FOR JANUARY 28 –

TWO NEW TMA EXHIBITIONS TRACE THREE CENTURIES OF FRENCH ART –

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TOLEDO, OHIO — On February 5, for the first time in its 103-year history, the Toledo Museum of Art opens an exhibition devoted solely to French drawing, “Passion for Drawing: Poussin to Cezanne, Works from the Prat Collection.” This exquisite selection of 100 privately held French drawings by 66 artists traces the evolution of French art from the Late Mannerist style in the Seventeenth Century to the height of Impressionism in the Nineteenth Century.

“Passion for Drawing” includes landscapes, portraits, mythological, literary and biblical subjects rendered in a variety of media, such as red and black chalk, lead pencil, and pen and ink. From highly finished drawings to Eighteenth Century sketches known as pensees or “first thoughts,” the exhibition truly represents the gamut of French draftsmanship produced from 1615 to 1900.

Exhibition highlights include Nicola Poussin’s celebrated masterpiece “Pluto Abducting Proserpine” and the frequently published “Magdalene in the Desert” by Claude Lorrain displayed alongside masterful drawings by less well-known artists, such as “Rape of Europa,” Laurent de La Hyre, and “Head of Christ,” Charles de La Fosse.

To further complement the “Passion for Drawing” exhibition, TMA will open an exhibition curated from the collection entitled “French Prints from the Toledo Museum of Art,” opening on February 18 and featuring more than 100 of the museum’s French works on paper from the Seventh, Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The exhibition of prints lends expanded insight to this period of French art by bringing together works by artists represented in the Prat Collection, such as Cézanne, Degas, Lorrain and Honore Daumier, with other artists of influence, such as Henri Fantin-Latour, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre August Renoir.

The museum is at 2445 Monroe Street at Scottwood Avenue; admission is free. The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm; Friday, 10 am to 10 pm; Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. For information, 419-255-8000, 800-644-6862 or www.ToledoMuseum.org.