Vanitas Drawing Class

Vanitas is a genre of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. A vanitas painting contains collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures, exhorting the viewer to consider mortality and to repent.

In this class, Lado Pochkhua, an accomplished classically trained artist (see following bio) from Eastern Europe and artist in residence at our sister space Proteus Gowanus will, using a variety of artifacts drawn from The Morbid Anatomy Library, teach students to create and draw their own “vanitas” compositions. The main star of said Vanitas composition will be the genuine human skeleton recently donated to the library, which you can see in the bottom photograph.

The ultimate goal of the class will be not only the creation of this particular drawing, but also understanding of the principles of classical drawing. The instructor will also share historical images throughout the course.

No previous drawing experience necessary; all levels are welcome!

Admission: $110 (classes can also be taken individually on a drop-in basis for $20 per class)

This class has a 10 person size limit; Please RSVP for full course at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.