A dozen buzzing ele-mentary schoolers nudge each other, edge in and crowd around a black-ink drawing displayed in the University Art Museum. Fingers wrapped around pencils and clipboards, faces scrunched up in concentration, the kids lean toward the artwork.
Their tour guide asks them, "If the drawing had color, what color would you see?"
In spurts of enthusiasm inconsistent with their sensible clipboards, the children offer suggestions for painting the picture:
"Yellow!"
"Black."
"Green?"
The tour guide continues, "Would color help it or hurt it?"
Amidst energetic cries of "Help it!" one student delivers the anomalous answer. "If you color it, sometimes it makes it look worse."
The drawing in question is Henri Matisse's "Bouquet of Flowers," one of the 61 works included in the "Masterpieces of European Drawing" exhibit on display at the Art Museum until June 5. Featuring need-no-introduction artists such as Matisse, Rembrandt and Rubens, the exhibit is in the league of "any major art museum," according to University Museum Director Jill Hartz.
Next to its famous names, what is special about "Masterpieces" is that many of the works are missing a full palette of color -- true to its title, the show is devoted to drawings. Yet as the wise student pointed out, declaring that colors are "missing" would be missing the point. From pen-and-ink creations to faintly hued pencils, these 16th- to 20th-century works share an intimacy that is unique to drawing, Hartz said. Paintings offer grandeur, but drawings "let you get into the artist's head."
To take visitors on the trip into the mind of the artist, the exhibit is divided into two sections. On one side, the show offers a look at various drawing techniques.
"This part of the exhibit shows how artists use drawings as a daily practice, for the purpose of refining their skill," Hartz said.
On the other side of the gallery, the curators have grouped the body of work thematically: landscapes, portraits and stories.
Within the two sections, there are both drawings that stand alone, such as Hendick Goltzius' red-chalked "Mars" and Matisse's swift-lined "Sleeping Woman," as well as drawings that are relatives of paintings.
The painting partners are sometimes artists' preparations for larger prints, Hartz explained. One example is the drawing by Jacques-Louis David that would develop into the famous "The Emperor as Legislator" portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte now located in the National Gallery of Art.
In other cases, a drawing of one detail may be a study for a much more zoomed-out picture. Hartz said she particularly is moved by the "Study of an Arm" that Théodore Géricault sketched in preparation for his painting "The Raft of the Medusa," which is housed at the Louvre.
Hartz noted that Géricault modeled his preparatory drawings on real people, so this single limb -- just a slightly bent arm drawn from the shoulder down -- possesses a great deal of power.
"It has a real visceral feel," she said.
Fourth-year College student and Art Museum intern Lauren Cryan said she is excited about, and hopes students realize, the magnitude of "Masterpieces."
"A lot of people think you have to go to the National Gallery in D.C. or the Met [in New York] to see names that you know are good artists, and that's not true," Cryan said.
"Masterpieces" even has the mark of exclusivity: This is the first time any of the featured drawings have been outside of France. The University was given the chance to display the works thanks to a newly-established sisterhood between the cities of Charlottesville and Besançon, France.
Hartz said collaboration on the exhibit is one of the "first official gestures of friendship" between the two cities.
The exhibit was first displayed at Besançon's Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology, the oldest museum in France, though on a much larger scale. There, the exhibit boasted 120 drawings. Now lending part of its collection to the University, Besançon's Museum has provided the University with as many drawings from the original exhibit as were deemed travel-safe. The 61 drawings currently on display are the ones that made the cut.
"Because drawings are so fragile, most of the time they spend years in storage," Hartz said. So if pulling drawings out of storage is a feat in itself, then shipping them across the world is an understandably delicate matter. Hartz explained that certain media -- pastel, for example -- can't travel altogether.
To ensure a smooth ride for the stars of the show, Art Museum Curator Andrea Douglas met with staff in Besançon before transferring the drawings to Charlottesville. The curator from Besançon then traveled to Charlottesville to help set up the exhibit.
Cross-cultural moments highlight this experience, Hartz said.
"At the black-tie opening, the curator from Musée des Beaux-Arts [Museum of Fine Arts] gave a talk in French that was translated [into English]," she said. "We had to spot people at the dinner who were French -- we were really cosmopolitan."
Aside from building bridges across the Atlantic, "Masterpieces" has united efforts of University and Charlottesville community members. University faculty assisted in translating the exhibit's catalog from French to English. The banners at the entrance of the museum -- recalling those you'd see at a larger-scale art gallery -- were created by a local firm. Hartz said they worked closely with Alliance Française, a community organization. In addition, student docents from several academic departments have been giving talks related to the exhibit.
Considering the delicate nature of the works, this is probably the last time for a long time that any of the drawings will be on display in the United States. But visitors are soaking it up while it lasts.
"People comment on how intimate the drawings are," Cryan said. "It's almost like you can see what the artists were thinking. You can see the spark"
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