Painting by Paul Cezanne
Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair
aka "Hortense Fiquet in a Striped Skirt"
oil on canvas
1877-78

Class notes from Drawing the Figure in Space class taught by Elizabeth Rupprecht, SAIC, 1991

Look at Paul Klee's "The Thinking Eye."

Look at "Point and Line to Plane" - Kandinsky.

When drawing the figure in space, use empathy - project yourself into the picture plane. Move yourself to the center of the picture plane.

Every action demands a reaction: in and concave - out and convex; in and up - out and down.

Implies counter-movement.

Make things bend for the demands of the flat surface.

Like movement in Cezanne's Madame Cezanne.

In Cezanne's landscapes, things get bigger as they go back in space - he's projected himself into the landscape.

Think of Dufy's scene through a fence.

Check out the view down Michigan Avenue towards the bridge.

Look up Munch again. Look for the catalog with seltzer bottle/bowler hat.

Development of the idea is the most important part - spend most time here. Perceptual or conceptual space?

Look at Odilon Redon in print and drawing room. "The Painter's Eye." or Mind.  Romare Bearden, Carl Holty.

Wolf Kahn landscapes.

Cimabue - those weird hands!