New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art will show various works on paper by the famous French artist Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) from February 17 to May 15, 2022. The exhibition Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman presents his iconic works, in which he captured the hopes and sufferings of an entire nation and addressed themes that still resonate today due to their timelessness. The focus of the solo show is not so much on his public successes, but rather concentrates on his preparatory studies. In doing so, the exhibition attempts to capture the moments of inspiration and the progress of his ideas. With the help of more than 80 chronologically arranged drawings and oil sketches, visitors can follow David's process during which he gave form to the Neoclassical style and created large paintings. These paintings shaped the public's perception of historical events in the years before, during and after the French Revolution.
Jacques-Louis David, born in Paris on August 30, 1748, was a neoclassical history painter. In the early 19th century, he became especially important to Napoleon Bonaparte, under whose reign he became his most important painter. David is therefore predominantly known for his large-scale depictions of Bonaparte, as well as for his scenes from classical Greece and Rome. In his work, he rejected the sweeping brushstrokes of the Rococo period and took clear stands on bourgeois values. Today, many paintings by Jacques-Louis David can be found in the Louvre (Paris), the Palace of Versailles, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hermitage (St. Petersburg), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
