Exhibition – Claude Lorrain, drawings and etchings

Lifting the golden veil on the incomparably poetic landscapes painted by Claude Lorrain, mainly in Rome, this exhibition presents the artist’s drawings and etchings, exploring the flashes of genius, hesitations and doubts of one of the greatest masters of the 17th century.

A tireless draughtsman, Claude Lorrain worked with broad ink washes, meticulous pen strokes and rapid notations in black chalk to study nature, transcribe sunlight at different times of day and compose everyday, religious and mythological scenes. As etchings, his subjects take on new tonalities and lose none of the experimental freedom that characterises Claude Lorrain’s work.

Loaned from public and private collections, the works on display at the Château de Chantilly, which include well-known pieces and others that have never been shown in public before, reveal the questions asked by the artist and the way he attempted to answer them, providing insight into his creative process and the intimate world of one of the most outstanding figures in the history of art.

The Condé museum’s complete collection of drawings by Claude Lorrain, the largest in France after the Louvre Museum, will be presented during the exhibition.