DENVER, CO.- The Denver Art Museum presents Castiglione: Lost Genius, featuring 90 of the finest drawings, etchings and monotypes of the 17th century Genoese artist, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. An almost forgotten master of the Italian Baroque, Castiglione was a self-proclaimed genius. The exhibition explores Castiglione’s mastery of art and how he produced brilliant works on paper despite a turbulent private life that prevented him from fully realizing his talents. The works in the exhibition are generously loaned by Her Majesty The Queen from the Royal Collection. Castiglione: Lost Genius is on view Aug. 9, 2015, through Nov. 8, 2015.

“Castiglione was a brilliant artist who blurred the lines of artistic media through draftsmanship to achieve his own creative ends,” said Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the DAM and co-curator of the exhibition. “My fascination with this artist began in 1978 through my graduate studies and it is a true pleasure to see this exhibition come to fruition.”

Standring’s ongoing 30-year captivation with the artist led to some intriguing archival discoveries, including Castiglione’s volatile personality and alleged criminal acts including potential murder. Prior to this exhibition, little of the artist’s life was documented, and his works were known mostly by specialists in the field.

The drawings and prints presented in Castiglione: Lost Genius convey the extraordinary draftsmanship of an artist who drew like no other artist in the 17th century, drawing with oil pigments on unprimed paper for the bulk of his career. He was recognized internationally during his lifetime, but fell from favor during the 19th century. The exhibition unveils Castiglione’s drawing practices during his formative years in Genoa and Rome, mature years spent peripatetically throughout Italy, and finally his last years in Mantua.

“Audiences in the United States have had little exposure to the works of Castiglione,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the DAM. “With this exhibition, we’re pleased to share the incredible story of this artist with our visitors, who are sure to be captivated upon introduction to the devilish and unconventional genius of Castiglione.”

Castiglione was not only a painter and draftsman, he was the revolutionary inventor of the monotype in the 1640s, experimenting with the technique centuries before Post-Impressionist artists such as Degas and Gauguin would in the late 19th century. This technique allowed Castiglione to make a print from one-off designs, allowing him to combine the brio and dash of his draftsmanship with his interest in printmaking.

This exhibition has been organized by the Denver Art Museum and Royal Collection Trust. Castiglione: Lost Genius will be on view in the DAM’s Gallagher Family Gallery on level one of the Frederic C. Hamilton Building and will be included in general admission.