French Drawings and Paintings from the Hermitage: Poussin to Picasso

On 3 November, 2001, a new exhibition was opened at the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House showing 75 drawing and 8 paintings of French masters from the 16th-20th centuries provided by the State Hermitage Museum. The exhibit includes oeuvres of renowned painters like Clouet, Poussin, Bellange, Watteau, Boucher, Oudry, Greuze, Ingres, Degas, Manet, Matisse and Picasso. The public will be interested to see side by side drawings and paintings by the same author, both preparations for a painting and independent works.

There are more than 40,000 items in the Hermitage Cabinet of Drawings, one of the largest collections in the world. The Museum frequently loans individual drawings to international exhibitions but this is the first time such a number of drawing masterpieces is presented in an exhibit abroad.

Catalogue of the exhibition