The exhibition, which will remain open to the public until 10 May, features some thirty works from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with the aim of celebrating the noble art of drawing
The Councillor for Culture, Susana Rivas, and the Director of the Chiclana Museum, Jesús Romero, opened on Tuesday the second of the exhibitions forming part of the new programme of temporary exhibitions to be hosted by Casa Briones throughout 2026, specifically ‘Drawing: Beyond the Sketch’, which will remain open to the public until 10 May.
Susana Rivas stated that “just as in previous years we have focused on different forms of the visual arts, such as painting or printmaking, on this occasion we wanted to place drawing at the centre as an art form, because although drawing has featured in other exhibitions, it has never taken centre stage or played a leading role. In this exhibition, drawing is not the sketch that will be transformed into something else, but rather takes on a life of its own. Furthermore, it traces the history of this art form from the 19th to the 21st century through various mediums such as ink, charcoal and other techniques”.
For his part, Jesús Romero emphasised that “no one doubts that drawing is important. Michelangelo himself said, ‘Let him who cannot draw, not sculpt.’ That is why, in art, drawing has always been present. Before the masterpiece, before the finished work, drawing has become an essential intermediate step.”
As its subtitle suggests, this exhibition does not present drawing as a means to an end—one that is supposedly greater or nobler and thus justifies its use. Here, drawing—the undisputed star of the show—is presented as an end in itself. Drawing, then, goes beyond its secondary role in sketches, rough drafts, and the like. It is a celebration of drawing as an art form in its own right—not subordinate to other art forms—a celebration of the nobility of the art of drawing. Pencil, ink, charcoal… and the humble sheet of paper as a canvas. A universe of infinite possibilities.
All the works brought together—more than thirty—illustrate, despite having been created between the 19th and 21st centuries, the evolution of drawing from the old masters to examples from the very recent present. Signed works, anonymous works, originals, copies, abstraction, genre scenes, portraits, vignettes, religious themes, pagan themes… All of this, mind you, with a predominance of the human figure, a subject that lends unity to the collection.
Local artists – or those closely linked to our town – are absent from this exhibition, as there are plans to dedicate a future exhibition exclusively to artists from Chiclana who have distinguished themselves, amongst other fields, in drawing.
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