Review: Leonardo Da Vinci 10 Drawings at Laing Art Gallery

Review: Leonardo Da Vinci 10 Drawings at Laing Art Gallery

12th February 2016 Off By

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From tomorrow an exhibition of ten of the finest drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci will be on display at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle.

The exhibition, Ten Drawings from the Royal Collection, will be on display at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle from tomorrow until April 24.

The collection aims to portray the artist’s wide range of skill and expertise, with images in various forms from pen and ink to metal point.

As the gallery claims itself within the display “drawing is a means of exploring the world”, this very interesting collection allows viewers to see the numerous ways in which one of the most famous artists in history did just that.

Everything from quick sketches of an infant’s limbs, in which Leonardo manages to capture to instinctual movements of a child, to work that can be compared to the beauty of the Mona Lisa – the collection offers something for everyone.

A remarkable thing to note about the exhibition is the quality of the work. Although created over 500 years ago, each drawing looks as though it were created only moments before.

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The Royal Collection of almost 600 drawings by the artist have been keep together and have been taken care of in a meticulous manner, since the artist’s death in 1519. This protection has ensured that viewers today are able to experience exactly what Da Vinci did 500 years ago.

Martin Clayton, Head of Prints and Drawings, The Royal Collection Trust said: “This is why people find drawing so exciting. A painting which is highly finished and framed and hangs on the wall of a gallery is a bit remote, a bit forbidding sometimes and very few people have ever made an oil painting.

“We can understand what Leonardo was doing when he picked up a piece of paper and a pen and drew.

“You can see how he filled the page with designs and you can see the workings of his mind, as he worked towards a solution and that’s what’s so exciting about drawings.”

The Ten Drawings is a remarkable exhibition that will allow the people of Newcastle to become closer to the historic Leonardo Da Vinci and gather inspiration from the variation in his work.

The exhibition is on show at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne from February 13 – April 24, the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin from May 4 – July 17, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery from July 30 – October 9 and Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea from October 15  – 6 January 2017.

A small admission fee is required.