The Drawing Office
AA Night School will base itself in Sir John Soane’s drawing office for the evening as we survey changing approaches to the question of how we learn to draw.
The evening will offer a rare opportunity to spend time in the museum after hours and to visit the upper drawing office where Soane and his apprenticed pupils worked. A series of short activities and exercises will re-interpret a potted history of drawing education (both pre and post Soane) from early modern lessons in rendering shadows, through John Ruskin’s Letters to Beginners, to the analytical drawing of the Bauhaus.
Historically lessons in drawing have been among the fundamental curricula for both architects and artists. Tied to evolving ideas about truth and knowledge, lessons in drawing have just as much been lessons in looking. The range of drawing manuals in Soane’s library show both the contemporary and historical approaches to drawing that Soane would have been acquainted with, while drawing from Soane’s own casts and fragments was among the first tasks that Soane would set his newly apprenticed pupils.
This event builds on the themes of the current exhibition Drawn from the Antique, Artists and the Classical Ideal.
There will be an opportunity to view original drawing manuals from Soane’s own library and some time to sketch freely in the museum for those that wish to do so.
Drawing materials will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own if you would prefer but please note that only pencils and A4 paper are permitted in the museum.
This event is suited to all levels of skill.
About Crude Hints
In the 1813 text Crude Hints towards an history of my house John Soane wrote a description of his unique house-museum. In this text the architect, collector, and Professor of Architecture presented his home as a future ruin and speculated on how these remains might be interpreted upon their future discovery. Soane himself would offer tours of his home to his guests, students and apprentices; performing inside what had come to be described as his ‘academy of architecture’.
Crude Hints is the title given to an ongoing series of talks, tours, workshops and other events developed between the Architectural Association Night School and the Sir John Soane Museum. Crude Hints is an opportunity to re-activate Soane’s academy of architecture through contemporary engagement with his ideas and works as manifested in his home and collections.