The Art Students League of New York

Called a "master of painting technique" by the , instructor Costa Vavagiakis () is teaching an intensive "Portrait Painting" workshop this August 12 - 16. He writes:⁠
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"This comprehensive workshop spans an entire day and week, aiming to impart intricate techniques of the honored art form of portrait painting. Participants will delve into every stage of portrait painting, starting from the initial block-in phase to the under-painting process, culminating in the creation of a finished portrait."⁠
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Slots are limited so sign up today with the 🔗 b⁠elow:

https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Vavagiakis-WS-Painting_cd_6038_6361
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🎨: "Stephanie III" (detail), oil on panel, 13 x 13 inches.⁠
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Step into a maximalist fairytale filled with enchanting beats, magical cocktails, and delightful wonders. Get your tickets today:

https://www.artstudentsleague.org/dreamball
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The Dream Ball is a League tradition where high-society meets radical artists in a party inspired by an annual theme. You're invited to join us for the most anticipated art party in Midtown Manhattan. Don your most eccentric, magical attire and get ready to dance the night away!⁠
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Theme: Maximalist Fairytale⁠
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Open Bar⁠
Costume Contest & Prizes⁠
Artist Activations⁠
DJ Set & Dancing⁠
Live Performances⁠
Live Sketch Artist⁠
Immersive Rooms⁠
Tarot Card Reader⁠
Photobooth (by Digibooth)⁠
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Don't miss this night of celebration and fantasy.⁠
Tickets are like fairy dust - they're disappearing fast!⁠
This is a 21+ event.

This past week was the 129th birthday of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978). Best known for his sentimental paintings of modern America, Rockwell had evolved to become one of the loudest and most outspoken white artists challenging racism in America by the end of his career.⁠
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“Born in 1894 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Rockwell had never shown interest in any other career besides commercial illustration. Before his 16th birthday, he had dropped out of high school to enroll at New York’s Art Students League,” writes .⁠
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He went on to become a successful American illustrator, famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for “The Saturday Evening Post” magazine over nearly five decades.⁠
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Dismissed by serious art critics in his lifetime for having a tendency “toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life,” Rockwell’s 1964 work “The Problem We All Live With” proved “a turning point in the artist’s career and reflected his unexpected politicization in the 1960s.”⁠
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He has more recently been recognized for his contributions to the country’s political and social discourse.⁠
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Read Vox's full article “The awakening of Norman Rockwell” with the 🔗 in bio.⁠
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📸: Bill Scovill, “Norman Rockwell working on Golden Rule in his South Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, studio,” 1960 (detail).
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These artworks are by watercolor master Mario A. Robinson () who will be teaching a special workshop February 5-9, "Painting the Figure in Watercolor." He writes:⁠
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"Students will execute a detailed drawing of the model and learn how to employ a monochromatic block-in to properly identify the values of the subject. The class will culminate with a full color application of color, using thin glaze layers of watercolor.⁠
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"The objective of the workshop is to demonstrate how a methodical approach increases the depth and sense of realism in paintings."⁠
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Robinson was the 2014 Brand Ambassador for Winsor and Newton art materials and the author of "Lessons in Realistic Watercolor" (Monacelli Press, 2016). His works have been featured in The Artist's Magazine, The Pastel Journal, Watercolor Magic, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, and more.⁠
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Slots are limited, so sign up for the workshop today with the 🔗 in bio.⁠
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🎨 1: "Self Portrait," watercolor, 15" x 15."⁠
🎨 2: "Free Spirit," (detail) watercolor, 22 1/2" x 16 1/2"⁠
🎨 3: "The Mansion," (detail) watercolor, 22" x 30."⁠
🎨 4: "Tougaloo Relic," (detail) watercolor, 14" x 20."⁠
🎨 5: "Market Street," (detail) watercolor, 20" x 14."⁠
🎨 6: "Tougaloo House," watercolor, 18" x 24."⁠
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"Photographing Artwork with your iPhone," is a workshop led by professional photographer Gustavo Murillo coming up this February 1 and 2. He writes:⁠
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"This workshop teaches students how to photograph paintings and sculptures with an iPhone: from lighting standards and tips to photography and post-production principles.⁠
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"Please bring a few small or medium-sized art works to practice photographing in the lab portion of this iPhone workshop."⁠
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Murillo's photographs have been published in The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Huffington Post, The Mirror, Time Out, and The Brooklyn Rail among others.⁠
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Learn more via the 🔗 below:
https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Murillo-WS-Photographing-Artwork_cd_6481_6281
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With the blank canvas of 2024 before us, this is the time to reflect, plan, and care for the things that matter.

FreeWill’s online estate planning tool is a resource designed to bring ease to creating your will, simplifying a traditionally complex process.

It’s a completely free service we are offering in thanks for being a part of the League community.

Please join the many League friends who have recognized the League in their estate plans. These generous bequests will enable us to thrive for another 150 years and beyond.

Learn more: https://www.freewill.com/artstudentsleagueny

Last chance to sign up for celebrated artist Lisa Dinhofer's 8-week sequential class "Color Essentials: A Course in Color Theory" which begins this January 22.

Dinhofer is famous for her 90-foot glass mosaic mural "Losing My Marbles" in Times Square station and her comprehensive book "Mastering Colored Pencils."

Open to all levels (from the absolute beginner to the working artist) sign up for this course today: https://studioclasses.artstudentsleague.org/course/Dinhofer-Color-Theory_cd_4192_6264

Artists! There are 3 days left to sign up for our annual Student Art Sale (🔗 below.)
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Each year, hundreds of works are sold during the League's Student Art Sale Exhibition, which runs in our main gallery during the month of December.

Due to space constraints, a limited number of tickets are raffled out to artists who enter (500 wall hanging works, 50 sculptures).⁠
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In order to get a ticket, you must submit an application by November 16.

For more info and to fill out the form, see this link: https://theartstudentsleague.wufoo.com/forms/z1w9mf7m1xii8tm/

Here are some scenes from our 2023 Gala at the Museum of Modern Art (), where we celebrated art collector and philanthropist Beth Rudin DeWoody and League instructor Larry Poons.⁠
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The Art Students League’s annual gala helps us raise funds that are necessary to further our mission, provide scholarships, and support our Seeds of the League community program, which reaches thousands of New York City schoolchildren in underserved areas across the city.⁠
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Thank you to all who helped make the event a success, from our esteemed guests to the staff, artists and models in attendance. Until next year! 🎨🍸️⁠
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📸 2-4, 6-8: Matt Borkowski + Madeleine Thomas/BFA.com ⁠
📸 1, 5, 9, 10: Andrew Drilon⁠
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Workshop alert! Celebrated painter Steven Assael will be teaching "Direct & Indirect Figure Painting" for a limited time at the League.

Assael will discuss both an analytical and emotive approach to painting the human figure with an emphasis on color and value relationships in a related atmosphere.

"The class will consist of a single long pose in both cool and warm light. The development of form through an observation and interpretation of plane shifts projecting and receding from the eye will be stressed."

Learn more with the link below:
https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Assael-WS-Painting_cd_6231_5948

Next week, from June 12-16, celebrated painter Max Ginsburg will be giving a special workshop on "Painting in Oil from Photo References."

Slots are limited, so sign up soon. Learn more: https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Ginsburg-WS-Painting_cd_6469_5864

Ginsburg writes: "In this workshop we will paint alla prima in oils, from candid photos of people who are not posing, but naturally moving about in the street. This will enable us to capture the reality of life onto our canvas. "

He adds that: "Having painted from life in oils is very important for this procedure to be successful and painterly. It will be necessary to bring a laptop computer in addition to the usual painting supply list. The photo files will be provided."

🎨: Max Ginsburg, "Bus Stop," 2010. Oil on canvas, 50 x 72 inches.

🚨🚨🚨BUILDING UPDATE🚨🚨🚨⁠
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The League will be closed May 29 — June 4 for routine cleaning and maintenance. Lockers and studios will not be accessible to the public and students. During this time, you can still come and register for classes. ⁠
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The office hours will be: ⁠
Tuesday, May 30 to Friday, June 2, 8:30AM to 4:30PM. ⁠
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To reach a clerk, please call 212-247-4510 ext. 6 or email [email protected]. The Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery, the League's Art Supply Store, and the League Cafe will be closed for the clean out.⁠
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Current students will need to clear out their materials before the cleanout. For details about this go here: https://www.artstudentsleague.org/events/end-of-session-clean-out
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We'll see you when we re-open for our Summer Session classes on Monday, June 5!

Instructor Sharon Sprung was featured on the Today Show this morning! In the interview she shares a personal story of how she learned to observe people at a young age, her commitment to pursuing painting as a career, and the moment Michelle Obama saw her portrait for the first time.

You can watch the full segment now below.

Congratulations, Sharon!

Artist Sharon Sprung on sharing life lessons through her paintings Artist Sharon Sprung paints portraits of important women in American history, including former first lady Michelle Obama. She sits down with TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones about using her craft to shares stories of life lessons.

Abstract sculptures dot the Manhattan landscape and now you can dig into the intensive process of making them with award-winning instructor Marilyn Friedman!⁠
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A prolific artist, Friedman has created commissioned sculptures for , , , and most recently sculpted the award for the League's Gala 2022.⁠
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This weekend (March 25-26) Friedman is teaching a two-day workshop "Abstracting The Figure In Clay," ⁠where students will work from a live model "to develop ways of seeing and translating line, plane, and volume three dimensionally. The goal is to focus on understanding aspects of abstract sculpture by interpreting the human form in clay.⁠"⁠
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Slots are limited and it starts this weekend, so now's the time to sign up with the🔗 below:
https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Friedman-WS-Sculpture_cd_6463_5826

How eclectic is your portfolio? Today, on the occasion of his birthday, we present to you this diverse collection of images by League artist Alvin C. Hollingsworth (1928-2000).⁠
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Born to West Indian parents in Harlem, Hollingsworth studied at The League in 1951 at the age of 23, ten years after he had already been illustrating comic books professionally in New York City.⁠
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He drew crime, horror, romance and war comics, as well as newspaper strips until the 1960s, when he began teaching illustration at the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan.⁠
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He then transitioned to a career as a fine art painter. Working in both representational and abstract art, his paintings included such contemporary social issues as civil rights for women and African Americans, as well as jazz and dance.⁠
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Of one subject he painted, an African Jesus Christ, he told Ebony magazine in 1971, "I have always felt that Christ was a Black man," and said the subject represented a "philosophical symbol of any of the modern prophets who have been trying to show us the right way. To me, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are such prophets."⁠
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In the summer of 1963, he and fellow African-American artists Romare Bearden and William Majors formed the Spiral Group in order to help the Civil Rights Movement through art exhibitions. ⁠
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In the 1970s, Hollingsworth painted wall murals for the Don Quixote Apartment Building in the Bronx, NYC.

Coming up this weekend: a portraiture workshop from instructor Ellen Eagle, who writes:

"In this portraiture workshop, we will observe with a clear and careful eye our model's unique structure, color, value relationships and posture. On the first day, students will observe as Ellen sets up the pose and describes why she makes her decisions about color and composition. Students will then begin with thumbnail black and white tonal studies to establish selection, proportion, and light."

Slots are still available! More info: https://workshops.artstudentsleague.org/course/Eagle-WS-Pastel-Portrait_cd_6010_5834

Out now is an article for The New Criterion by League instructor Pat Lipsky. In the December issue she shares a chance encounter with powerhouse critic Clement Greenberg who "dominated the New York art world for over three decades."

The captivating story is an excerpt from Lipsky's forthcoming book, "Mercer Greene Wooster: A Life in Art."

Falling off: memories of Clem by Pat Lipsky Pat Lipsky on the famous modernist critic.

Here’s your chance to party with instructor James Little as part of a one-of-a-kind experience. Your winning bid includes four reserved tickets to a sold-out performance of Duke Ellington’s “Sacred Concerts” on Friday, November 18, and access to an exclusive VIP after-party as Little’s guest.⁠
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⁠Proceeds from the auction will support the League’s mission to make art education accessible to all.⁠
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The auction closes on Tuesday, November 15. Place your your bid now by clicking the 🔗 in our bio!⁠
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📷: Sophia Little⁠
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Now is your chance to spend time with instructor Sharon Sprung in her Brooklyn painting studio! The Art Students League of New York Gala Auction 2022 is open for bids where the lots are art-based experiences.⁠
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Lot 3 is a "Studio Visit with Sharon Sprung." The winning bidder will have a one-of-a-kind experience to converse with the acclaimed painter about her work. See and experience the place where she created nearly all of her most recognizable work—including a recent portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama!⁠
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The auction is open for bids only for eleven days, now through November 15. To see all the art-experience lots and to bid, check out the 🔗 in bio now.⁠
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📷: New York Times⁠
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Join us tomorrow, September 8, at 2:00 PM for a memorial honoring beloved League Instructor Emeritus Knox Martin.⁠
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Share remembrances, revisit Knox's landmark career, and celebrate the life of this legendary artist who touched the lives of countless League students.⁠
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In honor of Knox's incredible tenure, and the innumerable lessons he taught us all, the League has set up a Knox Martin Memorial Fund. To donate to the fund, click the 🔗 below:

https://give.artstudentsleague.org/give/223568/ #!/donation/checkout?designation=188160

Dubbed "the artist who changed everything" by The Times, League alumna Louise Bourgeois has made an indelible mark on the world of fine arts.⁠
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Join us at The Easton Foundation to learn about Bourgeois’s first years in New York City, her relationship with The League, and her initial impressions of the fast-paced midcentury art world.⁠
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Watch the full video now on Youtube (🔗 below.)

Louise Bourgeois at The Art Students League of New York This special "field trip" edition of League Talks takes a close look at the art--and ephemera-- of one of our most accomplished and admired alumna: Louise Bo...

The League is saddened to share news that instructor emeritus Harvey Dinnerstein passed away today at the age of 94.⁠
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Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Harvey studied at The League as a young man with Moses Soyer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Julian E. Levi. He went on to have a remarkable career as a painter that spanned over seventy years.⁠
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Harvey’s works are in the permanent collections of many museums, including The Met, the Whitney and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His legacy will live on in the work of the many students he taught here at The League, where he was a beloved instructor for four decades.⁠
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“It never occurred to me to be anything other than an artist,” he said in a recent interview with LINEA. “In this tenth decade of my life, I have numerous unresolved projects in mind. I can only hope that my work will continue to reflect some aspect of the journey we all share.”⁠
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🎨: Harvey Dinnerstein, “The Studio” (detail), 1978, oil on board, 23.5 x 20.5 in. Collection of The Robert Hull Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT. Gift of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.⁠
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Several League instructors have work appearing in The Male N**e: Turning the Gaze at New York Artists Equity Gallery until July 9, including Steven Assael, Sherry Camhy, Nelson Shanks, Brandon Soloff, and Dan Thompson. League alum Andrew Conklin is a participant in the exhibition as well.

https://www.nyartistsequity.org/the-male-nude-turning-the-gaze

🎨: Sherry Camhy, ADAM (detail), 2000.
Sepia ink etching, 11 x 22 in.

The Artmakers is back with a special episode where Andrew meets with Fijian artist Caroleena Bingham. Moving from the Pacific Islands of Fiji, Caroleena made her way to NYC to pursue a career in the fashion industry.

They talk about her transition from high fashion to high art, the influence of Fijian craft on her abstract work, and the concept of "Push and Pull" in creating an abstract painting.

Watch the episode now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/G8D7U8bce4g

Pacific Islander Reveals Abstract Painting Tip In this very special episode, Andrew meets with Fijian artist Caroleena Bingham. Moving from the Pacific Islands of Fiji, Caroleena made her way to NYC to pu...

Our third selection for the challenge in honor of Women's History Month is new instructor ⁠Maria De Los Angeles who teaches our in-person class "Figure Drawing."
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De Los Angeles was born in Mexico, raised in California, and is now based in New York City. She uses multiple mediums—drawing, painting, installation, performance, fashion, and sculpture—to create art that spotlights "issues of migration, displacement, identity and otherness." She writes:⁠
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"My personal history plays a decisive role in my work. As an undocumented immigrant, I learned to navigate a new culture and a new language. Migrating is both a physical experience and a psychological one, and in my drawings those two sides to displacement are juxtaposed."⁠
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In 2015, De Los Angeles was awarded the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize by Yale University for her community-oriented work. She's exhibited widely in the United States and her works have been featured in Hyperallergic, NY Magazine, HelloGiggles, and The Observer. ⁠
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"Being an artist is a gamble. Most careers are, but art has great potential and risk. I believe, as I am an immigrant, that risk and hope are part of my DNA. So here I am."⁠
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Our second selection for the challenge in honor of Women's History Month is artist Deborah Kass.⁠
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Yesterday, she worked with staff from the Brooklyn Museum to wrap her iconic yellow sculpture OY/YO "to show solidarity with Ukraine and its diasporic communities worldwide fighting for sovereignty and democratic freedom."⁠ The Brooklyn Museum explains:⁠
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"Kass hailed 'Glory to Ukraine' as she reflected on her grandparents, who were from a small Jewish community near Kyiv. Her activation aligns with her original motivation in creating this sculpture—to connect communities and to see our commonalities... ⁠
The fabric wrapping is a nod to the late Christo, the Bulgarian-born artist who famously wrapped cultural monuments and buildings in fabric, notably the Reichstag Building in Germany and the Gates in New York City’s Central Park."⁠
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A League alumna, Ms. Kass studied at The League from 1968—1970 and more recently presented at our 2021 Gala.⁠ SWIPE to see more views of her sculpture.⁠
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📷: The Brooklyn Museum
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