RA show draws on Monet

The first exhibition devoted to the drawings and pastels of Monet is to be staged by the Royal Academy as part of its 2007 programme.

The show promises to explore the artist's draftsmanship through 80 of his works brought to London from the Continent, the US and Japan.

It aims to study the relationship between the great Impressionist master's work on paper and canvas. Sketches and studies will throw light on what is said to be a little-known aspect of his method.

A spokesman said: "This revelatory exhibition will uncover Monet's hidden talent as a draftsman, a gift that he publicly disavowed."

Claude Monet's work will also form part of an exhibition later in the year exploring the Impressionists' fascination with beach scenes from the early 1860s to the early 1880s, a period when the beaches of northern France became resorts.

As well as its annual opensubmission Summer Exhibition, the Royal Academy's 2007 programme includes the turbulent age of European revolutions as seen through great portraits.

Evening Standard art critic Brian Sewell said: "Placing artists such as Reynolds and Lawrence in the same room as David, Ingres and Goya can only show them in a very good light indeed, proving these men were the very equal of their European contemporaries."

Academy president Sir Nicholas Grimshaw said: "The programme brings together the contemporary, the historical and the spectacular. The breadth and depth will continue to amaze."

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