OBERLIN, OH.- This exhibition of drawings dating from 1900 to 2007 showcases the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s outstanding and highly diverse permanent collection. Included among over 125 stellar works are those by Close, De Chirico, De Kooning, Dine, Diebenkorn, Kandinsky, Klimt, Matisse, Miró, Picasso, Pollock, Rauschenberg, and Wegman. Also highlighted are a selection of new acquisitions: a 1923 João Alves de Sá landscape (one of three drawings by this artist, the first Portuguese works to enter the AMAM’s collection) from Oberlin Emeritus Professor of Music Theory Gil Miranda and his wife Sharon and an intricate work by Oberlin Professor John Pearson bequeathed by Marjorie and Anselm Talalay. A new gift of drawings from Kenneth and Barbara Watson includes a double-sided Arshile Gorky drawing from 1946, a 1948 Roberto Matta, and works by Pavel Tchelitchew and Theodore Roszak.

The works exemplify the diversity of thought and practice from the early 20th century to today. Many of them question previously-held conceptions of art, and some test the boundaries of the very definition of drawing. The major movements and themes explored are equally diverse, with Oberlin itself—town, College, and museum—providing inspiration for several works that span the decades.