Skip to main content

News

​The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum will showcase artists, including Picasso and Pissarro.

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum will showcase artists, including Picasso and Pissarro, pushing the boundaries of what it means to draw in an exciting new exhibition.

(Hans Hartung, P1958-58, 1958, Image: © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London. Artwork © Hans Hartung / ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019)

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum has partnered with The Courtauld Gallery, London to showcase the work of creators who have radically transformed the art of drawing in a new exhibition – Radical Drawing: Works From Coventry And The Courtauld.

The exhibition, which will run from Friday, October 18 until Sunday, January 19, showcases a series of works from the last 400 years, many of which have never been on show before.

The artworks, taken from the collections of The Courtauld Gallery, the University of Warwick and the Herbert’s own collection, include works by George Romney, Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Art & Language, Barbara Walker and Miriam de Búrca.

Also on display are objects from the Herbert’s collections linked to the Courtaulds factory in Coventry, and a film produced for the exhibition featuring former employees of Courtaulds Ltd discussing their experience of working for this significant employer in the city.

Ruark Jon-Stevens, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum said: “This project is a collaboration with The Courtauld Gallery and is part of an ongoing partnership between our two institutions. We are excited to bring incredibly influential artists to the city this autumn.

“There will be a contrast of works on display across a range of different media, and the exhibition will lend an insight into how these drawings were created, as well as providing a sense of poignancy ahead of 2021.

“Radical drawings have the ability to convey powerful messages, even though it is an art-form that is often not held in the same regard as painting or sculpture.

“We are excited for visitors to encounter these experimental yet ground-breaking pieces.”  

Dr Rachel Sloan, Assistant Curator of Works on Paper at The Courtauld Gallery, will also deliver a talk exploring the ways in which artists have been pushing the limits of figuration and the possibilities of different media since the Renaissance in an exclusive presentation on Tuesday, November 19.

Tickets for the talk by Dr Rachel Sloan are available by drop-in only and cost £3.

This exhibition has been developed by the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in partnership with The Courtauld Gallery in London and with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.