The Morgan Library & Museum announced its program of exhibitions for Fall 2019. Whether exploring the world of opera with an in-depth look at Italy’s pre-eminent composer Giuseppe Verdi, showcasing rarely seen charcoal portrait drawings by John Singer Sargent, examining the drawings of the virtuoso draftsman Guercino, or tracing the career of contemporary photographer Duane Michals, the Morgan will host a variety of upcoming exhibitions that illuminate the dynamism of the creative process.

Of note, "John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal," is on view October 4, 2019 through January 12, 2020.

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions. These drawn portraits represent a substantial, yet often overlooked, part of his practice, and they demonstrate the same sense of immediacy, psychological sensitivity, and mastery of chiaroscuro that animate Sargent’s sitters on canvas. John Singer Sargent: Portraits in
Charcoal is a long overdue celebration of Sargent’s achievements as a portrait draftsman.

Important international loans, from both public and private collections, showcase Sargent’s sitters, many of them famous for their roles in politics, society, and the arts. The exhibition also explores the friendships and the networks of patronage that underpinned Sargent’s practice as a portrait draftsman in Edwardian Britain and Progressive Era America.