Stuart Davis Drawing Workshop
Aug 3, 2016
Museum visitors draw a three-dimensional sculpture in the Hess Family Theater, July 2016. Photograph by Andrew Kist
On July 8, educator and visual artist Mark Joshua Epstein led a drop-in drawing workshop inspired by the exhibition, Stuart Davis: In Full Swing. Epstein created an exuberant, three-dimensional still-life sculpture based on the colors and forms in Stuart Davis’s paintings. The sculpture also channeled Davis’s Egg Beater series (1927-28)—five paintings the artist made of a table-top still life consisting of an egg beater, an electric fan, and a rubber glove.
A visitor uses tape to create a pattern inspired by the work of Stuart Davis, July 2016. Photograph by Andrew Kist
During the program, Museum visitors were invited to draw the still life using colored paper, pencils, tape, markers, and other art supplies. After drawing for about ten minutes, participants were encouraged to move to other seats to draw the still-life from different angles. The drawings explored the themes of positive and negative space, background and foreground, and proportion. Epstein described the connections between these themes and Davis’s own paintings. While drawing, participants also enjoyed listening to jazz, Davis’s favorite music.
Museum visitors show off their drawings, July 2016. Photograph by Andrew Kist
Participants were invited to take their drawings home or hang them on the walls of the theater for others to enjoy. Lily Foster, Manager of Public Programs commented “It’s exciting for us to provide Museum visitors with a chance to create their own works, and we're delighted to be offering a new series of adult art-making workshops in 2016-17.”
Learn more about Public Programs here.
By Lindsey Stoll, Public Programs Intern