Week #37, Figure Drawing, Seated Male

A Group of 6 Figure Drawings of Nudes, Drawing c, Seated Male, c. 1950, pen on paper, 15" x 11"

As I mentioned before, figure drawing is one of the most important and time-honored traditions in the visual arts. Observing and capturing the human figure takes practice, and this is probably best achieved in the life drawing studio setting. In a live drawing studio a live model, typically nude, strikes various poses during each session. Some poses can last 20 minutes and some as little as 30 seconds.

I also mentioned last week that Dusti Bongé had never taken any art classes when she started her artistic career in the 1930s. Years later in the 1950s, she did decide to take some art classes in the studio context. At that time, she was spending more time in New Orleans, which had a very strong bohemian and artistic scene. There was a whole group of young artists, such as Robert Helmer, Shearly Grade, George Dunbar, and others, who wanted to celebrate the contemporary abstract trend in American art and showcase it in New Orleans. They were instrumental in establishing both the Orleans Gallery and the 331 Chartres Street Art School. Although neither institution was long-lived, they are both vital parts of the New Orleans art story.

Life drawing studio uses several drawing and observation techniques to train the artists’ eye and hand. There are gesture drawings, contour drawings, continuous line drawings, and longer observational drawings. The first three are all quick types of drawings that focus on capturing the essence of the action or pose. The latter is of course geared toward creating a more precise and proportional representation of the figure.

Dusti took studio classes at 331 for a while, which included attending life drawing sessions, and we have some of her studies from back then. This is one of Dusti’s contour drawings from one of those sessions. The work shows a nude male model sitting on a stool, which in turn is sitting on a podium. The figure’s appearance is relaxed, as he is seated just slightly hunched over, arm resting in his lap and each foot leaning on a different rung of the stool. He is looking away from her, his head being shown in profile. There are a few marks suggesting items in the background. What makes a drawing like this remarkable is that qualitatively, the lines are incomplete and yet the picture is complete, totally capturing the model’s posture.