Figure Drawing At Member Night
Dec 15, 2015
Peggy Bacon, The Whitney Studio Club (Frenzied Effort), 1925. Drypoint: Sheet (Irregular): 9 1/16 × 11 1/8 in. (23 × 28.3 cm) Plate: 5 13/16 × 9 in. (14.8 × 22.9 cm). Edition unknown. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Gift of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 31.596 © artist or artist’s estate
The Whitney Museum opened its doors in Greenwich Village in 1931, in a space that was originally Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s sculpture studio. In 1914, Mrs. Whitney established the Whitney Studio, a gathering place and exhibition space for artists, which she later transformed into the Whitney Studio Club. It became a haven for American artists then disdained by the conservative establishment and served as a social and creative hub for its members. The sketching classes held at the Whitney Studio Club were among its most popular activities.
Models pose for figure drawing on Member Night, December 2015. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson
On December 2 in the spirit of this legacy, Whitney Museum members were invited to practice their art skills at a drop-in, open-level figure drawing class led by artist and educator Mark Joshua Epstein in the Laurie M. Tisch Education Center. Participants could draw for a few minutes or become immersed in the activity for the entire evening.
A drawing by a life class participant, December 2015
Participants sketched from live models, exploring proportion, positive and negative space, foreground and background, as well as the connection between shifts in tone and the illusion of volume.
Life drawing class panorama, 2015. Photograph by Billie Rae Vinson
This collaboration between the Education and Membership departments was a pilot program designed to explore the possibilities of artmaking programs for adults at the Museum. Billie Rae Vinson, Coordinator of Family Programs who organized and oversaw the drawing class, remarked: “The most successful thing about the evening was the sense of calm and focus in the room. The atmosphere was very relaxed and people were able to be creative and playful in a judgement-free space with some instruction and guidance from Mark, while having a glass of wine and listening to music. Artmaking is what artists do, and for me, one of the best ways to learn about art is to do it yourself, regardless of your level of experience.”
Dina Helal, Manager of Education Resources