WASHINGTON, D.C. — The title tells it all; but discoveries lie ahead.

Color, Line, Light: French Drawings, Watercolors and Pastels from Delacroix to Signac spans the entire 19th century. It traces the whims and wishes of great artists as they experimented with new styles, jumping from one artistic movement to another.

The exhibition has attracted attention at its only venue – the museum that belongs to all Americans – the National Gallery of Art in downtown Washington. Exactly 100 works from the collection of James T. Dyke and his wife, Helen L. Porter, are on view through May 26, providing a fascinating understanding of what a prolific century it really was.

Dyke called his collection of drawings “a search for exceptional works by artists both major and minor, showing that good work is simply that, regardless of the fame or obscurity of the artist.” Romanticism, realism, the Nabi movement, symbolism, naturalism, impressionism and neo-impressionism all took place during the 19th century. Art had become a barometer of emotion and social and political conditions from the age of Napoleon through fin de siècle, the end of the 19th century.

Many underestimate drawings and other works on paper, yet the most erudite experts sing their praises, saying that drawings are the first recorded thoughts and instincts of an artist. Drawings often serve as a study for a more complex, serious painting. Pierre Rosenberg, Director of the Louvre for many years, and his chief curator Louis-Antoine Prat, have devoted much of their time to analyzing drawings.

Both were lovers of David, Watteau and Poussin.

Romanticism became a way to express strong emotions; artists such as Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) and Eugène Isabey (1803-1886) prove the point that every individual has his own unique voice. The poet Baudelaire called Romanticism “a way of feeling ... expressing intimacy, spirituality, color and a desire to reach for the infinite.”

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) aroused terror with his painting of a disaster, at sea. Abandoned on a raft, the desperate seamen resorted to cannibalism and suicide. His black chalk drawing is a study for the iconic canvas hanging at the Louvre. It is not in the show. Isabey&rsuqo;s Fishing Boats Tossed Before a Storm is in the show and has s similar theme of man against the elements. Delacroix&rsuqo;s English Cavalier shows his painterly technique as the artist paints in watercolor. Even cliffs and rocks evoke pleasant feelings about enjoying a day at the seashore.

The French were passionate about drawing landscapes, sometimes objectively drawing nature but at other times idealizing nature, taking the liberty to “make it better than real.” At this point they began to use lovely, muted pastels as well as dramatic charcoal. It all began with the classicists Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) and Claude Lorrain (1605-1682) 200 years earlier; they roamed the Italian countryside, studying light and weather effects, influencing such painters as Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844-1925) and Henri-Joseph Harpignies (1819-1916). Lhermitte&rsuqo;s profile portrait of a weary, wizened old woman, rendered in charcoal, is unforgettable. Harpignies uses watercolor to happily bring chrysanthemums to life, but he is best known for his brooding landscapes near the water. He painted Trees Along the Coast in 1897.

The Barbizon landscape painters convinced the impressionists to add dabs of broken color to their landscapes to capture the fleeting moment, freezing a moment in time. Claude Monet (1840-1926) painted the Rouen Cathedral at least a dozen times as he revealed the changing effects of light on the church&rsuqo;s façade. He also created several works painting London&rsuqo;s Waterloo Bridge at different times of day.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was declared the painter of modern life, distancing himself from aristocratic circles to paint women ironing, prostitutes and teenage ballerinas practicing their positions at the barre. Other Impressionists in the exhibition include Boudin, Manet, Pissarro and Berthe Morisot.

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) and Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) were leaders of the Nabis, also known as Symbolists. Nabi is the Hebrew word for prophet. These artists sought to create a new kind of painting, evoking sensations of the world around them rather than depicting objective reality.

Vuillard is especially known for his interiors merging background with foreground, as wallpaper, furniture and decorative objects such as lamps and shawls become indistinguishable from the human figure. Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier were colleagues. Georges Lemmen was a Belgian artist contemporary with the Nabis, Like his contemporaries, he also mastered a new concept of space.

The neo-impressionists chose nature and modern life as subject matter. They painted only with dots of pure color, letting the eye do the mixing of colors to produce the secondary hues. For example, red and blue when mixed together create purple.

The same phenomenon occurs when the eye blends these two primary colors together. And the creation of forms occur when light and shade are contrasted. Hippolyte Petitjean painted little dots in the pointillist style, emulating the brilliant Georges Seurat. Paul Signac&rsuqo;s brilliant colors and strong strokes dominant this final section of the show.

Relive the turbulence of 19th century French art through May 26 by viewing its various moods and movements at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Admission is always free.

Go to www.nga.org for more details.