Newington Green life classes were begun in 2023 for the benefit of the local artistic community
We meet every Monday in the Mary Wollstonecraft room at the Newington Green Meeting House. An afternoon class for painters who prefer to work from a single pose over two hours takes place from 2.30-4.30pm, and an evening class at which people can draw several different poses takes place from 6.30-8.30pm.
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Read the blogs to learn more about life classes from the point of view of both artists and models.
You can book a class by clicking on Arts on the Green in the top menu.
Why is the human figure such an important subject in Art?
Since the Renaissance, artists have drawn the figure as a means to hone their observational skills in a studio setting. In the 15th Century, nude figures were associated with the idea that the human figure is a universal measure of scale and proportion - an idea that Leonardo da Vinci made visible in his drawing of 'Vitruvian Man' (1490). Representations of the human figure remained an important subject throughout the subsequent centuries, with nudes, in particular, used to represent a wide range of ideas about what it means to be human in different cultural and historical contexts.
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​The figure has served many social purposes: religious devotions have been practiced before figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary; Princes and kings have made their power and privelage visible through sculptures that celebrate their status and through paintings that expose the beauty of their courtesans to public gaze.
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Leonardo da Vinci. Vitruvian Man 1487 above right
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Francois Boucher. Resting girl 1751
below right
