The collection of drawings from the Venetian nineteenth century at the Correr is one of the biggest on the graphic scene of that century.
It consists in several hundred sheets of different quality and kinds that - maybe because they have been obscured by the fame of the vast collections of drawings from the eighteenth century - have never received the attention they deserved and were thus considered a 'lesser' patrimony' for years and therefore mainly used as a source of documentation.
However, the outstanding importance of these collections gradually became clear from various points of view.
As part of the programme of developing the vast patrimony of its collections, the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia is presenting a vast exhibition of these drawings at the Correr, most of which are on display for the very first time, including works by artists such as Caffi, Pividor, Guardi, Moro, Bosa, Vervloet to name but a few.
Curated by Giandomenico Romanelli, Filippo Pedrocco, Andrea Bellieni, the exhibition is installed in the Hall of Honour and the Museum's large exhibition area on the second floor . the works on display all in some way connected to Venice: either the subject of the works is Venetian, or they were conceived and completed in Venice, or they are about Venice, inspired by the city and its monumental and social aspects as a subject of exercise or poetical sensations.
The Venice that appears in the nineteenth-century drawings of the Correr is surprising: both modern and ancient, distracted and suffering, secret and well-known; it reveals the nerves and muscles of a body in suffering that refuses to yield, full of life and dynamic. Above all, there are outbursts of reality, of what is true, going beyond rhetoric and regrets, beyond nostalgia and laments.
A Venice that is unusual and full of fascination during the years of Ruskin and the first big, controversial restoration projects, the affirmation of tourists seeking sensations that differ from those of the Grand Tour of the Enlightenment.
It is a season of studies and research; a nineteenth century that is starving for history and industry, contradictory and fragile, unsure and headstrong. In a word, Modern.

Various educational and further study activities have been planned around this exhibition
"With the tip of a pencil" is a drawing competition of real life objects and situations, made possible thanks to the contribution by the Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia Bank that is providing prizes for the top three winners. It is aimed at anyone over the age of 18, and the subject matter may be places, views, images, activities or the atmosphere of contemporary Venice.

"Recognising Venice" is a game proposed in collaboration with the daily paper Gazzettino. It will begin in the second half of January 2010 when the paper will present its readers with five drawings from the exhibition, publishing one a week. Anyone who is able to recognise the five sites portrayed will receive a catalogue of the exhibition.

"How the city has changed" is a drawing workshop that, taking the works on display as its starting point, experiments and increases awareness of the different working methods - from the rapid 'note', to the detailed drawing - and the use of different media (pencil, pen, watercolours ...). It is aimed at schools, families and adults as part of the "Weekend at the Museum" project (for further information: education@fmcvenezia.it).


GENERAL INFORMATION

Venue: Correr Museum, Piazza San Marco, Venice

Official opening: Friday 18 December 2009

Open to the public: 19th December 2009-11th April 2010

Opening hours: 10/18 (ticket office 10/17)

TICKETS

€ 4,00

Free entrance
those purchasing tickets for The Museums of St. Mark's Square or the Musei Civici Veneziani Museum Pass; children under 5; the handicapped with the person accompanying them; authorised guides*; tourist interpreters accompanying groups*;2 free tickets every 25 tickets with prior bookings (non-school groups); teachers (max 2 per class) who accompany their school groups; I.C.O.M. members.

* identification required

Bookings
- on line www.museiciviciveneziani.it
(payment by credit card at least 24 hours prior to visit)
- call center ++39 041 5209070
(payment by credit card at least 24 hours prior to visit; payment by bank draft at least 15 days before the visit)

INFO
www.museiciviciveneziani.it
call center 0415209070
info@fmcvenezia.it