New Book: "The Lady Anatomist" by Rebecca Messbarger

In November The University of Chicago Press published a marvelous book about one of my heroes, Anna Morandi Manzolini. Manzolini was an 18th century artist, anatomist and expert wax anatomical modeler in the Age of Enlightenment. To learn more about the book click here.

You can see superb examples of Manzolini's work at the Palazzo Poggi in Bologna, Italy. Visit the museum's website by clicking here

Sketching at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A few months ago I spent a day sketching at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I spent most of the day in the Greek and Roman Galleries and it was wonderful. I plan on going back to draw again next week and will post about my experiences. For now see photos of three sketches and a photo of the gallery.



Greek and Roman Rooms. Photo by Marie Dauenheimer



Pencil sketch by Marie Dauenheimer



Pencil sketch by Marie Dauenheimer



Pencil sketch by Marie Dauenheimer

New book: "Classical Life Drawing Studio"

I recently acquired a new book on classical life drawing that I highly recommend.  It is called "Classical Life Drawing Studio" by James McElhinney and the Instructors of the Art Students League of New York.  There are dozens of high quality reproductions of classical life drawings by Harvey Dinnerstein, Jack Faragasso, George Bridgeman among others and their students.




Harvey Dinnerstein, Figure Studio, 1978, pastel on board


Hans Peter Hansen, charcoal on paper, Student of George Bridgeman

Anatomy Drawing Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art

There is  small exhibition of illustrated anatomy books on view at the National Gallery of Art through January 23, 2011 in the West Building.    The exhibition is called "The Body Inside and Out:Anatomical Literature and Art Theory.  "The Art of Dissection", "Proportions as Precursor", "The Artist's Manual and Anatomy" are a few of the topics covered in this show.  For more information visit the museum website 

First Blog Post

Hello,  This is a drawing by a student of mine from the Art 211 class.  Bethani Hill is the artist that created this drawing using color pencil.