Twentieth-century Drawings & Sketchbooks from the Royal Academy's Collection

Written by Clifford Edmondson Tuesday, 27 December 2011 23:00

LONDON.- A new exhibition in the Tennant Gallery reveals the richness of the Academy’s rarely seen holdings of twentieth-century drawings and sketchbooks. Although drawing is a natural human activity, only in the twentieth century have artists drawn more from inner compulsion than out of practical necessity. By including a wide range of styles, techniques and modes of draughtsmanship found in works by both Royal Academicians and students alike – everything from doodles to diploma works – the exhibition aims to capture the magic of drawing done for its own sake. On view at the Royal Academy of Arts until 12 February 2012. Also on show is a ten-minute film, made by researcher Elisa Alaluusua, in which the sculptor Michael Sandle RA talks about his sketchbooks.

Works in the exhibition include a characteristically direct street scene by L.S. Lowry RA and an atmospheric view of an Essex church by Edward Bawden RA. Frank Brangwyn RA’s powerful, fleshy likeness of his mentor, A. H. Mackmurdo, is displayed alongside a delicate pencil portrait by Michael Landy RA of the former RA Exhibitions Secretary Sir Norman Rosenthal. Works by John Skeaping RA and John Bratby RA reveal the very different techniques these artists used to depict animals: Skeaping’s precisely portrayed racehorse contrasting with a scruffily characterful collie dog by Bratby. Life drawings on show include a meticulous student exam drawing from 1917 by Winifred Broughton Edge and a masterly 1996 exploration of form by the sculptor Bryan Kneale RA. The display will also reveal the ways in which people sketch to think, observe, explore and relax, including a diverse array of examples by artists such as George Clausen RA, Gilbert Ledward RA, Laura Knight RA and Ivor Abrahams RA.

Born in Stretford, Manchester in 1887, Lowry showed an interest in drawing from an early age. In 1904 he joined an accountancy firm but attended evening classes at Manchester Municipal School of Art and later Salford School of Art. Nevertheless, Lowry claimed to be self-taught and his work is famous for its deliberate naivety. Though his work eventually had great popular appeal, public recognition came late in life for Lowry, and it was not until he was the advanced age of 74 that he was elected a Royal Academician.

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.

The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through a personal act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission to promote the arts of design in Britain through education and exhibition. The motive in founding the Academy was twofold: to raise the professional status of the artist by establishing a sound system of training and expert judgment in the arts and to arrange the exhibition of contemporary works of art attaining an appropriate standard of excellence. Behind this concept was the desire to foster a national school of art and to encourage appreciation and interest in the public based on recognized canons of good taste.

Visit : www.royalacademy.org.uk/

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