In 2020, Giuseppe Penone made a substantial donation to the Musée National d’Art Moderne: 328 drawings covering fifty years of creation, from 1967 to 2019. The exhibition presents 241 drawings from this donation. 

The presentation of these 241 drawings, some of which have never before been shown, illustrates the different stages in the artist’s thinking, from preliminary diagrams to drawings of the completed sculpture in some cases.  Alongside four sculptures from the collection of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, chosen in relation to the drawings, the exhibition also features two sculptures belonging to the artist, thereby showcasing all the artist’s favourite materials: wood, clay, stone, leaves and bronze.