014 - The Bargue Method (Room 202)
(introductory - intermediate) - Ard Berge
Thursdays: Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
January 29th - April 23rd (No Class March 19th)

$450 (tuition) (3 CEUs - Twelve 3-hour Sessions)


"Drawing on the Past"- an academic approach to drawing. This course is designed to give students an introduction to classical methods of drawing through the study of Charles Bargue and Jean-Leon Geromes' "Cours de Dessin". The elegant lessons in this artists' manual will be used to train the eye to see accurately and provide a solid foundation for the development of a highly rendered drawing. Bargue's approach to studying drawing has proven particularly effective in giving students the skills necessary to develop their work in a clear, logical, and systematic way. It was eventually adopted by all major art curriculums throughout Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Lectures and demonstrations will also acquaint students with the "sight-size" technique, which dates to the fifteenth century and is especially useful in solving problems with proportion and seeing the subject in the abstract.

The class will begin with students working in charcoal, copying reproductions from Charles Bargue's "Cours De Dessin" lithographs. We will then move on to developing a highly finished pencil drawing from a plaster cast. Finally, the class will conclude with the creation of a "trois couleur" chalk and charcoal drawing on toned paper of a statue from the New York Academy's impressive cast collection.


[click here for materials list]