Blanton Museum of Art: The University of Texas at Austin

Drawing for Prints

January 25 - April 17, 2011

Printmaking allows for multiple iterations of a work, and for the creative process to be documented like no other medium. The first stage in the printmaking process is usually the preparation of a detailed design in another medium, most often drawing. The Blanton’s holdings include an unusual number of these preparatory works, ranging from three studies by major masters of the 16^th century, to pencil studies for entire compositions, and one chalk drawing for a group of figures from the early 20^th century. In each case, the study will be presented beside its corresponding finished print.

Reforming the Cult of Saints

January 25 - April 17, 2011

As violent religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants escalated throughout the Reformation period, Catholic imagery of the cult of saints underwent a transformation. Rather than portraying saints as peaceful, idealized, holy figures, late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists emphasized the horrors of martyrdom or the self-deprivation of penitent saints. This exhibition of prints and drawings by artists from Raphael to Rubens, presents dramatic images of saints experiencing martyrdom, penitence and divine visions, and demonstrates how the reformed cult of saints taught Roman Catholics the art of suffering well.

Salvator Rosa Etcher

January 25 - April 17, 2011

Salvator Rosa
Jason and the Dragon, 1663-64
Etching with drypoint, Bartsch 18, Wallace 118, only state
The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Rosa was one of the leading painters of the Italian Baroque, best known for his moody landscapes based upon those by Claude Lorrain. The full extent of his eccentricity and creativity, however, are evident in his scenes of witchcraft and magic. To coincide with a major exhibition of Rosa’s paintings at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth (December 12, 2010 –March 27, 2011), The Blanton presents this exceptional selection of etchings from its holdings.

Early Aquatint

January 25 - April 17, 2011

The aquatint printmaking technique was invented in France in the mid 1760s. In combination with etching, it was first used for the reproduction of drawings in pen-and-wash or watercolor. Shortly, printmakers¾Francisco Goya, the most famous among them¾began to explore aquatint’s own formal and expressive potentials, and by the end of the eighteenth century, aquatint had become a basic printmaking technique. This exhibition presents the museum’s finest examples from its first, most experimental period, before 1800.

The Face of Paris: Portrait Lithographs of Achille Deveria

January 25 - April 17, 2011

Although Achille Devéria is today largely forgotten, he was a leading master of lithography and one of the most admired portraitists in early nineteenth-century France. His works combine sensitive observations of his sitter’s features and character, and at same time, are masterfully rendered. Devéria depicted most of the significant social and cultural figures in Paris in the 1820s and 1830s, and his style influenced the poses and compositions of early portrait photography. With more than twenty choice examples, this exhibition calls attention to this forgotten master.