Drawing Inspiration

New York, NY - Forum Gallery presents Drawing inspiration, an exhibition of works on paper by twenty-eight artists who approach drawing from uniquely different perspectives. The exhibition opens on Thursday, March 25 and will be on view through Saturday, April 24, 2021. 

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), whose artistic vision was largely expressed in works on paper, commented: “I love the quality of pencil.  It helps me to get to the core of a thing.”  John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) remarked: “You can’t do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh”; while Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) famously stated: “I draw like other people bite their nails.”  Claudio Bravo’s (1936-2011) assessment was simple and direct: “Drawing is the basis of my art.”

The works on view in Drawing Inspiration date from 1905 to the present.  They highlight the diverse media implemented by artists to a common purpose of exploring chosen subjects in intimate and direct ways.  The act of drawing may be cathartic or meditative, the approach precise or physical and gestural, but for both artist and viewer, works on paper are uniquely inspiring.

Beyond technical virtuosity, the exhibition explores the universality of the human experience in the singular expressions of Steven Assael, Robert Bauer, William Beckman, Claudio Bravo, Rance Jones, Alan Magee, Alyssa Monks, Guillermo Muñoz Vera, Odd Nerdrum, Clio Newton and Maria Tomasula.  Figurative drawings by Elie Nadelman, Pablo Picasso and John Singer Sargent highlight the distinctive drawing styles of these important Twentieth Century artists, while the exacting pastel drawings of G. Daniel Massad, charcoal drawings of Susan Hauptman, works in graphite by Michèle Fenniak, and lithography of Robert Cottingham breathe life into the inanimate.  The natural landscape is the subject of Brian Rutenberg’s vibrant works on paper and nature confronts industry in the atmospheric charcoal drawings of Anthony Mitri and pastel over mezzotints of Craig McPherson.  Oscar Bleumner, Carl Grossberg, Reginald Marsh, Morton Livingston Schamberg, Joseph Stella and Abraham Walkowitz addressed the rapidly changing world of the first half of the Twentieth century with explosive color and line.  In stark contrast is the personal and poetic vision Andrew Wyeth gave to his pencil drawings and watercolors, which stand alone in the history of American realist art.