THIS EVENT HAS ENDED
Thu November 23, 2023 - Sun February 11, 2024

Botticelli Drawings presents the beloved Renaissance artist like never before

SEE EVENT DETAILS
A quintessential artist of the Italian Renaissance, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi--better known as Sandro Botticelli--has had an enduring influence on contemporary culture, from art and design to dance, music, fashion, and film. Known for some of the world's greatest paintings, from La Primavera (1477-1482) to the Birth of Venus (1485-1486), Botticelli has inspired the likes of artists Andy Warhol, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Cindy Sherman, among others. He was an expert draftsman, creating drawings that underlie and animate his greatest compositions. Although key to the aesthetic driving his continued relevance and popularity, there has been no major exhibition dedicated to Botticelli's art of drawing--until now. Reuniting rare works from across the United States and Europe, Botticelli Drawings--presented exclusively at the Legion of Honor--is the first exhibition to explore the central role that drawing played in Botticelli's art and workshop practice. Anchored by extensive research by Furio Rinaldi, curator of prints and drawings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the exhibition unveils five newly attributed drawings alongside nearly 60 works from 42 lending institutions. Pairing Botticelli's graphic output as a whole from the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence; British Museum, London; and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York alongside key paintings on loan from The National Gallery, London; the Galleria Borghese, Rome; and the Musée du Louvre, Paris, Botticelli Drawings offers a rare opportunity to explore the artistic process behind such renowned works as The Adoration of the Magi (1475-1476), reunited here with three preparatory designs.

"Botticelli's paintings are world-renowned for their grace and exquisite line, but the relationship between his drawings and paintings has never been fully investigated," remarked Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Now, in this stunning and groundbreaking exhibition, the majority of Botticelli's graphic output takes us below the surface of the paintings to illuminate the artist's creative process, from conception and development to final execution."

The art of drawing underwent major functional changes and technical advancements in 15th-century Florence. Among the first artists to make draftsmanship central to his aesthetic and design practice, Botticelli developed a new visual style for the era, elevating the line as the primary force behind his figures and their rhythmic movement. Striking a delicate balance between realistically portraying individual subjects and abstracting their features, Botticelli created portraits that have endured through centuries as potent symbols of beauty. A prolific portraitist, he made a practice of drawing from life, one that would become an artistic standard in Renaissance Florence and beyond. Yet despite the centrality of drawing to Botticelli's work, less than three dozen confirmed drawings by the artist survive today. The hardships he experienced later in life, including penury and the decline of his workshop business, may have led to the loss of the vast majority of Botticelli's graphic output.
Botticelli Drawings features 27 drawings by the artist, exploring the medium as his primary form of artistic expression. The incredible rarity and fragility of these works precludes frequent travel, and many are leaving their lending institutions for the very first time in modern history solely for this exhibition. The result of original, exacting research, the exhibition unveils five newly attributed drawings by Botticelli. The preparatory drawing for the Louvre's The Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist (ca. 1468-1480), newly attributed, is reunited here with the resulting painting. Other unprecedented pairings, such as the brush drawings on linen--divided between the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York--with the resulting painting of The Adoration of the Magi (1475-1476, Uffizi), offer insight into the artist's transformative method of composition and design process. Departing from the standard interpretation of Botticelli's later years as a period of decline marred by successive political upheavals in the wake of the Medici's ouster, the exhibition rethinks the artist's works from the 1490s and 1500s as one of his most experimental phases yet. The Museums' presentation will offer a new lens through which to consider the artist's unconventional stylistic evolution toward linear abstraction, resistance to perspective, and anti-naturalism.

"Botticelli Drawings reunites this beloved artist's graphic output as a whole for the very first time, a challenging endeavor given the rarity and fragility of these works," noted Furio Rinaldi. "42 public and private institutions have staunchly supported this exhibition with unique loans, contributing drawings from their collections, the majority of which have never before left their lending institutions. This exhibition offers a truly unique opportunity to see and understand Botticelli's thought and design process leading to the making of his memorable masterpieces."

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog (copublished by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Yale University Press) by organizing curator Furio Rinaldi, offering the first systematic study of Botticelli's graphic output and the underdrawing of his paintings. Botticelli Drawings is a celebration of the artist's quest for the perfect line, expressing the centrality of draftsmanship in the history of human creativity.



Image Credit: Sandro Botticelli, "The Devout Jews at Pentecost," ca. 1505. Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, highlighted with white gouache on paper. 9 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (23.1 x 36.5 cm.)
A quintessential artist of the Italian Renaissance, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi--better known as Sandro Botticelli--has had an enduring influence on contemporary culture, from art and design to dance, music, fashion, and film. Known for some of the world's greatest paintings, from La Primavera (1477-1482) to the Birth of Venus (1485-1486), Botticelli has inspired the likes of artists Andy Warhol, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Cindy Sherman, among others. He was an expert draftsman, creating drawings that underlie and animate his greatest compositions. Although key to the aesthetic driving his continued relevance and popularity, there has been no major exhibition dedicated to Botticelli's art of drawing--until now. Reuniting rare works from across the United States and Europe, Botticelli Drawings--presented exclusively at the Legion of Honor--is the first exhibition to explore the central role that drawing played in Botticelli's art and workshop practice. Anchored by extensive research by Furio Rinaldi, curator of prints and drawings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the exhibition unveils five newly attributed drawings alongside nearly 60 works from 42 lending institutions. Pairing Botticelli's graphic output as a whole from the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence; British Museum, London; and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York alongside key paintings on loan from The National Gallery, London; the Galleria Borghese, Rome; and the Musée du Louvre, Paris, Botticelli Drawings offers a rare opportunity to explore the artistic process behind such renowned works as The Adoration of the Magi (1475-1476), reunited here with three preparatory designs.

"Botticelli's paintings are world-renowned for their grace and exquisite line, but the relationship between his drawings and paintings has never been fully investigated," remarked Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Now, in this stunning and groundbreaking exhibition, the majority of Botticelli's graphic output takes us below the surface of the paintings to illuminate the artist's creative process, from conception and development to final execution."

The art of drawing underwent major functional changes and technical advancements in 15th-century Florence. Among the first artists to make draftsmanship central to his aesthetic and design practice, Botticelli developed a new visual style for the era, elevating the line as the primary force behind his figures and their rhythmic movement. Striking a delicate balance between realistically portraying individual subjects and abstracting their features, Botticelli created portraits that have endured through centuries as potent symbols of beauty. A prolific portraitist, he made a practice of drawing from life, one that would become an artistic standard in Renaissance Florence and beyond. Yet despite the centrality of drawing to Botticelli's work, less than three dozen confirmed drawings by the artist survive today. The hardships he experienced later in life, including penury and the decline of his workshop business, may have led to the loss of the vast majority of Botticelli's graphic output.
Botticelli Drawings features 27 drawings by the artist, exploring the medium as his primary form of artistic expression. The incredible rarity and fragility of these works precludes frequent travel, and many are leaving their lending institutions for the very first time in modern history solely for this exhibition. The result of original, exacting research, the exhibition unveils five newly attributed drawings by Botticelli. The preparatory drawing for the Louvre's The Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist (ca. 1468-1480), newly attributed, is reunited here with the resulting painting. Other unprecedented pairings, such as the brush drawings on linen--divided between the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York--with the resulting painting of The Adoration of the Magi (1475-1476, Uffizi), offer insight into the artist's transformative method of composition and design process. Departing from the standard interpretation of Botticelli's later years as a period of decline marred by successive political upheavals in the wake of the Medici's ouster, the exhibition rethinks the artist's works from the 1490s and 1500s as one of his most experimental phases yet. The Museums' presentation will offer a new lens through which to consider the artist's unconventional stylistic evolution toward linear abstraction, resistance to perspective, and anti-naturalism.

"Botticelli Drawings reunites this beloved artist's graphic output as a whole for the very first time, a challenging endeavor given the rarity and fragility of these works," noted Furio Rinaldi. "42 public and private institutions have staunchly supported this exhibition with unique loans, contributing drawings from their collections, the majority of which have never before left their lending institutions. This exhibition offers a truly unique opportunity to see and understand Botticelli's thought and design process leading to the making of his memorable masterpieces."

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog (copublished by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Yale University Press) by organizing curator Furio Rinaldi, offering the first systematic study of Botticelli's graphic output and the underdrawing of his paintings. Botticelli Drawings is a celebration of the artist's quest for the perfect line, expressing the centrality of draftsmanship in the history of human creativity.



Image Credit: Sandro Botticelli, "The Devout Jews at Pentecost," ca. 1505. Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, highlighted with white gouache on paper. 9 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (23.1 x 36.5 cm.)
read more
show less
   
EDIT OWNER
Owned by
{{eventOwner.email_address || eventOwner.displayName}}
New Owner

Update

EDIT EDIT
Links:
Event Details

Category:
Art, Museums

Date/Times:
Legion of Honor 138 Upcoming Events
100 34th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA EVENTS CALENDAR

TODAY
27
SATURDAY
28
SUNDAY
29
MONDAY
1
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Edit Event Details

I am the event organizer



Your suggestion is required.



Your email is required.
Not valid email!

    Cancel
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.

Success!

Your event is now LIVE on SF STATION

COPY LINK TO SHARE Copied

or share on


See my event listing


Looking for more visibility? Reach more people with our marketing services