Drawing What They See at the Guggenheim

Yesterday morning in a special event at the iconic Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (which they had all to themselves) our seventh graders presented "Learning to See through Art," the culmination of their winter term study of the foundations of observational drawing.

During the unit, which was conducted over several sessions at the Guggenheim, the boys had carefully studied various works of Picasso, Seurat, Gaugin, Cezanne, and others in the Thannhauser Collection, before selecting the one they would draw as their final project.

The event began with the boys in teams, leading their parents, faculty and staff on gallery tours of the modern masterpieces they had selected to draw. At each work of art, our boys acted as docents, explaining the artist and artwork, and why they were attracted to it.

Some mentioned being intrigued by the curves in a painting, others by the brushwork or shading. They also divulged how they addressed the challenges they encountered when trying to draw what they saw.

After the tour, the boys invited their parents to join them in the rotunda where they shared the drawing techniques they had learned. Armed with pencils and drawing pads, parents were now the eager students of their boys.

The session closed with a Foundations Exhibit, a curated collection of the boys' artwork on display in the Guggenheim's art studios.

Through this experience, the boys learned that observational drawing requires focus, concentration, effort and practice, and using their minds in ways far different than usual: to see the negative spaces in compositions, to uncover the underlying shapes on a canvas.

This class debunks the myth that observational drawing requires possession of a mysterious, innate talent. Rather, the boys come to see that it entails mastery of skills and techniques, such as contour and angles and proportions, that can be taught and learned. Their final drawings, displayed proudly on the art studio walls, are visible evidence of this--a record of a process.

What a remarkable opportunity and experience this partnership with the Guggenheim, under the guidance of our art teachers Jenna Boccella and Mark Sunderwirth, affords our boys.

To hear the boys speak so analytically, to see the result of this study, inspires one and all to pick up a pencil, pull out a sheet of paper, be still, quiet, look, and draw.

Comments

OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

NE Patriot Tom Brady at Saint David’s

Last night, Saint David’s was honored to have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, four time Superbowl champion and three-time MVP winner Tom Brady, as the guest speaker for our Alumni Parents Council Lecture Series. Tom, who is the father of one of our Saint David's boys, addressed a standing-room-only audience in Hyman Hall comprised of our eighth graders, alumni, alumni parents and faculty. Friendly, introspective, witty, and wise, he directed his talk to the delighted eighth graders in the front of the room, and focused on the topic of leadership. “You are the young men and leaders of Saint David’s,” he noted. Tom debunked the perception that leaders are born not made, and credited his leadership abilities to “standing up to and facing fears” and to “cultivating a mental strength,” which he cited as “more important than being physically strong.” He also stressed the importance of working hard, honoring teamwork, believing in oneself and being a good lis...

Fascinating Art Talk by Michelle Marder Kamhi at Grandparents Event

Yesterday evening, independent scholar and critic Michelle Marder Kamhi ( www.mmkamhi.com ), co-editor with husband Louis Torres of Aristos , an online review of arts; author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts ; and grandmother of two Saint David's boys, gave a thought provoking talk on art for our grandparent community. An advocate of objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism, Ms. Kamhi focused her talk on the ways in which art critics such as Clement Greenberg promoted the shift from representational art to abstraction. Kamhi argues that the abstract and post-modern art prevalent today, which often requires explanation by docents in order to be understood, goes against art's purpose. Taking issue with Greenberg's contention that representation is an expendable convention of painting, she quoted the late art critic John Canaday: "Art is the tangible expression of the intangible values that men live by." ...

Headmaster's Blog

Search This Blog