University of Virginia | Art Museum

In fall 2004, Charlottesville and Besancon moved toward a sister-city relationship by signing a Proclamation of Friendship." We are pleased to celebrate this new relationship with a special exhibition of 62 drawings from one of the oldest and most esteemed museums in France. Amassed in the 19th-20th centuries, the collection provides a survey of work from the 16th through 20th century and evaluates the function of drawings with respect to their realization in concert with other artistic forms. Works by such artists as Mantegna, Rembrandt, Reubens, and Tiepolo evidence the virtuosity readily seen in paintings by these well- known artists.

Sponsor the Exhibition This exhibition is made possible with the generous support of the University of Virginia, University of Virginia Art Museum Volunteer Board, Museum members, the City of Charlottesville, The Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust, and the Oakwood Foundation. Additional support is provided by Nicholas W. Acquavella, William R. Acquavella, Bertie D. Heiner, Ellen and David King, Dorothy H. and Peter O. Lawson-Johnston, Sheridan and Thomas F. Nicholson, The Rotary Club of Charlottesville, Barbara and Martin Schulman, Whitney and Anne M. Stone Foundation, Wooter von Eldik, and Wachovia. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. We are grateful to the Centre George Pompidou, Paris, for the loan of eleven works in the exhibition, donated by Adele and George Besson in 1963.

Masterpieces of European Drawing
Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie Besançon, France
April 9 - June 5, 2005