Alma Schapiro Prize Winner Will St. John

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America announces Will St. John as the 2011 winner of its biannual Alma Schapiro Prize. The jury concluded its lengthy deliberation of more than 25 artists’ submissions on November 23, 2010.

“The allied fine arts which enliven the Institute’s mission is well served with this Prize allowing as it does a chance for the selected artist to advance his or her career in the Eternal City in the company of other artists and scholars enrolled concurrently at the Academy,” said Institute President Paul Gunther. The endowment allowing the prize’s has been made possible by a grant from the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund.The Alma Schapiro Prize is designed to advance the career of an artist recipient and to foster the continuity of knowledge of the classical tradition as a vital aspect of contemporary culture around the globe. The centerpiece of the prize is a three-month affiliated fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, the premier American overseas center for independent study and research in the fine arts and humanities.

Previous recipients include D. Jeffrey Mims (2009) and Michael Grimaldi (2007).

Will states on his application that his “intention is to complete a life-sized classical figure sculpture combining the knowledge acquired from the close study of nature with the artistic conventions observed in antique and Renaissance statuary.” The fellowship will allow him to directly study the conventions of classical sculpture through sustained exposure to specific masterworks.

Will St. John's "Belvedere Torso" Graphite on Paper, 2008

Will St. John's "Anna" Oil on Canvas, 11 x 14 inches, 2009

Will St. John's "Dying Man" Finished Clay, 32 inches, 2010

Will graduated with a degree in creative writing and linguistics from the New School for Social Research in New York City in 2003. His desire to learn the techniques of traditional painting and drawing brought him to Nelson Shanks’ class at the Art Students League of New York. He later moved to Philadelphia to study full-time at Studio Incamminati with Shanks. Will then went on to attend Studio Escalier in France where he studied under Tim Stotz, Michelle Tully, and Ted Seth Jacobs. Upon his return to New York, Will sought out his current teacher and mentor, Jacob Collins, and enrolled at the Water Street Atelier. Currently, Will is a graduating sculpture student at the Grand Central Academy of Art.

Will St. John lecture this Friday

            Will St. John copying Caravaggio's St. John the Baptist in the Corsini Palace in Rome

Will St. John winner of the 2011 Alma Schapiro Prize will give a lecture this Friday, October 19th on Learning from the Old Masters in Rome. The fellowship inspired Will to extend his stay in Europe studying and copying paintings at museums including:

Rome: The Corsini Palace, Capitoline, Villa Borghese
Florence: Accademia Gallery, The Pitti Palace, The Medici Chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo
Naples: Capodimonte Museum
Paris: The Louvre

The paintings he copied include two by Caravaggio of St. John the Baptist, Judith by Allori and Titian's The Entombment.

The reception is at 6:30pm and the lecture starts at 7pm. Both are held in the Library of the General Society on the first floor at 20 West 44th Street. The lecture is free to current GCA students. To RSVP please call the reservations line at 212-730-9646 ext.109.

Will is an alum of the Water Street Atelier and currently teaches our Structure Drawing class with fellow Water Street Atelier alum, Colleen Barry.

The deadline for the 2013 Alma Schapiro Prize is fast approaching on November 1st! This three-month fellowship affiliated with The American Academy in Rome is for painters and sculptors with a commitment to the classical tradition and its contemporary practice. The proposed three-month stay must begin between September 2013 and March 2014 and conclude no later than May 31, 2014. To apply you must be a US citizen over the age of 21.

Be sure to stop by the Beaux Arts Atelier Exhibition/Open House also on Friday from 6-8pm on the 3rd floor. Work by current students, alumni and faculty as well as from the permanent collection of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art will be on view.

Ebauche workshop

A few weeks ago Will St. John taught a workshop on painting the ebauche, or initial stage of laying in a painting. This is the first time GCA has offered a workshop on this subject and it was a huge success! While breezing through facebook the other day I noticed Christienne Cuevas had posted photos and a glowing report about her experience in the workshop and I asked her if we could share them here:

"I am so grateful to Will for teaching what was a tremendously rewarding workshop. I learned so much! And in such a short span of time! I never painted a figure so quickly before and am overjoyed with the results. Will gave an overview of the procedures, provided visual examples of 19th century figure paintings and explained each step as we went along, critiquing as we progressed. But I think the most instructive part of the workshop was the teaching by example. Will and Colleen (our class monitor) were inspiring. It was a dream to have had this opportunity to paint alongside such esteemed and talented artists. Thank you!"


Will St. John doing a demo in class


19th century academic nude from the Academy Julien (if anyone knows who the artists is, let us know!)


Will St. John teaching in class


some examples to look at in class


Christienne Cuevas' painting right after the transfer stage


Will St. John demonstrating how he transfers the drawing to the canvas


Colleen Barry demonstrating the wipe-out stage

The French Academy officially defined the ebauche as:

“The initial stage of the realization of a projected painting; the careful preparation, on broad lines of emphasis, the characteristic masses, forms, action, effect and color-scheme of the scene to be represented.”

-Albert Boime, The Academy & French Painting in the 19th Century

In 19th Century academic practice, the ebauche or lay-in, was considered fundamental to the success of a finished work. With an emphasis on breadth of form, a vigorous handling, and the tout ensemble, a successful ebauche can provide a strong foundation for subsequent re-paintings or stand alone as a finished piece.

GCA Ushers in Spring with Workshop Week

Our Spring Workshop Week (typically the last week in March) offers both full and part time students the chance to take a break from their regular studies to focus on something different. Full time students are enrolled in one of three classes; Value with Tony Curanaj (1st years), Drawing from Reproduction of Old Master Figure Drawings with Colleen Barry, and Copying Paintings at the MET with Will St. John.

Also on offer are two regular workshops: Portrait Sketch with Ted Minoff and Travis Schlaht, and The Spanish Still Life with John Morra - both these workshops are being held again this summer.

The sunny, blustery day outside is turning a little moody mid-afternoon. Strains of spanish guitar music sound from the North Studio and country music ambles from the Cast Hall. Will St. John and the painters are under the watchful eye of Hazel Rodriguez at the MET, and students studying portrait have the benefit of having two teachers at once!

Enjoy the photos below of students at work this week:

Core students: first day at the MET... 3 days left!

Andrew Bonneau copies a portrait by Greuze

Shihwen Wu copies Portrait of a Man by the Workshop of Velazquez
(Shihwen is only student who has copied at the MET before)

Anthony Baus copying David's Death of Socrates in the middle of a huge tour group!

Crowd moves on, sharing turp with Rodrigo.

Brendan Johnston strikes a pose between the original and the copy. Juan de Pareja, Velazquez.

Katie Whipple examining Raphael's Madonna and Saints.

Katie under investigation. Her canvas is properly stamped.

Niki Covington copying Veronese's Mars and Venus United by Love.

Will St. John instructing Sarah Bird.

Sarah Bird Copying The Death of Harmonia by Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre

Liz Beard copying Tintoretto's Portrait of a Man.

First Year Core Students Study Value with Tony Curanaj

L to R: Grant Perry, Audrey Rodriguez, Athena Gibson

Andrew Payne

Katie Engberg

John Brogie

L to R: Mark Hill, Alex Berrios, & Jessica Artman

Core Students Copy Old Master Drawings with Colleen Barry

Colleen Barry instructing Zoe Dufour

Rebecca Gray

Sam Worley

Seeram Mangroo

L to R: Seeram, Rebecca & Carl Martin-Sandvold

Day 1 TNT Portrait Sketch Workshop

(TNT = Ted and Travis)

L to R: Travis Schlaht and Lisa Ferber

Day 1 Demo by Ted Minoff

Greg Clark, Joyce Colburn

Day 1 Demo by Travis Schlaht

Day 2: The Spanish Still Life Workshop with John Morra

Karen Haidar's Still Life

Carolyn Brancato

Lynn Reardon
(Her disclaimer: grapes not real!)

Regular Part Time Student Martha Crow

Howard Greenhaigh

new ebauche workshop offered in August

Santiago, by Will St. John, oil on linen, 16"x20", 2008

Painting the Ebauche: A Traditional Approach, taught by Will St. John
August 16 - 20 (5 days) • 10am - 5pm
$600 ($300 deposit)
Class open, accepting registrations.

The French Academy officially defined the ebauche as:

“The initial stage of the realization of a projected painting; the careful preparation, on broad lines of emphasis, the characteristic masses, forms, action, effect and color-scheme of the scene to be represented.”

-Albert Boime, The Academy & French Painting in the 19th Century

In 19th Century academic practice, the ebauche or lay-in, was considered fundamental to the success of a finished work. With an emphasis on breadth of form, a vigorous handling, and the tout ensemble, a successful ebauche can provide a strong foundation for subsequent re-paintings or stand alone as a finished piece.

Over the course of one week, students will complete a full-length figure painting working in this manner. Finishing area-by-area, students will be taught to observe correct proportion, anatomy, and color with a strong emphasis on form modeling. One-on-one instruction will be accompanied by demonstrations. Visual source material illustrating this technique will be provided.

Structure Drawing class with Colleen Barry & Will St. John

The first session of Structure Drawing taught by Colleen Barry and Will St. John starts tomorrow morning. The class runs from 10 AM to 2:00 PM. Visit our site for more information on signing up for a session.

With an emphasis on accurate observation, students will improve their understanding of the figure by incorporating the use of the skeleton, plaster casts (ecorche), and master drawings into their life studies. Each student will learn to complete a carefully rendered drawing from the live model, followed by a companion anatomical/structural drawing in the same pose. Instructors will dissect the pose from each position, illustrating anatomical landmarks, proportional systems, and structural conventions with the aid of masterworks from the Renaissance through Beaux-Arts. By developing their drawings alongside 2-D ecorches, students will develop a conceptual understanding of the body that may be applied to observational drawing as well as studies from memory and imagination.

both drawings by Colleen Barry