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Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500–1800

October 1, 2009 – January 31, 2010
West Building, Ground Floor, Outer Tier Galleries G23 through G26

Antoine Watteau, A Man Reclining and a Woman Seated on the Ground, c. 1716, red, black, and white chalk on brown laid paper, The Armand Hammer Collection, 1991.217.12

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 134 French drawings dating from the 16th through the 18th century and 3 bound volumes were selected from the collection of the National Gallery of Art. The chronologically organized exhibition presented highlights from the Gallery's collection of French old master drawings, including works by Antoine Watteau, Claude Lorraine, Simon Vouet, François Boucher, and many others.

On December 13 curator Margaret Morgan Grasselli presented a lecture, Playing Favorites: A Personal Selection of French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, followed by a catalogue book signing. Two midday concerts and two Sunday concerts in October and November offered music by French 17th- and 18th-century composers.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art. Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator of old master drawings, was curator.

Attendance: 45,700

Catalog: Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500–1800 by Margaret Morgan Grasselli. Washington: National Gallery of Art in association with Lund Humphries, Surrey, U.K., 2009.