"Michelangelo, the drawings of a genius" @ Albertina, Vienna

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Three Men Standing in Wide Coats Turned Towards the Left, around 1492-96. Quill pen in brown © Albertina, Vienna

VIENNA - In a major exhibition scheduled for autumn and winter 2010, the Albertina will present around one hundred of the most beautiful drawings by Michelangelo. Precious works from the Graphic Arts Collection of the Albertina, as well as important loans from museums and private collections in Europe and the United States, will offer a hitherto unparalleled overview of the great Florentine’s entire oeuvre.

The focus will be on the figural drawings by Michelangelo, who will be introduced here as the genius of a period of change, with his versatile talents as a draftsman, painter, architect, and sculptor.

The show traces Michelangelo’s career from the artist’s juvenile works and designs for The Battle of Cascina to the world-famous frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, the ingenious drawings he presented to Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, and the Crucifixion scenes dating from the artist’s late period, when he was almost eighty years old. At the same time, new clues as to the dating of individual works will be provided. Projections of the monumental ceiling frescoes, the incorporation of plaster casts of Michelangelo’s sculptures, as well as paintings by other artists based on the master’s designs are meant to illustrate the dimensions and impact of his art. New paths of didactic presentation will be forged through a documentation of contemporary history and the artist’s environment.

The Albertina will extend its opening hours for its major autumn shows Picasso: Peace and Freedom and Michelangelo. The Drawings of a Genius. The exhibitions will be accessible from 10 am to 7 pm from Thursday to Tuesday and from 10 am to 9 pm on Wednesdays.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Standing Male Nude Seen From Behind, 1501-04. Quill pen in brown over traces of a preliminary drawing in black chalk © Albertina, Vienna

VIENNE – Il n’est guère aisé de réunir une aussi belle sélection de dessins de Michel-Ange. Ces œuvres sont à la fois fragiles et dispersées en de nombreuses collections publiques et privées. Ces quelque 120 feuilles incluent les plus anciennes que l’on connaisse (les esquisses pour la Bataille de Cascina) et contiennent les travaux préparatoires au Jugement dernier de la chapelle Sixtine, pour finir avec le thème obsessionnel de la Crucifixion, maintes fois repris par l’artiste à la fin de sa vie. Pour fournir des éléments de comparaison, les œuvres de ses disciples comme Daniele da Volterra ou Sebastiano del Pombo sont présentées en contrepoint.

Michelangelo, the drawings of a genius à l’Albertina, du 8 octobre 2010 au 9 janvier 2011. www.albertina.at

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Male Nude Seen From the Back With a Flag Staff, ca. 1504. Black chalk, heightened in white © Albertina, Vienna

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study of a Seated Young Man and Two Studies of the Right Arm, (Recto), around 1511. Red chalk, heightened with white © Albertina, Vienna

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Pietà, around 1530-36. Red chalk over black chalk and preliminary slate pencil drawing © Albertina, Vienna

Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Risen Christ, ca. 1532. Black chalk. The Royal Collection © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Madonna and Child, 1520-25. Black and red chalk. © Casa Buonarroti, Florence

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study of an Inclined Head and Detailed Eye Study, 1529/30. Red chalk © Casa Buonarroti, Florence

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto), 1511/12. Red chalk © Casa Buonarroti, Florence

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Bust of the Virgin Mary in Profile, the Child Reclining on a Cushion, and Other Studies, 1503/04. Pen and brown ink. ©Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Half-Length Figure of Cleopatra (recto), ca. 1533. Black chalk © Casa Buonarroti, Florence

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study of a Male Nude, Separate Study of his Head (recto), 1534-1536. Black chalk on brown paper © Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Four Studies for the Figure of the Crucified Haman (recto), ca. 1512. Red chalk © The British Museum, London

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John, ca. 1533. Black chalk, partially abraded © The British Museum, London

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Christ on the Cross with the Virgin Mary and Saint John, 1555-1564. Black chalk, heightened with white (oxidized) © The British Museum, London

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study for a Lamentation of Christ and Two Skeches of a Right Arm, 1533/34 Black chalk, traces of white hightening © Musée du Louvre, Paris

Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Punishment of Tityus (recto), 1532. Black chalk. The Royal Collection © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II