Drawings by Charles-Joseph Natoire at the Nîmes Fine Arts Museum

Son of the sculptor Florent Natoire, Charles-Joseph Natoire (Nîmes, 3 March 1700 -  Castel Gandolfo, 23 August 1777) is considered one of the most important representatives of the French painting of the 18th century and an excellent draughtsman.
 To mark the publication of Natoire's monographe by Susanna Caviglia-Brunel, the Nîmes Fine Arts Museum (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes) presents from 08/06/2012 to 16/09/2012, an exceptional selection of 91 drawings from public and private collections, including the Louvre and the Atger Museum (Montpellier).

 Sanguines, charcoals and washes, have enabled Charles-Joseph Natoire to try the several uses of drawing during his creative process. From the ancient art, going through the study of old masters, drawing from life, as an exercise per se, or as a preparatory study for a more elaborated work of art, Natoire reveals in his drawings the taste for refinement  and a balanced blend of mediums, always in the search for beauty.

  Soon after entering the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1734, Natoire completed a considerable number of royal commissions (in Fontainebleau, Versailles, etc), establishing his reputation as a fine artist. From 1756, he reduced his painting production in favour of the drawings.
He was director of the French Academy in Rome from 1751 to 1775.

 Charles-Joseph Natoire is mostly recognized for the series of the History of Psyche for Germain Boffrand's oval salon de la Princesse in the Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, and for the tapestry cartoons for the series of the History of Don Quixote, woven at the Beauvais tapestry manufacture, most of which are at the Château de Compiègne.

The exhibition can be visited during the following schedule:
Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00

On second Thursday of the month from 10:00 to 21:00

 For more information, please contact:

 Phone: +0033 (0)4 66 67 38 21
 Fax: +0033 (0)4 66 21 29 97