Opening 13 February, the National Gallery of Victoria will showcase a beautiful collection of prints and drawings in Love, Loss & Intimacy.
This enchanting exhibition will explore the human emotions of desire, grief and affection, which tie the observer to the observed.
Drawn from the NGV Collection, Love, Loss & Intimacy will feature over sixty prints and drawings ranging from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, including works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Munch, David Hockney, Joy Hester and Vernon Ah Kee among others. A selection of paintings, sculpture and media works will also be on display.
Frances Lindsay, Deputy Director, NGV said: “Opening just in time for Valentine’s Day, this fascinating exhibition from our collection of prints and drawings will reveal some of the greatest stories of love, desire and loss. This charming exhibition is certainly one for the romantic at heart!”
From mothers to lovers, sons to muses, Love, Loss & Intimacy captures private moments between the sitter and the artist. This is seen in William Orpen’s Night (No. 2) 1907 (pictured) which shows the artist embracing his wife in the interior of their Chelsea home.
Dr Allison Holland, Curator, Prints and Drawings, NGV said: “More than any other technique, the immediacy of the drawn line evokes the bond that occurs between and artist and their subject. Self, family and friends become the most available models with their features easily sketched from memory.
“Jon Cattapan’s sketches in this exhibition are a documentation of the last days of his father, Ferruccio’s life. Cattapan’s observations of Ferruccio resonate with stories of his father’s childhood in the Italian Veneto. The artist has filled each stroke with admiration, respect and unconditional love,” said Dr Holland.
This exhibition also features sketches by Picasso, whose passion for the women in his life can be seen energetically translated into his prints of Françoise Gilot and Jacqueline Roque. A similar response is shown in David Hockney’s Reclining figure, 1975 presenting his friend Gregory Evans in his early twenties as a trusted lover and muse, relaxed and casting a gentle gaze.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a room brochure by Dr Allison Holland, exploring the intimate narratives of desire, grief and affection.
In conjunction with the exhibition the NGV invites you to enter the Love, Loss & Intimacy Writing Competition.
Create your own piece of writing in response to the exhibition and enter the NGV’s first ever online writing competition. The winner will be awarded a romantically themed prize and their entry recited on 18 July as part of the Love, Loss & Intimacy Floor Talk. Visit www.ngv.vic.gov.au/lovelossintimacy for further details.
Love, Loss & Intimacy will be on display in the Robert Raynor Gallery at NGV International, St Kilda Road from 13 February to 25 July 2010. Open 10am–5pm, closed Tuesdays. Entry is free.
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Image caption:
Jacob EPSTEIN
American/English 1880–1959, worked throughout Europe 1902–05, England 1905–59
Sunita (1924–31)
watercolour and pencil
(44.0 x 56.0 cm)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bequest of Sunday Reed, 1986
© Epstein Estate