Module Identifier AR31610  
Module Title LIFE STUDIES 3  
Academic Year 2006/2007  
Co-ordinator Mr Simon J Pierse  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Ms Karen M Pearce, Mr Simon J Pierse, Mr Paul Webster  
Pre-Requisite AR10120 and AR10220  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   100 Hours. 4 x 30 minute tutorials per student, 4 hours of group tutorials, 66 hours of life classes, 28 hours of home based research and preparation for portfolio submission  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio Submission including:Developmental work: (sketchbook, studies etc.)A Portfolio of Paintings or Drawings100%
Supplementary Assessment Re-submission of portfolio 

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
a) demonstrate a high level of competence in painting and drawing the life model and be able to inperpret that analysis in relation to a personal evolved regime of art practice that centres on the nude.
b) demonstrate a resolved and fully explored rationale for the creative potential of life studies within the framework of their other art practice.
c) evidence a high level of understanding of and engagement with the work of contemporary practitioners using the life model or working in the field of life studies.
d) articulate a reasoned and cogent rationale for their own work and its evolution through interaction in group and personal tutorials (not formally assessed) and the final assessment tutorial.
e) apply the technical expertise derived from studying the figure in the life class to another area of art practice. f) evidence the potential to extend their life studies into professional art practice in the future

Brief description

Students further their art practice in the context of the life class, putting forward a programme of intended work and indicating the ways in which they intend to use the subject of the nude. A proposal for this programme of study is agreed between student and tutor. Life Study at level 3 is perceived as integral to the student's other Fine Art studies and constitutes an extension or development of that study. The syllabus is negotiated between student and tutor. Projects are no longer prescribed as they were at Level 2 , the object being to offer students the opportunity to progress towards self-directed art practice and laying the foundation for post-graduate study or professional art practice. At the same time it is important that each student thinks in terms of producing a body of work that is linked together in terms of method or approach. A portfolio of paintings or drawings is produced over the semester during weekly life classes (currently Wednesdays 10-5.00pm). Tuition takes place both in the life class and by means of group and personal tutorials.

Aims

This module is designed for students wishing to work in the life class at level 3. It is an option for those students with a particular interest in painting or drawing the nude and forms the conclusion to a pathway in Life Studies initiated in Part 1.

Content

Stage 1: Preliminary Students begin by considering the way in which they want to interpret the nude or use the figure as part of an investigation and exploration centred on their particular area of Fine Art practice. Whatever their interpretation, they must give careful thought to the practical considerations of making paintings and/or drawings in the life class.

Stage 2: PreparatoryStudents are required to present a rationale for their approach to the nude and to work out a programme of study in consultation with the tutor. This is to include choice and application of materials, stylistic considerations, approach and content, and the relation of their work to an established art historical or contemporary precedent.

Stage 3: Proposal Students prepare a written proposal and notation of ideas to be presented in tutorial discussion.

Stage 4: Development Painting and/or drawing practice to be carried out in the life studio, supported by group and personal tutorials

Module Skills

Problem_solving development of practical painting skills and subject development  
Research skills development of a programme of research and self directed work that provides evidence of experimental approach to painting in relation to the subject of the nude  
Communication development and encouragement of communication skills occurs during tutorials and group tutorials  
Improving own Learning and Performance development of a self-critical approach to creative working and to time management, supported through the tutorial programme  
Team work A degree of teamwork is inherent in the life class and group tutorials although not formally assessed  

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Boyd, Stephen (1989) Life class : the academic male nude, 1820-1920, London Gay Men's Press
Clark, Kenneth (1956) The nude: a study of ideal art London: John Murray
Cormack, Malcolm (1976) The nude in western art Oxford: Phaidon
Gerdts, William H (1974) The great American nude : a history in art London: Phaidon Press
Hobhouse, Janet, (1988) The bride stripped bare : the artist and the nude in the twentieth century London: Cape,
Lambirth, Andrew, Ken Kiff (2001) London: Thames & Hudson
Levey, Michael (1972) The Nude London: National Gallery
Louville, François de.,Lucie-Smith, Edward (1985) The male nude : a modern view Oxford: Phaidon
McDonald, Helen (2001) Erotic ambiguities: the female nude in art London; New York: Routledge
Nead, Lynda (1992) The female nude: art, obscenity, and sexuality London: Routledge
Potts, Alex (1994) Flesh and the ideal : Winckelmann and the origins of art New Haven: Yale University Press
Saunders, Gill Victoria and Albert Museum (1989) The Nude: a New Perspective London: Herbert
Smith, Alison (1996) The Victorian nude: sexuality, morality, and art Manchester; New York: Manchester University Press
Suleiman, Susan R (1986) Poetics today: The female body in western culture : contemporary perspectives Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press,

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6