Fred Jones Jr. Museum to open new exhibit of master drawings

James Richardson, The Oklahoma Daily

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art will open “Vernet to Villon: Nineteenth Century French Master Drawings from the National Gallery of Art” on Friday, June 8, 2012.

On Friday, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art will open a new exhibition featuring 19th-century French artists.

“Vernet to Villon: Nineteenth-Century French Master Drawings from the National Gallery of Art” is the first exhibit the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has ever lent to any institution in Oklahoma.

The exhibit features work by names like Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and many acclaimed artists of the 19th century.

The works represent five major 19th-century art movements: neo-classicism, romanticism, realism, impressionism and post-impressionism.

“'Vernet to Villon' features 30 works ... and represents an extraordinary act of generosity on the National Gallery’s part to both our university and state. The works present a rich diversity of styles, subjects and media, and include a refreshing array of sketches, preparatory studies and highly finished pieces,” said Victor Koshkin-Youritzin, co-curator of "Vernet to Villon."

The exhibition was made possible after eight years of preparation, said Margaret Morgan Grasselli, co-curator of "Vernet to Villon." Grasselli is the curator of old master drawings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Koshkin-Youritzin and Grasselli have co-authored a catalog under the same name as the exhibit. This catalog gives enlightening background information on highlighted works from the exhibit.

The opening reception for “Vernet to Villon” will be free and open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m. Friday at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. For more information visit www.ou.edu/fjjma.

Mariah Webb

Mariah is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Assistant Life & Arts Editor and Life & Arts Editor.