Displaying items by tag: marks of genius: 100 extraordinary drawings

In the world of art with paintings by Monet and Rembrandt, and sculpture by Michelangelo and Rodin, drawings sometimes play second fiddle.

Grand Rapids Art Museum hopes to show that's not really the case with a major exhibition of works on paper from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Drawings, watercolors and pastels from artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Jasper Johns go on display this fall in the exhibition titled "Marks of Genius: 100 Extraordinary Drawings from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts."

Like perfect pitch in music, drawing remains the skill by which artistic talent is measured.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts visitors can see how 100 different artists have drawn over the past 500 years and then step into the museum’s own studio and try their hand at sketching a still life, the human figure, or whatever springs to mind. The museum has even unearthed some plaster casts of antique sculpture that can be copied, as students once did in art school.

The DIY room is the playful wrap-up to “Marks of Genius: 100 Extraordinary Drawings,” an important show of impressively varied drawings, watercolors and pastels from the museum’s collection. Running through Sept. 21, the exhibit anticipates the museum’s 100th birthday next year and will travel to museums in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Raleigh, N.C., and Omaha after it closes in Minneapolis.