LONDON, ENGLAND.- For the first time ever, Master Drawings in London will include an exhibition of important Modern and Contemporary drawings, demonstrating that drawing is as important today as it has been over the last five centuries. The exhibition at Connaught Brown is one of eighteen individual gallery exhibitions held throughout Mayfair and St James’s, the rest of which exhibit more traditional drawings from the 15 th to the 20 th century. Master Drawings in London will be celebrating its sixth year from 30 th June – 7 th July 2006.

The selection of Modern and Contemporary drawings by Connaught Brown is considered one of the most comprehensive shown in a private gallery in recent years. Major contemporary artists including Wayne Thiebaud, Ed Ruscha, Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, Bridget Riley and Lucas Samaras have chosen work especially for the exhibition, demonstrating the importance of drawing to their oeuvre. Important modern works at the exhibition include Frank Auerbach’s Mornington Crescent (1973); a scene that was close to his North London studio, and a gouache by Tom Wesselmann entitled Amy and the Kiss (1984). Drawings by Jackson Pollock, Luc Tuymans and Andy Warhol will also be exhibited at the gallery.

French drawings form a strong element of Master Drawings in London this year. Agnew’s will be exhibiting two drawings by Fragonard, which were possibly commissioned by one of his patrons to illustrate Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso, in the early 1780s. Although never published, the drawings (which number over one hundred) are dramatic, full of vitality and passion and reflect the influence of both Rubens and Tiepolo. Jean-Luc Baroni will exhibit an important oil sketch of Saint Jerome by Eugene Delacroix, which was last seen on the art market in 1877. A selection of French drawings by Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) will be exhibited by Stoppenbach & Delestre, specialist in 19 th - to 20 th – century Impressionist & French pictures.

Jean-Luc Baroni will also exhibit a number of Italian drawings which deal with mythological subject matter including A Satry and Bacchante with Cupid by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and a lively depiction of Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld by Luigi Sabatelli. An important drawing from the Punchinello series, Punchinellos in a Caravan by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, is another highlight from their exhibition. David Jones will bring Old Master works by Jacopo Palma and Pier Leone Ghezzi. An important study for The head of Moses Selecting the Seventy Elders by Jacob de Wit, which was painted in 1736-7 and was the most important commission of his career, will be shown by Crispian Riley-Smith as well as an important re-discovery by the Venetian 16th Century artist, Battista Franco, of Head of a Bearded Soldier in red chalk, dated to the 1540s. This magnificent head study has taken its source from Michelangelo, and was last on the art market in the 1960s.

18 th-and 19 th-century drawings are particularly strong at Master Drawings in London this year. Emanuel von Baeyer will exhibit a large village scene by Louis-Nicolas and Henri-Joseph van Blarenberghe, dated 1776, which is one of their early collaborative works and used to hang at 10, Downing Street. C.G. Boernerexhibiting at Trinity Fine Art, will also be showing German works including German Romantic drawings by Johann Schilbach and Ernst Fries. Trinity Fine Art will be exhibiting an attractive interiors scene by Giuseppe Zocchi.

English artists at Master Drawings in London include Rowlandson, Turner and Constable, to be exhibited through Andrew Clayton- Payne. Rowlandson’s Connoisseurs at the Royal Academy is a humorous character study made in the 1790s when the Royal Academy was still at Somerset House. Lowell Libson will exhibit two Rowlandson’s, including The Happy Family, which is unusual as it contains no element of caricature. Other watercolours include two rustic scenes by William Henry Hunt, and a charming pen and brown ink drawing of the cutter, The Grace, by the talented marine painter, Charles Gore.

The Pre-Raphaelites will also be much in evidence during the week. Peter Nahum at The Leicester Galleries will exhibit a vibrant watercolour of The Great Pyramid at Giza, by William Holman Hunt (1854). This landscape was painted during one of several journeys to Palestine and the Holy Land, reflecting his recent conversion to religion and his resulting interest in biblical subject matters. Both W/S Fine Art and Lowell Libson will be exhibiting portraits by Dante Gabriel Rossetti of Elizabeth Siddal, his primary muse and lover. W/S Fine Art will show Elizabeth Siddal combing her hair, c.1856, an intimate portrait drawn four years before they married, whilst Lowell Libson will show her seated at an easel; this ink wash drawing has been in the same family collection since 1903 and has never been exhibited or photographed before.

Flavia Ormond Fine Arts Ltd will bring preparatory drawings by Henry Moore for his ‘signature’ sculptures Reclining Figures and Seated Figures, dated 1942. These drawings were an important early part of his artistic process, which were later replaced by models, which gave all viewpoints at once. A beautiful pencil portrait of a lady by Tristram Hillier, another modern British artist, will be shown alongside the sculpture studies.

A selection of twelve drawings by Frederic, Lord Leighton P.R.A. from the Royal Academy collection will be exhibited in the Library Print Room to coincide with Master Drawings London. The display will include life studies and preparatory work for important paintings like Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna Carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence (1853 – 5; The Royal Collection) and Perseus and Andromeda (ca. 1891; The Walker Gallery, Liverpool). In addition the display will include a selection of Leighton’s sketchbooks containing his travel drawings, ideas for compositions and notes on art history and painting techniques.

Master Drawings in London was launched in 2001 as a co-operative initiative within the trade to raise the profile of drawings dealers in London. These exhibitions illustrate the depth of expertise and range of stock found in the London trade.