Studies for a Ceiling Decoration with the Apotheosis of Psyche (detail), about 1680, Charles de la Fosse, Pen and black ink and brush and watercolor over red chalk on paper. Getty Museum

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Presenting the Getty Museum’s collection of 17th century French drawings in its entirety for the first time, Grand Design: 17th Century French Drawings, open through May 1, 2022, addresses the emergence of a distinctly French school of art and explores the role that drawing played in the process.

“Today we recognize drawings by Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain as landmark achievements of 17th-century European art,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “But in fact, drawing lay at the heart of all artmaking in 17th-century France, from the decoration of palaces and churches to the illustration of books. Drawing was where it began.”

Figures in a Landscape before a Harbor, late 1630s, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), pen and brown ink and brush and reddish-brown wash, with white gouache heightening, on blue paper. Getty Museum

French art came into its own during the 17th century, often called the Grand Siècle, or Great Age, of France. This period witnessed a series of violent political upheavals at home, the first stages of colonial expansion overseas, and the rise of authoritarian absolute monarchy. This turbulent century fostered artistic activity on a scale previously unimagined. Expatriate French artists achieved fame in Rome; a Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was founded in Paris; and vast building projects—most notably, the Palace of Versailles—employed whole generations of artists.

This exhibition includes drawings made by Jacques Callot, Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Charles Le Brun, Hyacinthe Rigaud and many others. These artists made drawings for many different purposes: designs for ceiling paintings, altarpieces, sculptures, and prints; landscape sketches made outdoors; and nude studies drawn in the studio.

Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus, about 1626–1628, Nicolas Poussin, pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over traces of black chalk on paper; small, irregular section at right margin added. Getty Museum

“Drawing helped seventeenth-century French artists make sense of the world around them, think through compositional ideas, and prepare finished works,” explains Emily Beeny, curator of the exhibition. “Each of these sheets invites us into its author’s creative process, whether observing nature, capturing a portrait likeness, designing a print, or preparing a painting.”

Grand Design: 17th Century French Drawings will be on view now through May 1, 2022, at the Getty Center. It is curated by Emily Beeny, curator in charge of European paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and former associate curator of drawings at the Getty Museum. This exhibition is presented concurrently with another exhibition focused on seventeenth-century French art: Poussin and the Dance.

A Ship in a Port near a Ruined Obelisk, about 1675-1680, Pierre Puget, pen and black ink over black chalk on vellum. Getty Museum.

The Crucifixion, 1692, Antoine Coypel, red and black chalk with white gouache heightening on beige paper. Getty Museum.

A View of Mountains across a Lake, about 1632, Jacques Callot, brush and brown wash over black chalk on paper. Getty Museum.

Night, about 1635–1642, Charles Le Brun, black chalk, incised for transfer on light- brown paper. Getty Museum, Purchased in part with funds provided by the Disegno Group and an anonymous donation in memory of Melvin R. Seiden.

A Path Leading into a Forest Clearing, about 1635–1640, Nicolas Poussin, pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over graphite on paper. Getty Museum.