Renaissance to Goya Prints and Drawings from Spain. Abc.net.au

The exhibition Renaissance to Goya: Prints and Drawings from Spain has just opened at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and runs until November. The collection is from the British Museum and it not only examines a pivotal period in the development of European art generally, it challenges many of the stereotypes of Spanish art in particular. It includes more than 130 prints and drawings by Spanish and other European artists who were working in Spain from the mid 16th century to the early 19th century. Rather than focusing on the exuberant paintings of power and empire or austere studies of Catholicism which often dominate perceptions of Spanish art, it allows access to the behind-the-scenes work of artists by showing their studies, plans and designs, etches and sketches. This is also the period in which mechanical reproduction of prints meant that artists were able to communicate their ideas more freely.