Can you please give a brief description of your course?

Alice Schwarz (AS): Each semester, the course is an exploration of works of art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection through drawing exercises and open dialogue. Each class begins with a word-associated drawing followed by one-minute warm-up drawings of at least 12 objects. Then we move into prolonged visual analysis and conversation focusing on four to five works paired with longer drawing times for more detailed work. The class is a constant weave of looking and sketching and note-taking with our eyes and hands.

Do you have a collection at The Met that you often choose to highlight and why?

Peter Hristoff (PH): As the collection is so huge and we have so many students who continue to take the class from one semester to the next, we try not to repeat ourselves. Inevitably, some “favorites” may be repeated, as so many works fit into multiple themes or categories. For example, a work of art may fit into one semester’s material-based theme and, down the line, another semester’s concept or subject-based theme. That said, the richness of our source material, the museum, is pretty difficult to exhaust.

AS: The fabulous aspect of this online course is we can choose any work in The Met’s collection of 2 million objects—objects that are very small in scale, objects in storage, in a conservation lab or out on loan. It also allows us to pair preliminary sketches with finished paintings and objects that are of two different cultures that are not displayed near each other. Throughout our six sessions each semester, we explore objects from ancient times to the modern world through a thematic lens. Each week, students are introduced to different works never explored before.

Can you talk about how the students can use drawing as a tool to analyze and critically think about history and content?

PH: Drawing along with careful looking can be used as a form of note-taking that gets absorbed into the “hard drive” of our brain in a different way from writing or reading. Once the understanding of an object, a culture and that item’s function is absorbed— through whatever means works best for the individual—the interconnectedness between works reveals itself as the language of art history. I personally believe that drawing is a great way to do this.

SVACE Course with Fine Artist Peter Hristoff and Museum Educator Alice Schwarz