“The Pencil Is a Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists”

Inmate art has long held a fascination for the way it provides a window into the lives of those coping with imprisonment. Though usually associated with convicted felons behind bars, the genre is broadened in this exhibition of works on paper to include individuals incarcerated for reasons ranging from political dissent to mental illness. The show features pieces created while under confinement by canonical names such as Honoré Daumier and Gustave Courbet (both of whom were tossed in jail for anti-government activities) as well as contributions from the ranks of the anonymous, like holiday greeting cards to family produced by unfortunate souls condemned to the Soviet Gulag.