOURISTIC EFFECTS, EMBRACING THE USE OF BLUE PAPER AND THE KEEN STUDY OF LIGHT AND COMPOSITION.