Botticelli Drawings is the first exhibition ever dedicated to the drawings of Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445 – 1510). Exploring the foundational role drawing played in Botticelli’s work, the exhibition traces his artistic journey, from studying under maestro Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469) to leading his own workshop in Florence. Featuring rarely seen and newly attributed works, the exhibition provides insight into the design practice of an artist whose name is synonymous with the Italian Renaissance. Botticelli’s drawings offer an intimate look into the making of some of his most memorable masterpieces, including Adoration of the Magi (c. 1500), which will be reunited with its preparatory drawing, surviving only in fragments. From Botticelli’s earliest recorded drawings through expressive designs for his final painting, the works on display reveal the artist’s experimental drawing techniques, quest for ideal beauty, and command of the line.

Bouke de Vries creates imaginative ceramic sculptures that capture what he describes as the “beauty of destruction.” Repurposing shattered ceramic wares, the London-based Dutch artist challenges notions of perfection and worth by finding new potential in that which is broken. The exhibition features eight new commissions. These include two of his distinctive “memory vessels,” in which the original shapes of broken ceramic wares are re-created in glass to house the shards. One incorporates English Worcester porcelain, a reference to the extensive collection of Worcester in the Bowles Porcelain Gallery. The exhibition also includes three “exploding still lifes,” in which ceramic fragments appear to float in the moment of shattering, as well as a work inspired by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Trained as a porcelain restorer, De Vries seeks to repurpose materials rather than let them go to waste, finding beauty and meaning in that which is damaged.

This exhibition is the second in a series of contemporary ceramic installations in the Bowles Porcelain Gallery.

Through rarely seen works and masterpieces by beloved artists over five decades, this exhibition of drawings explores the expressive possibilities of the outline. Drawn from our works on paper collection, the selection ranges from minimal line drawings by Michelangelo and Andy Warhol to fluid figure studies by Pablo Picasso and Ruth Asawa. One of our most treasured works, Paul Gauguin’s large-scale portrait L’Arlésienne (Madame Ginoux) (1888) is on display for the first time in more than a decade.