Salon du dessin to draw in crowds

The world’s top drawing event, Salon du dessin, starting in Paris in March, brings together a huge variety of drawings from centuries past to more modern examples, ranging from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci to  Picasso, Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.

The annual event of works on paper takes place at the Palais Brongniart.

Among the 39 exhibitors at this year’s Salon du dessin from around the world will be four handpicked new galleries and two that are returning after an absence of a few years. Among the treasures on display will be rare drawings by Schiele and Klimt, and a solo show of the work of contemporary artist Jean-Baptiste Sécheret.

The 28th edition of the art fair will also host two museum-level exhibitions. ‘Festivities in Paris’ will feature drawings from the collection of the Musée Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris (currently closed for renovation until late 2019), while the Maison Chaumet will exhibit drawings of its jewellery in an exhibition on the theme of nature, curated by botanist Marc Jeanson, who worked on the magnificent exhibition ‘Jardins’ at the Grand Palais in 2017.

The 20th edition of the off-site event Drawing week will coincide with celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci.

Some highlights of Drawing week will include:

• The  Beaux-Arts de Paris, whose collection of 25,000 master drawings is the second largest in France after that of the Louvre, will present 30 masterpieces for the first time, including four drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, donated in 1883 and 1904. The show will offer an exciting look at the practices of Renaissance drawing workshops.
• The Fondation Custodia will present 200 drawings by masters of European and Russian art from the 15th to the 20th century, loaned by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
• The Musée du Montmartre will inaugurate an exhibition of the work of Georges Dorignac, spotlighting the striking “black” drawings that made his reputation. This series of high-contrast drawings prompted Rodin to say, “Dorignac sculpts his drawings.”
• The Musée Nissim de Camondo will open an exhibition on Edouard Benedictus, a leading theatre set and costume designer who has fallen into oblivion.
• The Centre Pompidou will offer a private view of Marc Chagall’s 74 drawings for the set of The Magic Flute, commissioned by New York ‘s Metropolitan Opera in 1966-67

The Petit Palais pays tribute to Jean-Jacques Lequeu, while the Bibliothèque Nationale de France will offer a private tour on the theme of architectural drawings of theaters.

The Louvre will also offer a private tour, of its exhibition “Engraving for the King,” which presents the original engraved plates.

The Domaine de Chantilly will hold a private tour of an exhibition on Eugène Lami, painter and decorator of the Orléans family, a wonderful illustration of life in the time of Louis Philippe.