Villa Medici Exhibition Features Artists' Doodles from Renaissance to Present

A new exhibition at Villa Medici in Rome showcases 150 works centered on the theme of doodles and scribbles by artists from the Renaissance to contemporary times. Titled 'Il gribouillage' (the doodle), the show includes pieces from Giovanni Bellini, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Eugène Delacroix, Cy Twombly, and Asger Jorn, among others. Loans come from the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, the Beaux-Arts de Paris, the Istituto Nazionale della Grafica in Rome, and the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art in Paris. The exhibition is divided into thematic sections such as 'The Shadow of the Workshop,' revealing hidden sketches and jokes on the backs of panels and frescoes, and 'The Game of Drawing,' featuring studies, notes, and expense lists. A section on 'The Childhood of Art' includes a 1520 painting by Giovanni Caroto of a child with his drawing, paired with a canvas by Asger Jorn. The show also presents photographs by Brassaï and Helen Levitt, and concludes with a wall for visitors to add their own doodles. A complementary exhibition will follow in Paris.