The Royal Academy presents Driven to Draw: Twentieth-century Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Royal Academy’s Collection on view through 12 February 2012.
Sir Frank Brangwyn, R.A., Portrait of A.H. Mackmurdo, 1 May 1945. Red chalk on cream laid paper. Photo: © Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Drawing is almost as natural a human activity as breathing the air around us. However, only in the twentieth century have artists drawn more often from inner compulsion than out of practical necessity. This exhibition has been selected from the Academy’s own rarely seen collection of twentieth-century drawings and sketchbooks, in the belief that this compulsion can be sensed in drawings of many different kinds.
By including a wide range of styles, techniques, and modes of draughtsmanship in works by both Royal Academicians and students alike – everything in fact from doodles to diploma works – the exhibition aims to capture the magic of drawing done for its own sake. – www.royalacademy.org.uk