George Bridgman is Coming

Only a dozen people attended the P&C Quarterly Meeting last night
(and most of those were board members)

but two fortuitous announcements were made.

First,
that selected paintings
from the Vanderpoel Museum
will be shown at the P&C Gallery next year.

This is a great collection of early 20th C. figure painting and landscape
that includes the work of several P&C members .

And second,
the announcement that Stuart Fullerton
is donating a large sheet
of anatomy demonstrations
drawn by George Bridgman
at the the Art Students League
back in the early decades
of the 20th Century














Bridgman (1865-1943)
is well known today
for his many instructional books
that are still in print




Donations are now being solicited
to cover the expense of restoration and mounting,
and eventually,
it should be a fine addition
to a wall in one of the studios.











And.... as it turns out....
Jane Ellen Murray,
in a Palette & Chisel tradition
that dates back a hundred years,
once wrote a musical:



AMERICAN ROCK
A musical salute to Norman Rockwell.

The Show played in a number of theaters
across the country including The Studio Theatre in Rockford,
White Pines Dinner Theatre,
and Suncoast Theatre in New Port Richie, Fla.


And since Rockwell was schooled by Bridgman,
the following scene was included:




SCENE 2

BRIDGEMAN: (TAKING THE SKELETON FROM ROCKWELL) Norman, How many muscles do you think it takes to move your little finger?

NORMAN: Ah ... I don't know, sir.

BRIDGE: Eleven ... ELEVEN! It's a damned wonderful thing! (TO ANOTHER STUDENT) What's that supposed to be? Is that supposed to be a human figure? One of God's creatures?

STUDENT: I don't believe in God, Sir.

BRIDGE: Well you'd better believe in anatomy if you want to get a passing grade in this course. ANATOMY
... bones, muscles! They're the building blocks of the body. You can't paint a house or a body until it's built.

(BRIDGEMAN TAKES OUT A PIECE OF CHALK AND PROCEEDS TO DRAW BONE STRUCTURES ON THE MODEL'S BODY AS STUDENTS WATCH)

ANATOMY
BRIDGEMAN: ANATOMY ...

THE HIP BONE CONNECTED TO THE THIGH BONE,

CONNECTED TO ...

MODEL: ANATOMY ... I'VE GOT GREAT ANATOMY!

BRIDGE: THE FEMUR CONNECTED TO THE TIBIA,

JUST BEHIND THE FIBULA ...

MODEL: THAT'S ANATOMY!


BRIDGE: ANATOMY IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO START,

WITHOUT IT, IT AIN'T ART ...

NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY ...

BOTH: IT TAKES ANATOMY ...

MODEL: TO STRIKE THE PERFECT POSE,

IT TAKES ANATOMY,

BOTH: THAT'S RIGHT ANATOMY.

BRIDGE: TO DRAW A ROMAN NOSE.

BOTH: IT TAKES ANATOMY! ANATOMY!

ALL: IT TAKES ANATOMY ...

TO MAKE YOUR FIGURES MOVE,

SO THEY'LL HANG YOU IN THE LOUVRE!

TO SCULPT THE PERFECT MAN,

BE FAMOUS LIKE RODIN,

THANK GOD FOR, ANATOMY!

BRIDGE: ANATOMY IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO START,

WITHOUT IT, IT AIN'T ART ...

SO LEARN YOUR LESSON WELL,

THAT'S THE GOLDEN RULE!

ALL: TO MAKE IT COME ALIVE,

YOU HAVE TO STRIVE ...

TO LEARN ANATOMY! ANATOMY!

ALL: IT TAKES ANATOMY,

TO MAKE THE PIETA CRY,

EVEN MICHELANGELO KNEW,

WITHOUT ANATOMY,

YOU'D NEVER SELL THE POPE,
6
YOU WOULDN'T HAVE HOPE,

WITHOUT ANATOMY,

BRIDGE: ANATOMY IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO START,

WITHOUT IT, IT AIN'T ART ...

ALL: TO MAKE IT COME ALIVE,

YOU'VE GOT TO STRIVE,

TO LEARN ANATOMY!

MODEL: Mr. Bridgeman, I will not have you drawing all over my body as if I were a plaster cast!

BRIDGE: Ah! But Sophia, you have the perfect ...

ANATOMY!

(MODEL THROWS ON A ROBE. LIGHTS A CIGAR AND STOMPS OFF.)

ALL: TO MAKE IT REALLY ART,

YOU HAVE TO START, WITH ANATOMY!

(BLACKOUT)


....................................................
Cool,
huh?
....................................................










In other business at the Quarterly meeting,
the membership approved the 2010 budget
by a vote of 46 to 1.

Once again, copies of the budget
were only mailed to those who
requested them, so the vast majority
of people who voted for approval
never considered the issues or attended the meeting
to participate in any discussion.

As announced,
a "Town Hall Meeting"
was convened after the Quarterly
in response, presumably,
to the issues raised in the mailings
sent by Jane Ellen.

But only about six people stuck around
and the meeting was over as soon as it began.