NEW YORK – Master Drawings New York returns to the Upper East Side for its 12th year from Saturday, Jan. 27, to Saturday, Feb. 3, at a time when all eyes are on the Old Masters market.

Still the pre-eminent international showcase for fine drawings, even as its purview extends for the first time to paintings and sculpture, a reconfigured MDNY showcases art from the 15th to the 21st century. Twenty-one art dealers will participate (10 are new to the show) including Agnew’s and Naumann Fine Art, Colnaghi, Anthony Grant and Tomasso Brothers Fine Art. The individual exhibitions will extend from 54th to 93rd streets.

“MDNY is an essential event on the annual arts calendar,” says Crispian Riley-Smith, chief executive of Master Drawings New York Ltd. “Coinciding with the Old Masters auctions in New York City, our exhibiting dealers serve collectors, curators, museum directors and market specialists who come to the city every January. The week-long event also appeals to novices who want to learn more about a fascinating segment of the art field and even become collectors in their own right. It’s an ideal opportunity for them to learn from some of the leading experts in their field by visiting these small, stellar exhibitions.”

The Academy Mansion at 2 E. 63th St. is once again the centralized location for visitor orientation and public programs as well as a key exhibition.

A stroll uptown by way of Master Drawings New York’s exhibitions begins on Manhattan’s West Side at Anthony Grant Inc., a new, New York-based exhibitor in the show. Here, visitors will see Cy Twombly’s Some Flowers for Suzanne (1982), a large lyrical scrumble of oil paint, wax crayon and pencil on paper that enters the market from a private collection, where it has resided since its creation. Also from a private collection is Brice Marden’s Souvenir de Grece 12, a large collage on paper created as part of a famous suite executed between 1974 and 1996.

Two blocks northeast, on Fifth Avenue, Findlay Galleries of New York City will offer several important drawings in its first year in the event, including Winslow Homer’s The Breakwater (above), which was once part of the collection of Thomas B. Clarke. Its evocation of sparkling sunshine, light blue foaming waves, and rosy-cheeked beauty pays homage to the rustic fishing village of Cullercoats, England, where the artist retreated for a few years in the late 1880s in escape from New York and London society. Also on offer is Marc Chagall’s Le Cirque (1941), a large and exceptionally well-preserved gouache, one of only two works painted by the artist in his first year in the United States.

Découvert Fine Art of Rockport, Massachusetts, returns to MDNY with Masculine Observed, 16th to the 20th century, a consideration of the ways in which men have been portrayed in Western art. A highlight is Jean-Antoine Gros’ Combat de Nazareth (1801), a virtuosic ink sketch seemingly executed in a feverish set of quick and emotive strokes, then submitted to a competition held at Napoleon Bonaparte’s request. Praise from Eugéne Delacroix and Théodore Géricault likely helped Gros secure the commission-perhaps they saw the drawing as did another commentator of the day, who described it as the “origin of romantic painting.”

To learn more about the public programs sponsored by Master Drawings New York visit the event’s website at http://www.masterdrawingsinnewyork.com/.