Event Information

Imagination in the Age of Reason

Cleveland Museum of Art
Start: December 14, 2024 10:00 am
End: March 1, 2025 5:00 pm

Address:
11150 East Blvd.
Cleveland, OH – 44106-1797

Admission Price: Free

Although the Enlightenment period in Europe (about 1685–1815) has long been celebrated as “the age of reason,” it was also a time of imagination when artists across Europe incorporated elements of fantasy and folly into their work in creative new ways. Imagination in the Age of Reason, pulled from the CMA’s rich holdings of 18th-century European prints and drawings, explores the complex relationship between imagination and the Enlightenment’s ideals of truth and knowledge.

During this unprecedented time, artists used their imaginations in multifaceted ways to depict, understand, and critique the world around them. The Enlightenment adopted a revolutionary emphasis on individual liberty, direct observation, and rational thought. The exhibition presents an exceptional opportunity to see exciting recent acquisitions on view for the first time as well as rarely shown collection highlights, including prints and drawings by Canaletto and Goya and a pastel portrait by Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard.