39. Art – Life Drawing

The tradition of life drawing from the human nude, daring in a high school context even today, began at Dalton in the 1960’s. Drawing by Cyan Hunte ’17

The art and practice of drawing of the human figure has lain at the core of the Western artistic tradition since the Renaissance. Michelangelo wrote: “The science of design or of line-drawing… is the source and very essence of painting, sculpture, architecture.” The tradition of life drawing from the human nude, daring in a high school context even today, began at Dalton in 1960’s under the leadership of our own legend, art teacher Aaron Kurzen. In 1999, upon Aaron’s retirement from full-time teaching, I took over the leadership of the class, often teaching alongside Aaron over the succeeding years. Life drawing has continued to be part of the wonderful array of classes offered by an exceptional art department. The essentials of gesture, form, mass, and light are instilled through a wide variety of exercises and media, from charcoal to ink to paint to sculpture.

Life drawing has always been and continues to be a unique part of Dalton’s larger educational design. Student Susannah Collins ’19 wrote, “Life Drawing Class has never failed to be the highlight of my school day. I never really equated the wonder of drawing to being at school. Drawing has always been an experience of losing myself in time– the world seems to rotate differently when my pencil is on the page. It has been almost surreal that I could work from a live model at school. The class is a block of calm creativity in the middle of the day, and an amazing community as well.”
—Carol Bowen, High School Visual Arts Teacher